Greenbrier girls only ones left

And then there was one.

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The Greenbrier girls is the only public school team left standing in Columbia County basketball. Most of the county was shocked to hear both boys basketball teams from Greenbrier and Evans went down in the first round of the Region 3-AAAA Tournament.

Of course, neither Casey Dees or Kevin Kenny will use it as an excuse, but the two teams had to travel half way to the equator to play these first-round games. Greenbrier lost by 20 points to Wayne County after making a 171-mile trip. Evans' boys fell by only five points to Ware County after a one-way trip of 186 miles.

Greenbrier's season ended with a 19-7 record, while Evans finished at 17-9.

Private party

While most of the local public school teams ended the basketball postseason quickly, the county's private school teams are still alive. Augusta Christian's girls, who reached the SCISA Class AAA state semifinals last season, earned a first-round bye in the Region 1-AAA Tournament and will play in the region semifinals on Monday. The game will be at 6:30 p.m. at Heathwood Hall in Columbia, S.C. If the Lady Lions win, they'll play in the region championship at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Scrimmages

Baseball season won't officially begin until next week, but Columbia County fans can catch some preseason action. Greenbrier will scrimmage Westside at home at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and Evans will scrimmage at Thomson at 5 p.m. Friday.

Baseball preview

For the first time, The Columbia County News-Times will produce a high school baseball preview section. The preview in Wednesday's edition is filled with team pages, schedules, coach features and our "Boys of Spring," highlighting the top 10 players in the county.