If football season was about dominating teams, the early storyline in Chronicle Country basketball is competitive region races.

There seems to be little separation from the top of the standings in any region. This even includes 2-time defending Class 2A champion Gray Collegiate, which finds itself in a 4 team race in Region 3-2A.

The War Eagles suffered a stunning 88-31 loss to Columbia in their Jan. 10 region opener. They headed to St. Matthews Tuesday for a critical contest with current region co-leader Calhoun County, which upended the Capitols this past Friday.

“After that loss, it brought us back down,” said head coach Dion Bethea following the 62-59 win over top-ranked and defending Class 4A champion Ridge View. “Tommy (Bruner) and Khalil (Robinson) and that crew, they’re gone, and this just gives these other guys an opportunity to kind of write their own story. We can sit there and be average, which we’ve never been, or we can stay elite. Those next couple of days of practice, it was real tough and real hard to prepare us for (Ridge View) and, of course, Calhoun County (on Tuesday).”

It was also an important contest for the Gray Collegiate girls. A win over the Lady Saints would also move them into a 1st place tie in the region standings.

CLASS 5A

Both the boys and girls’ standings in Region 5-5A indicate a season-long battle. On the boys’ side, Lexington is the lone undefeated team in region play and had a 9-game region winning streak dating back to last season.

Unlike last year’s senior-laden team led by now-retired head coach Bailey Harris, this year’s team is thriving under new leadership in Elliott Pope and players green to the spotlight like 1st year senior forward Adin Daniels and 8th grade point guard Cameron Scott.

Lexington played host Tuesday to Dutch Fork, which rebounded from a road loss to Chapin to defeat River Bluff 61-44. The Gators will appear to be shorthanded the rest of the year following a season-ending middle knuckle injury to Malachi Reeves.

On the girls’

side, the top of the standings is a complete reversal from last year. White Knoll is off to a 2-0 start, which includes a dramatic 45-44 road win at Lexington in which it scored the game’s final 10 points.

Right behind the Lady Timber-wolves is River Bluff. On Jan. 16, it defeated Dutch Fork 59-53 in overtime to snap a 45-game losing streak in region play dating back to Feb. 3, 2015.

“I didn’t talk about it that much because we were focused on this year right now,” River Bluff head coach Brad McKinney said. “These girls have worked hard to get things going the right year. We’ve improved leaps and bounds.”

White Knoll and River Bluff will meet Friday in The Swamp.

Both Irmo teams are off to undefeated starts in Region 4-5A. The boys’ team was tied with Lugoff-Elgin for 1st place entering their clash in Elgin, while the girls were tied in the loss column with Sumter.

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Both Brookland-Cayce and Airport basketball teams were tied for 3rd place in Region 4-4A behind North Augusta and Aiken. They will meet for the first time Jan. 28 in West Columbia.

In Class 3A, the Gilbert girls’ basketball team faced Strom Thurmond for a share of 1st place in Region 5-3A. Pelion played host to Swansea also looking to keep pace.

In Class 2A, Batesburg-Leesville was tied with Silver Bluff for 2nd place in Region 3-2A entering Friday’s road matchup with Saluda.

MILESTONE UPDATE

Irmo head coach Monica Williams entered Tuesday just 2 wins shy of 400 career victories.

The former University of South Carolina standout could reach that milestone with a road win Tuesday against Lugoff-Elgin and at home Friday against archrival Dutch Fork.