By Thomas Grant Jr.
The early season has mostly gone smoothly for the Dutch Fork and Irmo basketball teams.
Both the Lady Yellow Jackets and Silver Foxes went 3-0 headed into Tuesday. Each also claimed tournament titles during the first week.
The Dutch Fork boys opened the season by winning the Tipoff at the Dam. In the 60-33 win over Lugoff-Elgin, preseason Top Five Senior guard Justus Bell was a point shy of matching the Demons’ point total with 32 points and eight rebounds.
He did accomplish such a feat in the second game against J.L. Mann. Bell scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half to give the Silver Foxes a 38-16 lead over the Patriots.
They went on to win 76-54 as Caleb Garner and Jaiden Coleman both scored 12 points and Samajee Govan added 10.
This set up a final at River Bluff High School with Lexington/Richland District Five rival Chapin. Dutch Fork rode the 3-point shooting of Govan who scored a game-high 24 points, including seven 3-pointers in the 81-52 victory.
Bell finished with 21 points and six rebounds and Gage Stewart added 12.
Last Tuesday, Irmo started the Coretta Ferguson era with an 81-29 rout of Indian Land in the “Temple of Doom”.
Lailah Singletary led a trio of 20-plus scorers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Abby Livingston posted a triple double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Janiyah Stokes had 21 points, nine rebounds and eight steals.
Up next was the She Got Next tournament where the Lady Yellow Jackets competed in the Crystal Bracket. They opened with a 67-17 win at Columbia as Livingston posted a second straight triple double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Singletary led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Stokes had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
This set up a bracket final at home against Wilson. Getting a third straight triple double from Livington (14 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) and a third double-double from Singletary (21 points, 10 rebounds), Irmo pulled away from the Lady Tigers in the second half for a 57-49 win.
The Lady Yellow Jackets led as many as 14 points and held off a rally by Wilson.
After the victory, Ferguson praised her team’s “resilience, heart, sisterhood” and their belief in each other.
“Proud of their effort and energy they put in,” Ferguson said. “We’re still young as a team, but we’re learning and that’s a good thing.
Things get more challenging next week when Irmo plays host to defending Class 5A Division I champion Blythewood Dec. 9 and travel to Spring Valley the next night. Ferguson believes such contests will prepare her young team for the battles ahead in Region 4-5A.
“We’ve got five really strong teams and we’re looking forward to the region,” she said.
One of those region teams, Dutch Fork, won its two pre-Thanksgiving Day contests. The Lady Silver Foxes opened the season with a 65-15 rout of Aiken on Nov. 24 and a 63-27 win over 2-time defending Class 2A champion Andrew Jackson the next night.
Ironically, they will also face Blythewood in a non-region road game Dec. 10.
The Irmo boys opened the regular season in the Impact Sports Invitational in Spartanburg.
In the opening game, the Yellow Jackets rallied from 15 points down to defeat Spartanburg. Christian Brown had 30 points and Oshon Bowman finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Despite 28 points from Bowman, Irmo fell to Seneca 81-66 in the semifinal. It finished the tournament with a 62-57 defeat to Boiling Springs as Brown had 18 points and White added 12.
