HS basketball roundup: Keenan boys defeat Fox Creek; Raider girls win region
In many ways, it hasn’t been a typical season for the Keenan boys basketball team.
But the Raiders have put themselves in a position to win a region title and make a run at the Class 3A championship.
Keenan evened up the Region 4-3A race with a 73-66 win over Fox Creek in front of a large crowd at The Cove. With the win, the teams are now tied for the region lead with two games remaining.
If both teams finish tied for first, a tie-breaking game will be Feb. 13 at Newberry High School.
“It was a must-win,” Keenan acting head coach Alex Harper said. “Overall, we came out and played collectively as a unit and contained some of their best players.”
Harper continues to occupy the role on game days for Hall of Fame coach Zach Norris, who continues to serve his suspension because of S.C. High School League sanctions that followed a rules violation over the summer. Norris can run practices but not coach in games. He was in the stands Friday night.
Norris also won’t be allowed to coach in the playoffs, and the Raiders will play all of their games on the road because of the SCHSL sanctions even if they win the region.
Still, the Raiders are trying to make the most of a difficult situation. Harper says he leans on Norris’ advice heading into the games and the players do as well.
“It was a loss,” sophomore Antoine Caughman said of not having Norris on game days. “But we still know his system. … He tells us to run his system and we will win games. He’s got a bunch of wins with it, so we have to stick with it.”
It was the second meeting of the season between the teams ranked in the top five in the Class 3A SC Basketball Coaches poll. Fox Creek won 66-57 in overtime on Jan. 20. Caughman said the team was eying the rematch, and the sophomore played a big role for the Raiders down the stretch.
Caughman, who began the game with an alley-oop dunk, scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Predators made a late run.
Fox Creek’s Jason Rogers hit a 3-pointer to cut Keenan’s lead to 56-50. The Predators had a chance to cut it further. But Bryson Schofield blocked a shot, which led to Caughman burying a 3-pointer in the corner to make it 59-50 with 3:41 left.
Caughman also was 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the final quarter.
“It was much-needed,” Harper said of Caughman’s play. “Antoine is a very great player and can’t speak enough of him. He played big tonight and did what he was supposed to do.”
Zyion Jones added 11 points and Schofield had eight for the Raiders.
Kobe Sims led Fox Creek with 19 points.
In the girls game, Keenan used a 13-3 run late in the second quarter on its way to a 62-42 win to take the region championship. Taelor Lee-Sutton led Keenan with 24 points and Aareonna Caughman added 23 points.
With the region title, the Keenan girls will be home for the first three games in the playoffs as long they keep winning.
FC: Jason Rogers 10, Allen 16, Kobe Sims 19, White 2, Atwell 2, Justin Unis 14, Schare 3. K: Simpson 4, Zyion Jones 11, Hunter 1, Antoine Caughman 17, Anderson 6, Brunson 7, Jacques 6, Schofield 8.
FC: K: Taelor Lee-Sutton 24, Aareonna Caughman 23, Mines 6, Brown 4, Robinson 2, Chavis 2.
Dutch Fork girls take over region lead
Dutch Fork’s girls used a 26-0 run to defeat Lexington, 59-36, in a matchup of Region 4-5A co-leaders.
Dutch Fork can win the region with victories in the final two games. Avani Adams led Dutch Fork with 17 points and Jamia Gerald had 15.
In the boys’ game, Dutch Fork defeated Lexington, 66-37. With the win, the Silver Foxes extended their region lead to two games over Irmo, which lost at the buzzer to White Knoll, 53-51.
Friday’s Scoreboard
Boys
American Leadership 65, Batesburg-Leesville 49
Brookland-Cayce 67, Gilbert 19
Camden 70, Richland Northeast 43
Chapin 78, River Bluff 71
Clinton 66, Eau Claire 52
Dreher 60, AC Flora 40
D: Nate Anderson 15, Marcus Johnson 14, Jordan Brown 12
Dutch Fork 66, Lexington 37
DF: Samajae Govan 25, Justus Bell 24
Gray Collegiate 78, South Aiken 35
Hammond 53, Trinity Collegiate 35
H: Jackson Ross 23, Wham Walker 13, Hugh Manning 10
Lower Richland 53, Lakewood 40
Ridge View 81, West Florence 49
RV: Talan Staley 16, CJ Moore 14, Chris Horton 14, JT Van Kallen 13
Sumter 70, Blythewood 59
Westwood 66, Lugoff-Elgin 52
W: Jayden Crews 27, D’Marcus Thomas 16, Quentin McGill 9
White Knoll 53, Irmo 51
Girls
AC Flora 56, Dreher 37
ACF: Teonna Draughn 22, Naja Gray 12, Tamira Delaney 10
Blythewood 45, Sumter 26
Brookland-Cayce 46, Gilbert 45
Camden 93, York 20
C: Harmony Jefferson 26, Shanaryah Wright 19, Braylin Mungo 17, LA Alexander 11
Chapin 43, River Bluff 39
Clinton 49, Eau Claire 21
Gray Collegiate 62, South Aiken 15
GC: Kiley Freeman 20, Aneya Britt 17, Jada Van Sickle 14
Irmo 66, White Knoll 47
Ridge View 58, West Florence 5
Westwood 58, Lugoff-Elgin 48
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 11:23 PM.
