The boys and girls lacrosse regular season hit the midway point last week and region competition is ramping up with the standings just starting to take shape. 

Last week saw a few thrillers with games going down to the wire. Likewise, there were also some lopsided blowouts that got out of hand early. 

Both local 5A conferences remain close. The Lexington boys and Chapin girls enter the week 3-0 and in first place after picking up district wins last week. 

Lexington defeated White Knoll 14-7 on March 11. The Wildcats jumped to a quick lead from the start, going up 7-1 at the end of the first quarter. 

Chapin dominated Dutch Fork and White Knoll by a combined score of 42-6 to capture first place. Ava-Claire Collins had seven goals against Dutch Fork and four goals and two assists against White Knoll. 

Moving down the standings, teams are fighting to catch up. On the boys side, Chapin and Dutch Fork were tied at 2-1, and on the girls side, Lexington and River Bluff were 2-1. 

The Lexington girls got the upper hand on the River Bluff girls the previous week, but the Gators recovered nicely to even their records by week’s end. 

The Gators ended their week with a 15-10 over Dutch Fork to move past the Silver Foxes in the standings. 

“I thought our hustle was great. I think we came up with the ball when we needed to. We slowed the ball down at the beginning of the game and kind of got control,” head coach Shannon Aikens said. “I think we did a really nice job on finishing some of those shots.”

Aikens and the Gators have spent the early portion of this season establishing an identity and building their bond as a team. 

“Our biggest theme this year has been really building on our confidence and skill as a team, being good teammates, being supportive and motivating one another,” Aikens said. “I think that really is starting to translate on the field with chemistry and connectedness and just trying to get the girls to have this hustle mentality where nothing is out of our reach and nothing is out of our control.”

The tie for second on the boys side between Chapin and Dutch Fork sits in the Eagles’ favor after they defeated the Silver Foxes by a point 12-11 last week. Chapin’s Holden Condrey scored four goals and added two assists, while Zac Covey scored three. 

Will Puckett scored five goals for Dutch Fork in the loss. Chapin took their lead in the third quarter after outscoring Dutch Fork 5-2. The Silver Foxes outscored Chapin in the final period by one, but it was not enough. 

Both White Knoll teams are at the bottom of the conference standings entering this week at 0-4 with losses against all the other region teams. Fortunately, they will get an opportunity to play rematches before the season ends to try and steal a conference win or two. 

Outside of the county’s 5A teams, the Irmo girls earned their first win of the season last week against Midland Valley. The Yellow Jackets won 12-5 on March 11. 

While teams are playing region games, they will continue playing non-region contests in the same week to get more experience before the start of playoffs. 

Big Performances

Ava-Claire Collins had a huge week for the Chapin girls team scoring 21 goals across four games. 

Izzy Saville scored eight goals for the Lexington girls team in their win over White Knoll. 

Elle Eastwood had a five-goal game for River Bluff against Lakeside and then followed that up with six against region rival Dutch Fork. 

Owen Salazar scored five goals and an assist for the Chapin boys team in their win against Greenville. 

Grant Dupree came up big for the Dutch Fork boys last week with a six-goal, seven-assist game against White Knoll and a five-goal, two-assist game against River Bluff.

Games to watch

Lexington vs. Chapin girls — March 21 — 7 p.m.

Chapin vs. Lexington boys — March 21 — 7:15 p.m.

Dutch Fork vs. Irmo girls — March 23 — 1:30 p.m.

Chapin vs. Boiling Springs boys — March 23 — 6 p.m.