Richland Northeast nipped Irmo 43-42 on Friday night to created a second-place log jam in Region 5-4A boys basketball behind front-running Dutch Fork.
The Cavaliers (11-5, 4-2) now share second place with Irmo and Lexington in the region pecking order. RNE dropped its first two conference outings after coming out of the holiday break, but are back in the hunt in the wake of back-to-back home wins this week over North Augusta and Irmo.
“We’re a young team and maybe we got a little too cocky when we got off to such a good start and played very well at the Chick-fil-A (Classic),” said coach Jason Powell.
“But this is also a team that seems to respond well when things don’t go well. We’re finding ways to win. We always play good defense, but it was a phenomenal effort last night.”
The Cavs’ last points came on a lay-up by Donald Tention with about one minute left in the fourth quarter, breaking a 41-41 deadlock. Irmo (10-6) had two chances to either tie or go ahead in crunch time. Jordan Roper made the first of two free throws to cut the deficit to 47-46, but the Yellow Jackets gained control of the rebound and held the ball for the last shot. Roper, however, was whistled for a push-off foul while driving to the basket with two seconds remaining.
Senior Jarred Guest paced RNE with 15 points, Travis Hammond added 10 and Tention closed with nine points.
David Frazier (19 points) and Roper (12) did the bulk of the scoring for Irmo, which has not scored more than 43 points in three outings since ringing up 95 in a win over North Augusta in the first conference game since before Christmas.
In the opener, the Irmo girls produced their third straight blowout win after suffering a loss to North Augusta that cost them a share of first place in the region standings. The Yellow Jackets concluded an outstanding defensive week with a 46-13 win over the Cavaliers after allowing White Knoll just 10 points on Tuesday.
Brooke McCants (14 points) and Sarah Green (10) handled most of the scoring for the Jackets.
At the close of action on Friday, Irmo and North Augusta had 5-1 region records behind 6-0 Dutch Fork.
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