Gray Collegiate Academy is getting set for a Class 2A Upper State final appearance Feb. 24 in girls basketball and a third meeting with top-ranked W.J. Keenan.

The Lady Raiders won both games this season led by the Class 2A Player of the Year and University of South Carolina-bound guard Milaysia Fulwiley.

But the Lady War Eagles do have someone on the sidelines more than knowledgeable as a player and head coach to prepare them. 

Visit with head coach Brandon Wallace, and he’s not shy about displaying his three state championship rings won as a Gray Collegiate boys assistant coach.

The former S.C. Mr. Basketball also proudly shows off his retired framed jersey from Silver Bluff High School.

There’s also another championship ring he wears, which reminds him of a special anniversary coming up from 20 years ago. 

It was March 8, 2003. Wallace and the Bulldogs faced top-ranked Calhoun County for the Class 2A title at the newly-constructed Carolina Center (now Colonial Life Arena). 

Like W.J. Keenan, Calhoun County was one of the top teams in the state. They also had a top prospect in future University of South Carolina guard Zambolist “Buck” Fredrick, whose father and head coach led the nation in scoring with the Gamecocks and has won a state-record 10 titles, along with future Clemson and NFL lineman Phillip Merling.

The Saints were also seeking vindication after losing in the previous year’s final to Allendale-Fairfax, a team that eliminated Silver Bluff from the playoffs. They also had momentum after rallying from 19 points down in the Upper State final to defeat Woodmont. 

And just like Gray Collegiate has never defeated the Lady Raiders, Silver Bluff was also winless all-time against the Saints. 

Against those odds, a determined Silver Bluff team stunned Calhoun County in the final seconds for the 59-58 victory. 

Through the first three quarters, it appeared the Bulldogs would fall short again. Down 10 at one point, they managed to rally within a bucket behind the three-point shooting of Wallace and dribble penetration of point guard Brandon Bussey. 

They also switched a taller defender in Terrance Crawford on Fredrick, who had scored 25 points at the time. The ninth grader held the state Mr. Basketball guard scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by a point with 3.2 seconds left, Wallace followed a Bussey drive to the basket as his layup missed and pulled off the one-handed tip-in through the nets that sent all of Aiken County into a frenzy.

“That final minute, if I recall, it was crazy,” he said. “I don’t recall even looking up at the scoreboard. A play would stop, I would look up, ‘We’re down six, we’re down four. All right, we’re right here.’ The play call that we ran was a halfcourt set. So Brandon Bussey, some kind of way out of a halfcourt set, we got a breakaway layup on that final few seconds. Bussey just happened to miss it and I just remember chasing him. Everybody thought the play was supposed to come to me which was a good play by Lilly ... and my dad. My dad took my senior year off to help Coach Lilly coach our team.”

“Obviously, Bussey was supposed to make the layup,” Wallace continued. “But I just happened to be in the right place in the right time because everybody on both teams was chasing him to the rim because it was a breakaway layup and it happens to roll off and everybody’s looking up, I just happen to be there. Actually, I tapped it with my left hand. It wasn’t like a right-handed tap. It was my left hand.”  

Gray Collegiate dispatched Region 4-2A rival Fairfield Central 52-21 on Feb. 21 to earn a trip to the Class 2A Upper State final. 

Ironically, Wallace’s alma mater faced W.J. Keenan in the other Upper State matchup, losing 60-46.

Which sets up the teams for a third tilt at Bob Jones University in Greenville.  Wallace, dangling the state play title ring he won at Silver Bluff, said he already has a speech ready to inspire his team.

“Anything is possible,” Wallace said. “No matter how big the opponent is, if you put that work in and believe in yourself, anything can happen.”