Dillon’s Lady Wildcats were ranked tenth in the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association Class AA preseason poll.

Keenan topped the 2A girls teams, with Broome, Andrew Jackson, Manning, and Marion rounding out the top five. Bishop England was ranked sixth, followed by Mullins, Columbia, and Lee Central.

Dillon’s Chelsea Frazier was also named one of the top five seniors to watch. Last season, Frazier was named All-State and All-Region, was named All-Hoop Zone by WPDE for the second year in a row, and received the HOOP STARS award from the U.S. Army’s Florence Recruiting Company. She has been named All-Region four years in a row and All-State in her sophomore and junior years.

Frazier has earned a total of 1574 points in her high school career thus far and averaged 28.7 points and 12 rebounds per game last season.

Other Class 2A seniors to watch included Norrisha Victrum of Columbia, Airel Boyel of Lee Central, Amber King of Liberty, and Madison Floyd of Broome.

The Class 2A boys poll included Keenan, Mullins, North Charleston, Marion, Newberry, Lee Central, Silver Bluff, Edisto, Andrews, and Eau Claire. Brice Johnson of Edisto, Darryl Palmer of Timberland, Quinton Johnson of Keenan, Darnell Coleman of Mullins, and Phillip Henry of Manning were all voted seniors to watch.

In Class A girls basketball, Ridgeland topped the list, followed by St. Joseph’s, Timmonsville, Allendale-Fairfax, and CA Johnson. Burke, C.E. Murray, Blackville-Hilda, McCormick, and Ridge Spring Monetta rounded out the top 10. The top five Class A girls seniors included Deja Smith of C.A. Johnson, Malory Sanders of Blacksburg, Shay Freeman of Ridge Spring Monetta, April Jenkins of Ridgeland, and Keyarah Turner of Johnsonville.

The Class A boys rankings were led by Great Falls, followed by Landrum, Hemingway, Calhoun County, McCormick, Baptist Hill, Carvers Bay, Estill, Abbeville, and Scott’s Branch. Shaquille Mitchell of Baptist Hill, Xavier Holmes of Great Falls, Vic Williams of Creek Bridge, Brooks Taylor of Christ Church, and Teondre Bromell of Carvers Bay were all voted seniors to watch.

The Class 3A girls list was headed by Myrtle Beach. Wade Hampton, Crestwood, Lower Richland and Nations Ford rounded out the top five. The 3A boys poll ranked Wilson as number one, followed by Lower Richland, Eastside, Lake Marion, and Daniel. Hartsville was ranked sixth and Marlboro County was ranked tenth.

Spring Valley was voted number one in Class 4A girls basketball, with Goose Creek, Dutch Fork, Greenwood, and Aiken in the top five. The 4A boys rankings were led by Lexington, Hillcrest, Gaffney, Irmo, and Lancaster.

For most of our local teams, the basketball season won’t get underway until just after Thanksgiving. Complete schedules were not available for all teams at press time, but here are a few of the upcoming games:

Dillon Christian School’s Lady Warriors were scheduled to play Myrtle Beach Christian on Friday and will participate in the Pee Dee Turkey shoot-out beginning Monday, November 21. On November 29 they’ll travel to face Byrnes for their first region game of the season. The Warriors were also scheduled to face Myrtle Beach on Friday, but the rest of their schedule had not yet been posted.

The Latta Vikings boys and girls teams will be hosting Marion on Tuesday, November 29, at 6:00 p.m. in their first scheduled game of the season.

Lake View’s Wild Gators will be hosting Aynor on Wednesday, November 30, in their opening game. The Lady Wild Gators complete schedule had not yet been posted, but they are scheduled to face Dillon Christian’s Lady Warriors on Friday, December 2, at 6:00 p.m.

The Lady Wildcats schedule was also unavailable at press time, but the boys will be taking on Lake View on Friday, December 9, in one of the Wildcats’ first games of the season.