The girls basketball season is about to shift into high gear.

Region play is set to begin this week for the majority of teams in Lexington County. For most of the area, it will be their first game in almost two weeks as teams took breaks for the holiday season. 

Five teams were on the floor last week though, using those opportunities to maintain consistency before the big games begin. The rest of the county can’t come out of their break sluggish or else they could find themselves in a hole early. 

Chapin, Lexington, River Bluff, Batesburg-Leesville and Northside Christian resumed action early with games against non-region foes last week. The results were mixed for the group, going a combined 5-5 in 10 games. 

The Wildcats continue to impress, beginning this week (12-2) overall with their only losses coming in holiday tournament games. Last week, the team picked up wins over Pennsylvania’s Perkiomen Valley and Oceanside Collegiate. 

Lexington will be tested in region right from the jump with a game against (10-3) Irmo scheduled for this Friday. The Wildcats swept the Yellow Jackets last season. 

River Bluff began this week (8-5) and will look to make some noise in the region after finishing at the bottom in each of the past two seasons. 

The Gators won their game over Nation Ford last week and will play the Falcons again on Wednesday after the Chronicle’s press deadline. River Bluff begins region play on Friday against White Knoll.

Chapin is in a similar spot as River Bluff. The Eagles are (8–5) with their first region game coming on Friday against Dutch Fork. The Eagles have consistently finished in the middle of the standings and are looking to finally break through to the top. 

The Eagles went (1-2) in their games last week with a win over St. Joseph’s and losses to Clover and Spartanburg. 

Irmo, Dutch Fork and White Knoll were all off during the holidays and will jump straight into key region contests. 

Batesburg-Leesville got a game in against Midland Valley last week, losing 62-19. The Panthers started the week (1-6) and are looking to turn things around before starting conference play early next week.

Rounding things out, Northside Christian is coming off a three-game week, going (1-2) against teams from North Carolina. The Crusaders started region play on Tuesday against Heathwood Hall. 

Moving forward, it’s full speed ahead until the playoffs begin. Region games will be played from now until the middle of February when region champions are crowned and the standings are finalized. 

Upcoming games to watch

Irmo vs. Lexington - Jan. 9

Dutch Fork vs. Chapin - Jan. 9

Northside Christian vs. Ben Lippen - Jan. 13

Gray Collegiate vs. South Aiken - Jan. 13

Gilbert vs. Brookland-Cayce - Jan. 13

Last week’s top performances 

Sydni Anderson finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks as Lexington beat Oceanside Collegiate.

Sami Stephenson had 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals in Chapin’s win against St. Joseph’s. 

Jenna Johnson scored 10 points and added 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in River Bluff’s win versus Nation Ford. 

Last week’s scores 

Chapin - Clover (48-36, L), St. Joseph’s (51-40, W), Spartanburg (53-40, L)

Lexington - Perkiomen Valley (PA) (53-45, W), Oceanside Collegiate (54-45, W)

River Bluff - Nation Ford (50-47, W)

Batesburg-Leesville - Midland Valley (62-19, L)

Northside Christian - Loveland (70-11, L) East Forsyth (63-28, L), Brevard (50-15, W)