2023 is over, and it was an eventful year for athletics all across the county. From championship wins to realignment and forfeits, the year saw many moments and storylines that will be remembered in the history books.

Here’s a look at some of the top stories related to Lexington County sports in 2023.

Year of Champions 

Many programs won championships in 2023. On the court, the gridiron and the field, teams from Lexington County elevated above their competition and captured their league’s ultimate prize. 

Irmo basketball claims first state title in 10 years

The Imro Yellow Jacket basketball team defeated Lancaster in March during the 2023 4A basketball state championship. 

It was the sixth state title for Irmo, all under current head coach Tim Whipple, and its first championship in a decade. 

The team was led by Class 4A player of the year, senior Brandon Crawford. He was crucial to Irmo’s success last season and returned to the team after battling an illness just in time to guide them to a title. 

Crawford scored 12 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks in his final game as a Yellow Jacket. His presence on both ends of the court allowed Irmo to win by 13 points.

The team as a whole came out and hit Lancaster in the gut, leading 32-9 at the half. Madden Collins and A.J. Brand both made large contributions as well, scoring 16 and 15 points.

Most of that Irmo team has moved on, and this season’s Yellow Jacket squad is looking to make a surprising run of its own.

Gray Collegiate wins dual-basketball plus cheerleading titles

Gray Collegiate had a successful 2023 winning titles in both boys and girls basketball, as well as cheerleading in the team’s final season of 2A competition. 

The school became the 10th program in South Carolina High School League history to win the boys and girls basketball championships on the same day. 

The boys team added another title to its dynasty winning its fifth championship in six seasons under current head coach Dion Bethea. The team ended on a 10-game winning streak, and former War Eagle Avante Parker lifted the team to the big win after securing a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. 

The girls team won earlier in the day to claim its first program title, beating Bishop England 40-32.

Head coach Brandon Wallace won his first title as a coach after winning championships as a player in high school and college. The girls won after playing a balanced game, with Maliyiah Mason and Jordan Mintz leading the team with 11 points each.

The War Eagles cheerleading team won its second competitive championship in a row. Unlike the first title, this one was much more decisive with Gray beating second-place Chesnee by 12.5 points. The previous year the two teams drew and had to go into an extra round.

These were the school’s final 2A championships for the time being as the program will jump to 4A thanks to new realignment guidelines.  

Three local wrestlers take first-place honors at states

Three local wrestlers captured individual first-place honors for their respective weight classes, and 12 other wrestlers medaled.

Chapin’s Preston White, Pelion’s Charlie Spires and Gilbert’s Colton Travis all finished first in their weight classes.  White competed in the 106 division, Spires in 120 and Travis in 195.

Gilbert had its first-ever female wrestler earn a medal after Rory Travis won her first two matches at 145 pounds before losing to Bluffton’s Jada Lawrence by decision to finish in second place.

Chapin and Gilbert led the county with four athletes meddling. River Bluff had three athletes and Pelion, Dutch Fork, Irmo and White Knoll all had one.

Blowfish capture Petitt Cup Championship

The Lexington County Blowfish claimed the Coastal Plain League title over the summer.

Head coach K.C. Brown led the Blowfish to a championship, not only in his first year as the head of Lexington County but also his first year as a leading coach ever. The 25-year-old coach said at the beginning of the season the goal was to win, and he did.

Blowfish co-owner Bill Shanahan said the 2023 Blowfish squad was the “greatest team he ever had.” 

Lexington County native Ashby Vining played a key role in helping a team that had a profound impact on his childhood win a championship. Vining called the experience “amazing.”

Dutch Fork football overcomes sloppy start to win improbable championship

Dutch Fork and head coach Tom Knotts are used to cruising to the 5A football championship game, but this year was not the case. 

The Silver Foxes began the season with its worst start in the Knotts era. The team slugged out to a 2-5 start while battling through injuries and lineup changes.

The team failed to claim its region title for the first time since its creation after the team fell to White Knoll, which went on to go undefeated in the regular season. 

After that loss, the Silver Foxes turned things around and ended on an eight-game winning streak. The team had a few close calls in the playoffs, but eventually got a chance at redemption against White Knoll for the state title. 

Dutch Fork defeated White Knoll 21-6 after a dominant defensive performance, giving up no offensive points. 

The win gives Dutch Fork its eighth championship, all since 2013. It also gives coach Knotts his 15th title as a coach across the Carolinas. 

As the final seconds of the game wound down, the entire Dutch Fork team burst into a “GSE” chant, signifying the program’s greatest story ever. 

Chapin cheerleading wins title after 2022 appeal

The Chapin cheerleading team entered 2023 with a vengeance after their appeal to be named runner-up of the 2022 championship was unanimously denied by the SCHSL Appellate Panel. 

The team finished first place in this year’s state contest and left no debate about whether they earned it. The Eagles scored 336.5 points, while second-place Lexington had 325, and third-place River Bluff finished with 324. 

Chapin claimed its 17th competitive cheer championship this year. The Eagles hold the record for most titles, with 10 more than the second-closest team in Dutch Fork. 

