Gaining early season momentun by winning the Lake Murray Tipoff was not the only plus Lexington High School received Friday.
The 53-47 win over White Knoll also served as an indicator to what to expect in Region 5-5A play. The Wildcats led as many as 13 points, but found themselves having to fight off the Timberwolves right down to the final seconds.
"We definitely got a good idea of what region play is going to be like," Lexington head coach Elliott Pope said. "It's going to be tough. It's going to be physical. It's going to be extremely competitive. Dutch Fork is up in the stands scouting. So, it's something where we're excited to come out of it with a win, but we know we've got to play a tough White Knoll team 3 more times this year. So it's not going to be easy."
 Lexington had a 31-20 halftime lead as Cam Scott and Zavier Measmer combined for 19 1st half points. They both led the Wildcats with 15 and 13 points, respectively. 
White Knoll opened the 2nd half with 8 unanswered points, only to have the Wildcats answer back to push the lead back to 43-34 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
A dunk by Scott and jumper by Keldric Bouknight gave Lexington a 47-34 advantage in the 4th quarter. It did not score another field goal the rest of the way, while White Knoll got key baskets from Jaylen Ray, who finished with 11 points, and Jeremiah Brown, who had 10.
The Timberwolves closed the game to 49-47 with 15 seconds left. Free throws by Measmer and Bouknight closed out the scoring for Lexington.
White Knoll returns to action Tuesday at AC Flora, then opens region play Dec. 4 at Dutch Fork. 
Lexington officially opens region play Dec. 4 at home against River Bluff. The 2 teams will team meet again Dec. 8 in The Swamp, followed by another home-at-home region matchup with White Knoll Dec. 11 at Red Bank and Dec. 15 at Lexington.
"It's going to be tough," Pope said. "This region is going