It was a festive season of hoops in Lexington County as the slate of holiday tournaments wrapped up with the Lexington Roundball and Big Red Box competitions. 

These tournaments marked the final stretch of basketball before the region season begins. 

The Lexington Roundball was held from Dec. 26-28 and featured three local teams and 13 other talented teams from the state. 

It was the first year the event was held at Lexington High School after Wildcats head coach and event organizer Robert Wells moved from Brookland-Cayce. 

The three-day event featured many close games, exciting finishes and outstanding individual performances. In the end, Fort Mill and North Augusta left as champions, going undefeated to win their brackets. 

The Yellow Jackets made a second-half push and overcame a double-digit deficit to beat Byrnes in overtime. 

Down multiple possessions in the final minute of regulation, the team had to resort to the free-throw game. Fortunately, Byrnes missed enough shots to give Fort Mill a clean three-point look in the closing second to tie the game. 

Things were flipped in the overtime period with Fort Mill leading, and Byrnes resorting to intentional fouls. The Rebels had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but air-balled the final shot, ending the game. 

North Augusta won their bracket after defeating Lexington County’s Dutch Fork in a closely contested championship match. 

The Yellow Jackets finished with a 69-63 win over the Silver Foxes to finish undefeated in the tournament. 

Lexington and White Knoll were the other two Lexington County teams in the tournament. Things could’ve gone better for both teams with White Knoll picking up the only win in its final game versus Hammond. 

TL Hanna, Loris, CA Johnson, Indian Land, Fox Creek, Mauldin and Horse Creek also participated in the competition. 

Following the Roundball was Irmo’s Big Red Box tournament. 

The Yellow Jackets were the only local team involved in the event as Irmo welcomed seven other teams from around the state for its three-day event. 

Irmo did a good job of defending its home floor, going (3-0) and winning the entire competition. The Yellow Jackets started with a 53-41 win over Lakewood before beating Catawba Ridge by three for a spot in the championship game. 

In the title game, Irmo took care of Westside, 61-47. 

Columbia, Spring Valley, Lincoln and Lugoff-Elgin were also in the event. 

Now that holiday hoops are done, all the teams in Lexington County will hit the floor again and prepare for the six weeks of basketball. These final weeks are the most important as region play will determine playoff positioning. 

Region games begin this Friday for many local teams. 

Below are the complete scoreboards for both the Lexington Roundball and the Big Red Box tournaments.   

Lexington Roundball scores

Day 1

Dutch Fork: 60, Hammond: 16

North Augusta: 78, White Knoll: 53

TL Hanna: 62, Loris: 59

CA Johnson: 74, Indian Land: 69

Fort Mill: 80, Lower Richland: 61

Byrnes: 74, Horse Creek: 62

Mauldin: 55, Lexington: 46

Fox Creek: 77, Ben Lippen: 69

Day 2

Indian Land: 71, Hammond: 34

White Knoll: 76, Loris: 75

Ben Lippen: 71, Horse Creek: 56 

Lexington: 58, Lower Richland: 57

Fort Mill: 61, Mauldin: 52

TL Hanna: 62, North Augusta: 52

Dutch Fork: 71, CA Johnson: 54

Byrnes: 107, Fox Creek: 83 

Day 3

White Knoll: 53, Hammond: 45

Loris: 59, Indian Land: 57

Horse Creek: 62, Lexington: 57

Fox Creek: 71, Mauldin: 68 - National Bracket 3rd place game

TL Hanna: 71, CA Johnson: 55 - American Bracket 3rd place game

Fort Mill: 82, Byrnes: 79 - National Bracket Championship game

North Augusta: 69,  Dutch Fork: 63 - American Bracket Championship game

Big Red Box scores

Day 1

Westside: 89, Columbia: 62

Lincoln: 72, Spring Valley: 63

Catawba Ridge: 56, Lugoff-Elgin: 54

Irmo: 53, Lakewood: 41

Day 2

Columbia: 96, Spring Valley: 51

Lugoff-Elgin: 69, Lakewood: 45

Lincoln: 66, Westside: 51

Irmo: 54,Catawba Ridge: 51

Day 3

Lakewood: 71, Columbia: 56

Spring Valley: 63, Lugoff-Elgin: 60

Lincoln: 54, Catawba Ridge: 43

Irmo: 61, Westside: 47