Only nine S.C. High School League members have managed to win the boys and girls basketball titles in the same day.

Having watched the Lady War Eagles win, the War Eagles went about making their school the 10th on March 3 by repeating as Class 2A champion.

Standing in the way was fellow charter school Oceanside Collegiate.

Sparked by an increased defensive effort in the second half and a double-double from Avantae Parker, the top-ranked War Eagles pulled out the 53-43 win at the University of South Carolina-Aiken Convocation Center.

Parker finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Braylin Thomas also had 13 points for Gray Collegiate Academy. Calvin Davinroy finished with 10 points to lead the Landsharks.

The War Eagles (24-5) closed out the regular season with a 10-game winning streak. It began after a Jan. 17 home loss to W.J. Keenan where senior guard Mychael Mitchell collapsed and suffered a seizure after falling to the floor in the closing seconds.

Quick actions by head athletic trainer Madison Keim helped revive Mitchell at the scene. 

Mitchell returned to the team two weeks later. Fittingly, he had the ball in the final seconds of the state final and threw it in the air as time expired.

“It just felt good,” said Mitchell, who finished with seven points. “Good win, good feeling, great coaches. I can’t do nothing but thank them and love them.”

It was a closely fought first half with the War Eagles holding a 25-24 lead. A concern for Gray Collegiate was  senior guard and Class 2A Player of the Year Montraivis White picking up three personal fouls in the first half.

Gray Collegiate turned to its defense to pull away from the Landsharks. It outscored Oceanside Collegiate 14-6 in the third quarter and led as many as 11 points with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“Since I’ve been at Gray, I always we’ve been one of the top defending teams in the state,” Bethea said. “But we should have been defending a lot better in the first half, but the second half, we really stepped up and showed that we can sit there and guard people.”

“We don’t get talk about enough about our defensive end,” said White, who finished with eight points and five assist. “Once we lock in, we can guard anybody.”

The Landsharks stormed back with a 11-4 run to get within 45-41 with 1:55 left in the game. Leading the rally were Reid Watson and Travis Stickney, who each had nine points, and Jake Rook.

After Mitchell split two free throws, Gray Collegiate turned an Oceanside Collegiate miss into a breakaway slam dunk by Thomas.

It was the first of two-straight open baskets for Thomas in the final minute which helped put the game away for the War Eagles and complete the championship sweep for the school.

Gray Collegiate improved to 5-0 in the state finals and 2-0 at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center.

“This is a great place, great arena, it looks likes the guys love playing here,” Bethea said. “I tell you, man. They played hard. They played to get here. Hats off to Oceanside and I’m just super proud of the program.”