By Thomas Grant Jr.
The She Got Next event at Lexington County high schools served as opening weekend for Irmo girls basketball.
The preseason ranked Lady Yellow Jackets defeated Richland Northeast 45-34 last Friday at Lexington High School.
Abby Livingston scored 16 points, Laliah Singletary finished with 11 and Jayla Anderson added eight points in the post for Irmo.
“I think we played pretty well,” Irmo head coach Trina Wagstaff said. “Of course, it’s always something that you always have to go back to the drawing board on. But the defense was pretty solid. Offensively, we executed and we just have to make sure that we handle the runs of the other team and if that happens, I think we’ll be good to go. I’m proud of what they did today.”
Wagstaff was pleased with how Livingston commanded the court at point guard and Anderson’s vocal leadership on the court.
The Lady Yellow Jackets finished tournament play with a 37-32 win over Cross at White Knoll High School to claim the Champions of the Crystal Bracket.
Irmo is moving up to Class 5A and will compete in Division II.
In other girls’ tournament play, Dutch Fork swept its two games in the Grad Athletics Classic at Heathwood Hall.
They rolled past Hammond School 82-14 in Game One and defeated the host school 72-62 in the second game.
IRMO BOYS BASKETBALL
A new era of Irmo boys’ basketball kicked off in Spartanburg last Monday.
For the first time in 43 seasons, the Yellow Jackets opened the season with a new head coach. Alex Quillen, who played on two state championship teams and was a team assistant coach, succeeded Tim Whipple in June.
His first game was the opener of the Impact Sports Invitational. Irmo opened the tournament with a 60-57 loss to Laurens.
Christian Brown had 18 points, Jeremy Anderson scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out four assists and Matt Hopkins and Jaden Rivers each finished with eight points.
The Yellow Jackets stormed back in Game Two to defeat Spartanburg Christian Academy 75-14. Jaden Rivers had 12 points, Carson Johnson added 10 and Kaleb Copeland finished with eight points.
Wednesday’s third-place game was a rematch with the Raiders. This time, Irmo prevailed 44-42 as All-Tournament selection Antwoine Pierce had 11 points, Matt Hopkins added nine and Tanner McCray finished with six.
TIP OFF AT THE DAM
Dutch Fork and Chapin co-hosted the first two rounds of the Tip Off At the Dam.
Dutch Fork won its opening game 92-36 as Justus Bell and Jake Bogan each had 19 points.
In Game Two, the Silver Foxes fell 47-45 to Cross Creek (Ga.). Both Bell and Bryson Taylor each had 12 points.
Dutch Fork finished the tournament with a 59-48 win over Lakewood at River Bluff High School. Taylor finished with 14 points and Samajae Govan had 13.
River Bluff came away with the championship. After defeating Wando (59-48) and Lakewood (71-42) at Chapin High School, the Gators got three free throws from Cooper Jones with one second left to defeat Cross Creek 65-64 in the final.
HOOPS SCHEDULE
Friday’s Games
Irmo at Spring Valley 6:30 p.m.
River Bluff at Blythewood 6 p.m.
Monday’s Games
Irmo at Aiken 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday’s Games
Spring Valley at Dutch Fork 6 p.m.
Blythewood at River Bluff 6 p.m.
Wednesday’s Game
Irmo at Newberry (boys) 7:30 p.m.
Photo by Dutch Fork girls basketball
