Without leading scorer and rebounder Brandon Crawford due to illness, third-ranked Irmo High School had more than a fight on its hands against visiting Ridge View.

The combined 52 personal fouls called, and 72 free throw attempts were the byproduct of the physical, Region 4-4A contest. Once again, the Yellow Jackets overcame the absence of a key player to claim the 59-49 win over the Blazers.

In winning a  straight game, Irmo (15-2, 2-0) had four players in double figures. Te’Andre Summons scored 16 points, followed by A.J. Brand with 15, Jonathan White with 13 and Maddie Collins with 11. Collins was two of five Yellow Jacket players to foul out, but head coach Tim Whipple praised the way his team managed to earn victory in an atypical manner.

“We don't play an extremely physical game,” said Whipple, who picked up his 831^st career win which is second all-time in S.C. High School League history. “They do and having it called closely, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. But if it does make it hard to get into the flow of the game and I think that was to our favor tonight with it being more stop and go. But, you know, you have to make those free throws and you have to hope the other team doesn’t.”

The game was tied at 10-10 after one quarter. The Yellow Jackets opened up a 10-point lead with 56 seconds left in the second quarter, but a layup by Ukata brought Ridge View to within 29-21 at halftime.

The fouls began to accumulate in the second half. As Ridge View started to lose players, Irmo capitalized from the charity stripe where it made 29/44 free throws and led as many as 12 points.  

In comparison, Ridge View was just 13/26 from the free-throw line. Adonis Johnson and Korie Corbitt kept the Blazers within striking distance with 23 and 10 points, respectively, but they only got within six points in the fourth quarter.

“Well, I think when you get in a situation and everybody understands what has to be done during the game, everybody has to understand their roles change you know, and so everybody has to contribute and do a little bit more to make up for that,” Whipple said. “And I think tonight was a perfect example of that. It was hard. I mean, we struggled. It wasn’t like we played a perfect game. But we were so resilient and played with so much heart and determination. So, I think that says a lot for the character of our group.”

Up next for Irmo is a road trip Jan. 13 to A.C. Flora.

Lexington 55, Chapin 34

Cam Scott scored 18 points, Kaleb Evans added 13 and Jose Figueroa finished with 10 to lead the fifth ranked Wildcats (10-6, 1-0).

They next play host to River Bluff in the Sonic Friday Night Rivals Game of the Week on Jan. 13. It’s the second meeting between the two archrivals with Lexington defeating the Gators during the Chick-Fil-A Classic in The Swamp.

Tyson Ray had 12 points for the Eagles.

River Bluff 62, White Knoll 51

Omari Caldwell scored 16 points, Nick Renner had 14 and Pac Pitts finished with 11 for the Gators.

For the second time this season, River Bluff will face archrival Lexington on Jan. 13 at Wildcat Gymnasium.

James Smith led the Timberwolves (8-11, 0-1) with 11 points and Brice Newton had 10.

Gray Collegiate 83, Fairfield Central 25

Montraivis White scored 28 points and Ellis Graham added 11 as the top-ranked War Eagles (12-5, 1-0) won their fifth straight game.

The two teams meet again on Jan. 13.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson 73, Gilbert 21

Midland Valley 51, Airport 36

Dreher 66, Swansea 27

Lower Richland 55, Brookland-Cayce 48

Girls Basketball

Lexington 63, Chapin 25

Senior center Lindsay Garner stood out once again for the sixth ranked Lady Wildcats.

After scoring a career-high 31 points against Stall, the West Georgia signee opened Region 4-5A by outscoring the entire Lady Eagles’ roster. She scored 18 of her 27 points in the first half for the second straight game to go with 15 points from senior guard Jenna Yanity and eight points from Evie Godfrey.

Lexington (11-5, 1-0) plays host to archrival River Bluff in the Sonic Friday Night Rivals Game of the Week. It will air on Channel 1250 on Spectrum and will be streamed at both wach.com and the Lexington Sports Network on YouTube.

Brooke Holmes led Chapin (6-6, 0-1) with 10 points. The Lady Eagles travel to Dutch Fork on Jan. 13.

River Bluff 49, White Knoll 32

Mary Carson Eick scored 15 points and Jaden Tucker had 13 as the Lady Gators won their Region 4-5A opener.

River Bluff (10-6, 1-0) next travels to archrival Lexington on Jan. 13.

Shaelyn Hayes had 11 points for the Lady Timberwolves (3-16, 0-1), who next travel to Dutch Fork on Jan. 13.

Ridge View 47, Irmo 42

Simone Johnson scored 19 points as the Lady Blazers rallied late for the Region 4-4A victory.

Abby Livingston scored 16 points and Andrea Collins added 12 for the Lady Yellow Jackets (6-8, 1-1) in the loss.

Swansea 36, Dreher 33           

Iyanna Butler scored 16 points and Dazejah Lanham added 10 for the Lady Tigers (9-4, 1-0) who won their fourth straight game.

Swansea next plays host to Orangeburg-Wilkinson on Jan. 13.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson 44, Gilbert 40

The Lady Indians held a 27-21 halftime lead, but were outscored 23-13 in the second half and scored just four points in the fourth quarter.

Gilbert (10-6, 0-1) next plays host to Lower Richland on Jan. 13.

Midland Valley 48, Airport 44

Gray Collegiate 54, Fairfield Central 37

Lower Richland 63, Brookland-Cayce 9