For the 2nd time in the school’s 5-year history, the Gray Collegiate boys’ basketball team is back in the state finals.                          Having negotiated a purposely-designed, challenging, non-region schedule, which included games against Class 3A finalist W.J. Keenan, the War Eagles return to Colonial Life Arena Saturday looking to repeat as Class 2A champions.            We knew that we needed to be pushed,” Gray Collegiate head coach Dion Bethea said. “We could have sat there and played an easy schedule. But it wouldn’t have benefited us. Anytime you play here in South Carolina, you’ve got a lot of great teams and a lot of great coaches. We needed to make sure that we were prepared, especially at playoff time.”           Gray Collegiate (20-10) enters the contest riding an 8-game win streak. It also enters this year’s final with point guard Khalil Robinson, who missed last year’s playoff run with a wrist injury.               “Not being able to play last year in the playoffs, it really bothered me not being able to really help my brothers on the court, just sitting on the sidelines cheering them on,” he said Monday. “And being here and being able to play, it’s a tremendous feeling and I’m not taking that for granted.”       Standing in the way at noon Saturday is  Andrew Jackson, a program which made its last state title appearance in 1980 when it defeated Southside for the Class 2A title. A year after winning just 4 games, the Volunteers have reversed those fortunes with a 17-4 mark.       “Going into the summer, I told the guys if they believed in the process, that we were going to be champions,” Andrew Jackson head coach Danny Wright said. “The guys took that on their shoulders and it started with the workouts and it started in June doing good and then it trickled down to the preseason and we played our Christmas tournament which Andrew Jackson had not won that in a while and we were able to win against Chester for the championship...I saw that our guys were very poised and was able to get that win there, I knew we had a chance there.”       Two years ago, Andrew Jackson was routed 93-41 by the War Eagles in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.        This will be the final game for 7 Gray Collegiate seniors, led by senior point guard and S.C. Basketball Coaches Association Class 2A Player of the Year Tommy Bruner. He’s coming off a season-low 5 points against sister school Oceanside Collegiate, a contest which saw Gray Collegiate overcome 15 missed free throws to win 50-47 in Florence.       “There’s a lot of mixed emotions knowing that either way, this is going to be our final game in high school,” Bruner said. “But, it’s a blessing to get here and knowing all the hard work has paid off.”                       The Class 2A boys’ basketball championship game can be seen live on WACH Digital Channel 57.2 and Spectrum Cable Channel 1250. Viewers can also stream the contest by visiting www.schsl.tv and paying a $9.95 fee. Follow live updates as well on Twitter at @lexchronsports and on the Lexington Chronicle Facebook page.