The River Bluff boys’ basketball team is headed to the Class 5A finals.

The Gators held on for a 45-43 victory over Dutch Fork in the Lower State final played at a raucous Lexington High School.

Free throws by Malachi Reeves, who finished with 15 points, gave River Bluff a 44-43 lead. After Dutch Fork was whistled for an offensive foul, Myles Jenkins was fouled and hit 1-2 free throws with 26.7 seconds left.

Jenkins finished with 17 points, followed by Reeves with 15. 

Following a timeout, Dutch Fork set up for a final shot. Houston Jones pulled up from behind the 3-point line and was fouled with 2 seconds left.

Jones missed all 3 attempts at the line and Chase Powell chased down the rebound for the Gators as time expired. He finished with a team-high 15 points. 

River Bluff (13-4) will now face 4-time defending champion Dorman in the Class 5A final Saturday at the University of South Carolina-Aiken. The game marks the 5th straight year a Lexington High graduate will coach in the state final and 2nd consecutive year it will feature a matchup between 2 former players under head coach Bailey Harris. 

The Cavaliers, led by Thomas Ryan, defeated Riverside 54-51 in the Upper State final. A year after facing Brett Jones and Dutch Fork in the state finals, Ryan now faces River Bluff and head coach Benjamin Lee. 

“I’ve been following Thomas Ryan up to coaching clinics, sleeping on the floor in hotel rooms with him and Brett for as long as I can remember getting into coaching,” Lee said. “I remember playing pickup games with Thomas. Played with his younger brother. Great guy, great family. I’m glad I get to coach against him in the championship game.” 

Lke the previous 2 playoff games, the Gators came out firing from behind the arc. They connected on 4 of their 5 3-pointers in the 1st quarter to go up 19-8.

A 3-pointer by Jones brought Dutch Fork to within 19-11 headed into the 2nd quarter. It ignited a 10-0 run which cut the deficit to 1 before Jenkins’ layup made it 21-18.

Jones’ 2nd 3-pointer tied the game at 23-23, but Reeves connected from behind the arc near the Dutch Fork bench at the buzzer to put River Bluff up 26-23 at halftime. 

“I saw they weren’t guarding me, so I slid down in the corner and I just waiting for him to look at me and finally, he saw me,” Reeves said. “I just let it go and it went in.” 

The Gators managed to stretch their lead to 35-29 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Dutch Fork rallied back to tie the game at 37-37 with 4:44 left on a jumper by Jordan-Snipe Campbell.

A driving layup by Reeves was answered by a Jones’ 3-pointer to put the Siliver Foxes back on top 40-39. Reeves was fouled on the next possession and hit 2 free throws.

Following a turnover, Landon Stills hit a driving layup to put River Bluff up 43-30 with 1:30 left. Jones had the answer again with a step back 3-pointer with 1:05 left to tie the game and ignite the Dutch Fork faithful.

River Bluff’s Reeves was fouled on the next possession and put his team up for good.

“I don’t know that much about them,” he said. “We need to just go there and play our game, have fun and keep the run going.”