A 22-point performance from Kayla West paved the way for North Augusta High School's win in Region 5-AAAA basketball Friday evening, at the expense of Aiken, by a score of 41-30.

Playing on Aiken's court, North Augusta improved its record to 11-6 overall and 7-1 in the region. Aiken, led by Erin Gilmore's 12-point tally and plagued by a total of 38 turnovers, slid to 11-6 and 4-4.

Last week's action also included a Tuesday win at home, to the tune of 55-49 versus Dutch Fork - a contest that left North Augusta in a two-way tie (with Irmo) for the region lead and knocked Dutch Fork out of a three-way tie at the top.

West, with 20 points, led North Augusta's scorers. Dutch Fork's Alaina Coates, a 6-foot-4 freshman, racked up 27 points. Her squad led for most of the game.

Jared Adamson, North Augusta's coach, said, "We had no answer for Coates," acknowledging a performance that also included 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.

"It's tough to stop a 6-4 girl when your tallest player is 5-8. But they say, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.'"

Looking ahead a few days, he said, "We've got a huge game on Friday against Irmo, at home. We're both at 7-1, so basically, whoever wins that game will be in first place outright ... Hopefully, we can keep playing well and keep getting better."

Heading into this week's action, Dutch Fork was in third in the region. Tied for fourth were Aiken and Orangeburg-Wilkinson; Lexington was sixth; Richland Northeast, seventh; and White Knoll, eighth.