Basketball season is tipping off this week for many teams in Lexington County. 

Before the first few games were played, the state’s basketball coaches association released its top 10 boys and girls teams for each classification. The coaches also revealed their selections for elite players and top seniors. 

Lexington County made appearances on all three lists with 10 teams ranked, two top seniors and one SCBCA Elite boy. 

Gray Collegiate’s Levi Ball is considered among the best in the state by the basketball coaches. The senior is Lexington County’s only elite player selection, coming off an exciting junior campaign in which he averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks per game. 

With Ball, the War Eagles are the highest-ranked team in Lexington County, coming in third in the 4A boys poll. 

Gray is under the leadership of Dion Bethea, once again, after he took a season off to dabble in college coaching. It will be his first run with the team in the 4A classification after building a dynasty that dominated 2A.

Dutch Fork’s boys are the next-highest-ranked team, sitting fourth in the 5A Division I coaches poll. 

The Silver Foxes return a good chunk of talent from last season’s region championship team, including Justus Bell. He was named a top senior in the classification by the coaches, following an All-State junior season.

Batesburg-Leesville’s Ta’Maj Gilliam was the other selected top senior from Lexington County. 

The Panthers are ninth in the 2A boys poll, thanks in part to Gilliam. He has been a weapon for the Panthers, averaging 16 points a season ago. 

Like Dutch Fork, Batesburg-Leesville is also attempting to defend a region title. The Panthers have a strong returning core that knows what it takes to win. 

Seven other local teams earned a spot in the rankings. 

Rounding things out for the boys, Irmo is the eighth-ranked team in 5A Division II. The Yellow Jackets are entering their second season under Alex Quillen. 

Brookland-Cayce was also recognized, entering the year as the projected eighth-best team in 4A. The Bearcats are entering year one of the Larry Davis era and are already getting the attention of other coaches in the state. 

Five girls' teams received recognition. Four of them come from the same conference. 

Dutch Fork, Lexington, Chapin and Irmo are all included in the rankings. Dutch Fork and Lexington are sixth and seventh in the 5A Division I girls poll, while Chapin and Irmo are ninth and 10th in Division II. 

Gray Collegiate is the other ranked girls team, sitting 10th in 4A. The War Eagles are the only ranked girls team outside of 5A  in Lexington County. 

Below is the full list of rankings. 

South Carolina basketball team rankings

5A Division I boys

1. Ridge View

2. Byrnes

3. Dorman

4. Dutch Fork

5. James Island

6. Sumter

7. Mauldin

8. Cane Bay

9. Ashley Ridge

10. Clover

5A Division I girls

1. Blythewood

2. Dorman

3. Clover

4. Byrnes

5. JL Mann

6. Dutch Fork

7. Lexington

8. Carolina Forest

9. Rock Hill

10. Ridge View

5A Division II boys

1. Greenville

2. Fort Mill

3. Goose Creek

4. Riverside

5. TL Hanna

6. Westwood

7. St. James

8. Irmo

9. Conway

10. Berkeley

5A Division II girls 

1. Berkeley

2. Greenwood

3. Gaffney

4. Goose Creek

5. Greenville

6. Fort Mill

7. North Myrtle Beach

8. Westwood 

9. Chapin

10. Irmo

4A boys

1. Wilson

2. North Augusta

3. Gray Collegiate

4. South Point

5. Lancaster 

6. Seneca

7. Fountain Inn

8. Brookland-Cayce

9. Wren

10. Bluffton

4A girls

1. North Augusta

2. Westside

3. South Pointe

4. Camden

5. Lower Richland

6. Bishop England

7. Daniel

8. Blue Ridge

9. A.C. Flora

10. Gray Collegiate

3A boys

1. Christ Church

2. Loris

3. Keenan

4. Fox Creek

5. Oceanside 

6. Belton-Honea Path

7. Orangeburg Wilkinson

8. North Charleston

9. Union County

10. Powdersville

3A girls

1. Dillon

2. St. Joseph’s

3. Keenan

4. Walhalla

5. Orangeburg-Wilkinson

6. Chapman

7. Oceanside Collegiate

8. Woodruff

9. West-Oak

10. Southside Christian 

2A boys

1. High Point Academy

2. Atlantic Collegiate

3. Andrew Jackson

4. Liberty

5. Hampton County

6. Central

7. Chesnee

8. Mullins

9. Batesburg-Leesville

10. York Prep (Tie)

10. Lake Marion (Tie)

2A girls

1. Andrew Jackson 

2. Clinton

3. Lake Marion

4. Lake City

5. Burke

6. Kingstree

7. Atlantic Collegiate

8. Eau Claire 

9. Blacksburg

10. Saluda