By CT McDonald
Nearing the midway point of the District Five winter break, holiday tournaments are already underway with more to come next week.
After last week’s district matchups between Irmo, Dutch Fork and Chapin, they all go their separate ways this week and next as some of them participate in the annual ritual of Christmas holiday athletic tournaments.
IRMO
In the girls basketball games last week, the Yellow Jackets lost 47-21 at Dutch Fork on Thursday, but then defeated Chapin 46-31 at home to end the week 2-7 overall. After taking time off this week for the holidays, they will compete in The Skyhawks Classic at Hammond High School Monday through Wednesday, next week.
The Yellow Jacket boys will also be in tournament mode next week. They won both District Five matchups last week: Irmo 69, Dutch Fork 62; and Irmo 69, Chapin 36 in the game that veteran head coach Tim Whipple earned his 800th victory.
Coach Whipple now has the second-most career wins in South Carolina High School basketball after many years and many victories as the legendary Head Coach, mentor and teacher of high school athletes.
Next week the Irmo boys will take their 8-1 record to River Bluff High School to compete in the Chic-fil-A Classic in the American Division. The tournament runs from Monday through Thursday, next week, with more information available at chic-fil-aclassic.com.
And the Irmo wrestlers will also compete next week in a holiday tournament. After placing 18th in the Demon Tournament at Lugoff-Elgin last week, followed by a tri-match at Pelion earlier this week, the Yellow Jackets will be at North Augusta High School next week to compete in the Rumble Tournament Wednesday and Thursday.
DUTCH FORK
After winning the Dutch Fork – Irmo varsity basketball matchup last week 47-21, the Silver Fox girls are playing Monday through Wednesday this week in the She Got Game tournament at Riverview Park. Dutch Fork (8-2) defeated Aiken early this week in the first round of the tournament, with two days to go.
The Dutch Fork boys (4-7) also won their opening round this week at the Cayce Roundball Classic when they defeated New Hempstead, of Savannah, Georgia, 51-46 on Monday. The tournament runs through Thursday, and then the Silver Foxes will prepare for more holiday action next week when they play in the Carolinas Challenge Showcase at River Bluff and Lexington High Schools; Monday’s games are at River Bluff HS, Tuesday’s games are at Lexington HS.
This 2-day tournament will feature a South Carolina team against a North Carolina team in each matchup, and it runs alongside the Chic-fil-A Classic.
The Dutch Fork wrestlers placed No. 12 in the Lugoff-Elgin tournament last week, and they will also compete in the North Augusta Rumble tournament Wednesday and Thursday, next week.
CHAPIN
The Chapin varsity boys basketball team defeated the Walhalla Razorbacks 64-61 in a holiday game Tuesday to improve to 3-8 overall. And the Chapin girls will take some time off to enjoy the holidays and get back to the game in early January.
Also, the Chapin wrestlers are ranked No. 6 among 5A teams in the most recent (December 18, 2021) ranking by the South Carolina Wrestling Coaches Association. All teams will resume the regular schedule in early January, 2022
