The first two days of the 2023 Chick-fil-A Classic are in the books with some of the country's best high school players putting on a show in front of a packed River Bluff gymnasium. 

16 teams from California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington D.C. were split into two divisions, the CFA-American and the CFA-National. 

At the same time, the 2023 Carolina’s Challenge took place, pitting eight of the best teams from the Carolinas against each other, including two girls teams. The challenge lasted two days and featured teams from Irmo, Indian Land, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte Christian and North Carolina’s Northside Christian, among others. 

Northside Christian and Indian Land opened play on Wednesday. The Knights defeated Indian Land 62-44 in that game. 

Two Chick-fil-A games were played that night. The first match was between W.J. Keenan and St. Johns out of Washington, D.C. St. Johns cruised to a 31-point victory after four players scored double-figures. 

The second game was between host team River Bluff and nearby Ridge View. Korie Corbett scored 27 points and six rebounds to lead the Blazers to a five-point victory. 

The Gators overcame a 16-point third-quarter deficit to make the game competitive at the end but did not have enough in the tank to complete the comeback. Luke Chapman scored 18 points and Yasir Cromer led the team with 19 points. 

The first day also included the girls contest, putting the county’s highest-ranked players against each other. Camden, the No. 1 team in South Carolina girls 3A, faced undefeated Grace Christian out of North Carolina. The Bulldogs dropped its second game of the season after losing the contest 58-52, but the talent was on full display for both sides. 

Grace Christian’s Sara Strong, the No. 1 ranked player in the country for the class of 2024, finished with 31 points, two blocks and four steals. Gamecock basketball commit and the No. 2 ranked prospect in the country, Joyce Edwards finished with 27 points, five blocks and three steals. 

Both contests were in full swing by day two. Nine games were played and the night concluded with a three-point and slam dunk contest. 

Four of the nine games were decided by fewer than double-digits. 

DME Academy from Florida and Hillcrest Prep from Arizona played a closely contested match, with DME coming away with a six-point win. Three ESPN top-100 players played in this game, including Baylor commit Jason Asemota.

Richland Northeast and Charlotte Country Day’s game came down to a five-point difference. John Marshall from Virginia defeated Lancaster by nine after the Bruins' star player Jordan Watford hurt his ankle.

Dynamic Prep of Texas defeated North Carolina’s Combine Academy 65-57. Kansas commit Rakease Passmore led all scorers with 31 points in a losing effort. Jaden Toombs, the No. 37 recruit in ESPN’s rankings, led Dynamic Prep with 15 points. 

This game also featured the relatives of former NBA players Jermaine O'Neal and Raymond Felton. O’Neal’s son, Jermaine O’Neal Jr finished with 11 points, and Felton’s cousin, Jasheem Felton scored five points.

Two other No. 1 players in the country were also present for the Chick-fil-A Challenge. A.J Dybantsa, the unanimous No. 1 player in the class of 2025, and Tyran Stokes, the Unanimous No. 1 player in the class of 2026, helped lead Prolific Prep of California past Gray Collegiate. 

The War Eagles kept the game close until its closing minutes when Prolific Prep was able to pull away. Stokes scored 12, and Dybantsa had 11. Alabama commit Aiden Sherrell led the team with 15 points. Braylhan Thomas, Trey Maddox and L.J. Britt all scored double-figures for Gray. 

The Chick-fil-A Classic will conclude over the next two days with each team guaranteed at least two more games. The championship contests will be played at 7 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on Saturday. 

Full Chick-fil-A Classic and Carolina’s Challenge scoreboard

Wednesday 

Northside Christian (NC): 62, Indian Land (SC): 44

Richland Northeast (SC): 54, Charlotte Christian (NC): 47

Charlotte Country Day (NC): 58, Irmo (SC): 40

 St. John's (DC): 80, W.J. Keenan (SC): 49

Grace Christian - Girls (NC): 58, Camden - Girls (SC): 52

Ridge View (SC): 64, River Bluff (SC): 59

Thursday

Grayson (GA) 86, Imani Christian (PA): 69

Dream City Christian (AZ): 65, Rock School (FL): 49

Indian Land (SC): 86, Charlotte Christian: 53

DME Academy (FL): 62, Hillcrest Prep (AZ): 56

Charlotte Country Day (NC): 51, Richland Northeast (SC): 46

Dynamic Prep (TX): 65, Combine Academy (NC): 57

Northside Christian (NC): 70, Irmo (SC): 51 Northside Christian (NC)

Prolific Prep (CA): 63, Gray Collegiate (SC): 47

John Marshall (VA): 68, Lancaster (SC): 59

Friday

Combine Academy (NC): 69, The Rock School (FL): 59 

River Bluff (SC): 55, Lancaster (SC): 48

W.J. Keenan (SC): 61,  Imani Christian (PA): 46

Hillcrest Prep (AZ) vs. Gray Collegiate (SC)

St. John's (DC) vs. Grayson (GA)

Dream City (AZ) vs. Dynamic Prep (TX)

Ridge View (SC) vs. John Marshall (VA)

DME Academy (FL) vs. Prolific Prep (CA)

Saturday 

TBD