Other Storylines 

Competitive balance 

One of the biggest storylines of the year was the debate about the competitive balance between private, charter schools and public school athletics. 

The issue has been prevalent in the lower classifications of the high school league with private and charter schools dominating postseason play in recent years. 

In the spring, teams in Gray’s region decided to forfeit their contests against the school, citing the War Eagles’ ability to enroll kids from anywhere as an unfair competitive advantage. 

The debate continued over the summer and into the fall season, where Gray was again faced with its region foes forfeiting contests against the school. 

While all of this was going down the high school league’s executive committee held a series of meetings to discuss the issue and find a resolution. 

On Nov. 15, the committee decided to utilize a 3.0x multiplier for all out-of-zone students at all schools. This new rule was used in the new realignment plan that will change the landscape of high school sports in the state. 

Realignment 

The result of the competitive balance debate was the new realignment plan set to take effect during the 2024-25 school year and last for two seasons. 

Four Lexington County schools were bumped up a classification, including Gray Collegiate. The War Eagles will jump two classes, going from 2A to 4A. 

The other teams in the county moving up are Brookland-Cayce, Gilbert and Irmo. Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert will jump from 3A to 4A, while Irmo is set to become the sixth 5A school in the area. 

The alignment plans are not finalized yet, and teams who disagree with the realignment committee’s decision will have the opportunity to appeal. Schools have until Jan. 9 to file an appeal, which will be heard by the executive committee from Jan. 18-19. Following this, region placements will begin to be discussed with school size and location being taken into account. 

American Leadership opens doors

American Leadership Academy opened its doors to students in the 2023-24 school year and fielded its first-ever football team in the same year. 

In the spring the school began filling out its athletic staff and made key hires. The school managed to snag former Spring Valley coach Robin Bacon to lead the football team. 

Other notable hires include Tyson Bouknight as the boys basketball coach and Sandra Shumpert Dickert as the first volleyball coach. Bouknight was previously an assistant at White Knoll. Dickert was formerly the long-time head volleyball coach at Irmo, achieving great success, including two state championships and 13 region coach of the year awards. 

In the program’s first season on the gridiron, the team competed at the JV level and worked extra hard to find games at the beginning of the season. The team competed as an SCHSL at-large team but will be placed into a region starting next year.

Under the new realignment plan, American Leadership is set to compete at the 3A level starting next year. The team has the largest enrollment number in the class post-multiplier. 

Youth league baseball teams see success

Two youth baseball teams won state titles and had the opportunity to leave the state and compete against other teams from around the country with the opportunity to claim a bigger prize. 

The Irmo Junior Little League team finished runner-up at the Junior League World Series Aug. 19 in Taylor, Michigan. Just a couple of weeks before, the Batesburg-Leesville Coach Pitch All-Stars finished runner-up at the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series.

Irmo lost to the host team from Michigan in the United States Championship by way of a walk-off, losing 3-2. 

The team ran through its competition in the state tournament and then made the journey to Virginia for regional competition. There the team played opponents from Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. 

Irmo fell to the team from Florida but survived all of its elimination games to set up a rematch, which the team won to punch their ticket to Michigan.

The team from Batesburg-Leesville had a historic season, winning the state championship and qualifying for the national competition for the first time in its existence. 

Batesburg-Leesville also lost in walk-off fashion, losing to a team from Mississippi 4-3. The team was proud of its performance and was also honored with the sportsmanship award.

Surprise runs define exciting football season 

2023 brought an exciting season of football with many teams around the county playing above their expectations, 

White Knoll put together its best season in program history, qualifying for its first-ever state championship game and finishing the regular season undefeated. Head coach Nick Pelham got his team to play some of the best football in the state but came up just short of knocking down 5A powerhouse and region rival Dutch Fork. 

The Timberwolves beat the Silver Foxes earlier in the season to help claim the region title, marking the first time the prize did not go to Dutch Fork. When the championship game rolled around, however, the Silver Foxes were in peak form and rolled over White Knoll. 

Irmo also put together an undefeated regular season but fell short of claiming the 4A championship after losing to 2022 champion South Florence. 

The Yellow Jackets were led by father-son duo Aaron and A.J. Brand. A.J., the starting quarterback, put up huge numbers for Irmo this season, recording over 4,000 total yards through the air and on the ground and over 60 touchdowns.

Brookland-Cayce made noise by winning the 3A Region 5 title after going a perfect 5-0. The team finished 11-3, losing to Camden in the Lower State Championship.

Gilbert also put together an impressive season in the last year under head coach Chad Leaphart, who moved on to become Lexington 1’s new district athletic director. 

The Indians finished the season 11-2 but lost the region crown to Brookland-Cayce. The team advanced to the Lower State semifinal where it fell to Camden. 

Cam Scott becomes Lexington’s all-time-scoring leader 

Lexington High School basketball standout Cam Scott made history this year by becoming the Wildcats’ all-time leader in points scored. 

He broke the boys record in February when he scored his 1,785th point as a Wildcat. In December, he scored his 1,938th point to pass Olivia Thompson for the most points scored on either the boys or girls side. 

Scott passed the 2,000-point mark on Dec. 22. In August the senior committed to play college ball at the University of Texas at Austin.