Girls basketball season continued last week with many Lexington County teams adding key wins and improving their record before partaking in holiday tournament action. 

A few tournaments began last weekend after the Chronicle’s print deadline, including the Christmas Classic at Lexington High School. Three local teams are in the tournament, including Lexington. Dutch Fork and Northside Christian are the other two. 

All three of those teams are some of the best in the county during this early portion of the season. 

Before the tournament, Dutch Fork finished last week 2-0 with big wins over A.C. Flora and Spring Valley. The Silver Foxes entered the tournament 9-0 and are playing great basketball. 

Lexington lost its only normal game last week, falling to Spring Valley in a two-point game. It was the team’s second loss of the season after losing to A.C. Flora the week before. 

Northside Christian won its two games before the tournament by a large margin, beating Ashley Hall 58-21 and Gilbert 66-44 to improve to 12-0 this year. 

All three teams won their first-round game of the Christmas Classic on Saturday and advanced to Monday’s championship game. Dutch Fork handed Blythewood their first loss of the season, Lexington beat Lakewood 74-22 behind a career-high 17 points from Kiera Bobseine and Northside beat Richland Northeast 50-38. 

River Bluff went unbeaten last week to pull its record over .500 this season. The Gators beat Lugoff-Elgin for a second time this season and followed that up with wins over Westminster Catawba Christian and Bethune-Bowman. 

Irmo had a solid week winning two of its three outings. The team beat Columbia 75-9. Abby Livingston was two assists and one steal away from a triple-double. The team then lost to Blythewood but bounced back with a win over Charlotte’s Independence High School as part of a tournament in Rock Hill. 

White Knoll continues to be one of the best surprises this season, improving to 8-4 with wins over Laurens and Indian Land. Eight wins is already the most for the Timberwolves since the 2019-20 season, and it’s only December. 

Shaelyn Hayes got close to a quadruple-double against Laurens, finishing that game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and six steals. The Timberwolves also participated in the Rock Hill tournament after the Chronicle’s press deadline. 

Airport went on a three-game winning streak to improve to 7-4 this season. The Eagles played a few games in the Rock Hill Christmas tournament as well after the Chronicle’s press deadline. 

Just three local teams went winless last week. Gilbert fell to 2-9 with losses to Ben Lippen, Aiken and Northside Christian. The Indians are now 0-2 in region games and will have a little over two weeks to prepare for their next game against South Aiken.

Batesburg-Leesville and American Leadership are still winless this season. The Patriots enter with week 0-4 and the Panthers are 0-5. The two will eventually meet in the region season, guaranteeing at least one team will get a win at some point this season. 

After the holiday tournament period passes, many local teas will be back in action to complete their out-of-region schedules. Region games will begin not long after and the race for the playoffs will be on. 

Big Performances 

Abby Livingston had 28 points, eight assists and nine steals in Irmo’s 75-9 win over Columbia.

Michaela Fairwell scored 23 points, five rebounds and three steals in Dutch Fork’s win against A.C. Flora. 

Shaelyn Hayes finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and six steals for White Knoll against Laurens.

Kamryn Etheredge had 17 points, six rebounds and six steals in Brookland-Cayce’s win over Batesburg-Leesville.  

Last Week’s Scores

Chapin- Denmark-Olar (55-40, L), Blythewood (71-49, L), Catawba Ridge (50-36, W)

Dutch Fork- A.C. Flora (59-42, W), Spring Valley (76-55, W), Blythewood (65-51, W)

Irmo- Columbia (75-9, W), Blythewood (74-22, L), Independence (63-23, W)

Lexington- Spring Valley (59-57, L), Lakewood (74-22, W)

River Bluff- Lugoff-Elgin (46-42, W), Westminster Catawba Christian (60-32, W), Bethune-Bowman (51-38, W) 

White Knoll- Laurens (48-25, W),  Indian Land (55-24, W)

Airport- South Aiken (29-23, W), Bethune-Bowman (51-23, W), Westminster Catawba Christian (52-45, W)

Brookland-Cayce- Midland Valley, (55-39, L), Batesburg-Leesville (50-19, W), Silver Bluff (33-30, W)

Gilbert- Ben Lippen (40-27, L), Aiken (59-45, L), Northside Christian (66-44, L)

Gray Collegiate- North Augusta (37-28, L), Myrtle Beach (55-34, W), Powdersville (58-45, W)

Swansea- Batesburg-Leesville (26-16, W), Fairfield Central (39-25, L)

American Leadership- North (53-24, L)

Batesburg-Leesville- Swansea (26-16, L), Brookland-Cayce (50-19, L)

Pelion- Whitmire (47-13, W)

Northside Christian- Ashley Hall (58-21, W), Gilbert (66-44, W), Richland Northeast (50-38, W)