The playoff race in Region 5-5A for girls' basketball got even more intriguing Friday.
Led by Reagan Rozier's 16 points, River Bluff defeated White Knoll 50-41 on the road. 
The loss dropped the Lady Timberwolves (3-3, 3-2) into a 1st place tie with Lexington in the region standings. The 2 teams meet again on Feb. 11 in Lexington. 
Meanwhile, the Lady Gators (6-6, 4-3) moved into a tie with Dutch Fork for 3rd place. A victory Feb. 13 at home against White Knoll to close out region play could move it into position for 1 of the 2 playoff berths.
"I told the girls once we dropped those 2 (games) to Dutch Fork, we've got to win out," River Bluff head coach Candice Cobb said. "We've got to win out. We've got to keep battling. We've got to keep fighting. We're not done. We're not done and they showed me tonight that they're not done either. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be fun." 
River Bluff jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the 1st quarter sparked by Rozier's 10 points. White Knoll fought back to get within 29-21 at halftime led by Jasmine Jenkins, who finished with a team-high 10 points. 
Jaden Tucker hit a pair of driving baseline jumpers as part of a 10-2 run to open the 2nd half for River Bluff. Down 39-23, White Knoll began its comeback by scoring the final 8 points of the 3rd quarter. 
A banked 3-pointer by Adriana Henderson at the buzzer cut the Lady Gators' lead to 39-31. An 8-2 run to open the 4th quarter got White Knoll within a basket with less than 2 minutes left.
 Rozier hit a short jumper to put River Bluff up 43-39. She then blocked a shot attempt which the Lady Gators turned into a 3-pointer by Kennedy Marren to push the lead to 46-39.
"I came in with a strong mentality and finished with the same," Rozier said. 
A pair of free throws by Dystynn Fletcher extended River Bluff's lead to 48-39 which proved to be the margin of victory.

Irmo 74, Lugoff-Elgin 23
The 8th ranked Lady Yellow Jackets picked up their 3rd straight win at home to close out the regular season.
A more important victory, however, took place away from "The Temple of Doom". 
As Irmo (12-3, 7-3) was putting away the Lady Demons, Dreher held on for a 36-34 win over AC Flora. The loss by the Lady Falcons enabled the Lady Yellow Jackets to finish no lower than 2nd place in Region 4-4A.
Westwood can clinch the region title with a win Feb. 12 against Lugoff-Elgin. 
Michaela Fairwell had 14 points and 4 steals, Maliyiah Mason finished with 12 points and Alani Liriano and Emily Johnson each finished with 10 points for Irmo. 

Dutch Fork 65, Chapin 47
Hillary Offing scored 25 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and Antoinet Cheeseboro had 15 points to lead the Lady Silver Foxes. 
Maia Brown also scored in double figures with 10 points and had 7 assists for Dutch Fork (7-4, 4-3), who are tied with River Bluff for 3rd place in Region 5-5A.
Gracie Derrick had 12 points and Sophia Hobbs finished with 11 for Chapin (3-7, 0-6), which plays its home finale Tuesday against White Knoll. 

BOYS BASKETBALL
Irmo 88, Lugoff-Elgin 39
The showdown for the Region 4-4A title is set for Monday night in Columbia.
The 2nd ranked Yellow Jackets won their 3rd straight victory to set up the clash with top-ranked AC Flora. 
Dylan Williams scored 24 points and had 6 assists. Jaylen Hollis had 13 points, Juice Keitt finished with 12 points and Rivaldy Louis added 10 for Irmo (9-5, 6-1).
The Yellow Jackets drop the 1st meeting 51-45 at home on Jan. 19. They close out the season with 2 games against Dreher on Wednesday and Friday. 

North Augusta 66, Airport 34
Jeremiah Harris scored 16 points in a losing effort against the Yellow Jackets.
Airport (2-11, 1-4) plays host to Aiken Friday. 

Brookland-Cayce 81, Strom Thurmond 43
The Bearcats closed out the regular season with an 8-3 overall record, 4-1 in Region 5-3A.
B-C will await the format for the region tournament scheduled to begin Feb. 12. It did not play Orangeburg-Wilkinson and Gilbert and had just 1 game against Fox Creek.