Dutch Fork beats River Bluff to set up region title showdown with Lexington girls

Irmo, Northside Christian boys closing in on region titles

Posted 2/7/23

It’s “winner take all” for the Region 4-5A girls’ basketball title.

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Dutch Fork beats River Bluff to set up region title showdown with Lexington girls

Irmo, Northside Christian boys closing in on region titles

Posted

It’s “winner take all” for the Region 4-5A girls’ basketball title.

Dutch Fork’s 52-29 home win over River Bluff not only avenged a four-point loss two weeks earlier. It tied the Lady Silver Foxes with defending region champion Lexington for first place with one game left.

The two teams close out the regular season against each other Feb. 9 in Irmo. The Lady Silver Foxes won the first meeting 62-49 in Lexington and seeks to claim their first region title since 2014.

“We’ve got to keep our energy level up,” Dutch Fork head coach Faye Norris said. “I told them we’ve got to keep up our energy, stay focused, continue to go to practice that we come to and get smarter and smarter. Basically, keeping our energy level up.”

The Lady Silver Foxes jumped out to a 19-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. They maintained the defensive pressure on the Lady Gators, who were led by Jaden Tucker’s 10 points, and won the rebounding battle.

Hillary Offing had a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds and Christyonna Jackson contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals for Dutch Fork (13-8, 6-1) .

“We saw some things today that we didn’t do correctly (in the first meeting),” Norris said. “Our press, they did a much better job with that tonight.”

Dutch Fork closed the game by outscoring River Bluff 8-0 in the fourth quarter. Despite the loss, the Lady Gators (13-10, 4-3) will finish in third place going into the regular-season finale at Chapin.

Swansea 47, Brookland-Cayce 16

Dazejah Lanham scored 15 points and Zamariya Crum and Iyanna Butler each had 10 points as the Lady Tigers (14-8, 5-4) clinched third place in Region 5-3A with the win.

They will close out the regular season Feb. 10 at home against Gilbert.

Westwood 63, Irmo 36

Boys Basketball

Irmo 69, Westwood 46

The sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets are a win away from clinching the Region 4-5A title.

In avenging an earlier loss to the Redhawks, Irmo (20-5, 6-3) led from start to finish. They took control of the game in the second half, stretching their halftime lead to as many as 27 points in the second half.

Madden Collins had a team-high 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Brandon Crawford had 17 points, six rebounds and four blocks and Te’Andre Summons finished with 10 points.

Irmo closes out the regular-season looking to avenge another region loss Feb. 9 at Lugoff-Elgin.

River Bluff 59, Dutch Fork 52

The host team Silver Foxes needed a win to keep alive any hopes of a second-place finish in Region 4-5A.

Despite a team-high 18 points from Bryson Taylor, they fell short to the visiting Gators who clinched a first-round home playoff game.

Luke Chapman led the offense with 26 points, including 13 in the second quarter. In the second half after Dutch Fork tied the game at 37-37, his 3-point play helped River Bluff maintain the lead the rest of the game.

Yaris Cromer had 10 points for River Bluff (12-13, 5-2), which ended the game by making 5-6 free throws.

Dutch Fork (8-13, 3-4) needs a home win Feb. 9 against Lexington and a Chapin loss to River Bluff to clinch third place in Region 4-5A. The fourth-place team will open the playoffs in the Upper State.

Chapin 79, White Knoll 62

Tyson Ray scored 19 points, Cayman Collins had 17, Lucas Highberger finished with 14 and Jake Peterson added 12 as the Eagles moved into a tie for third place in Region 4-5A.

Chapin (8-14, 3-4) plays host to River Bluff Feb. 9.

Northside 78, Thomas Sumter 51

A quartet of double-figure scorers has the Crusaders closing in on their first-ever region title.

Sullie Crider scored 14 points, Dane Sundell had 13, Drew Kodman finished with 12 and Cade McNeil added 11 for Northside Christian (7-10, 4-0).

Up next is a visit to Mount Pleasant to face Palmetto Christian Academy. Should the Crusaders win, they can clinch the region title with another Orangeburg Prep loss.

The two teams face each other Feb. 13 in Lexington.

Brookland-Cayce 62, Swansea 28

Will Young scored 12 points and Isaiah Oree added 11 as the Bearcats (10-12, 5-4) remained tied with Dreher for third place in Region 5-3A entering the Feb. 9 home finale versus region champion Orangeburg-Wilkinson.

Dreher 60, Gilbert 36

Dutch Fork, River Bluff, Lexington, basketball, region, Northside Christian, Irmo

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