For the second consecutive year, Gray Collegiate Academy is headed back to the S.C. High School League final.

For the second time this season and 4th time overall, the top-ranked War Eagles bested sister school Oceanside Collegiate. They pulled out a 50-47 win over the Landsharks in the Class 2A Lower State final at the Florence Civic Center.

The defending state champions will face Andrew Jackson in the final at noon March 2 at Colonial Life Arena. The Volunteers (17-4) defeated Silver Bluff 66-47 in the Upper State final.

This will be the second meeting between the 2 schools. Gray Collegiate routed Andrew Jackson 93-41 in the second round of the 2017 Class 2A Upper State playoffs.

GCA (20-10) led 30-24 at halftime and a 3-pointer by Khalil Robinson, who finished with 17 points, to open the second half gave the War Eagles their biggest lead at 33-24.

Oceanside Collegiate (23-5) closed the gap to 42-37 in 4th quarter. A 3-pointer by Khalil Robinson pushed Gray Collegiate’s lead back to 8, put the Landsharks answered with back-to-back layups to close the gap to 45-41.

The two teams exchanged baskets before a putback by Sam Crowley brought the Landsharks within 47-45 with 2:10 left in the game. A free throw by Ty Rivers gave Gray Collegiate a 48-45 lead with 1:54 remaining and it retained possesion as his missed second attempt was knocked out of bounds by the Landsharks.

Jalil Robinson was fouled, but missed both free throws with 1:48 left. On the ensuing possession, Oceanside Collegiate’s Isaiah Archie was called for an offensive foul with 1:24 left.

The Landsharks missed another opportunity with less than 30 seconds left and Jalil Robinson was fouled on the rebound. This time, he converted both free throws in finishing with 10 points to put Gray Collegiate up 50-45 with 20 seconds left.

Oceanside Collegiate’s Shane McCravy converted a putback with 20 seconds left and Khalil Robinson was quicked fouled by the Landsharks. He missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but collected the rebound to get 2 more free throws.

Robinson again missed both attempts and, after Archie was fouled dribbling upcourt with 4 second left, the Landsharks got another opportunity when Gray Collegiate’s Ty Rivers was called for an intentional foul on Crowley near the halfcourt line with 1.5 seconds left.

Both Crowley’s free throws bounced off the back rim and a desperation shot by Jaden Anderson fell well short at the buzzer.

“The way our schedule is set up, it prepares us for games like this," Gray Collegiate head coach Dion Bethea said. "I wish we could have made more free throws. You can’t leave 15 points on the floor. We would have been able to afford what happened...but a win is a win." 

Saturday's Lower State final schedule features a Lexington High School doubleheader in the Class 5A contests. The Lady Wildcats (24-4) face Spring Valley (25-3) at 5 p.m. in the girls state semifinal, followed at 6:30 p.m. by the undefeated Wildcats (29-0) against Berkley (25-1) in the boys state semifinal.