By Thomas Grant Jr.

Blythewood High School is the site Saturday for a Region 5-5A doubleheader showdown on the hardwood Wednesday.

Both host teams will face Ridge View in a varsity doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. with the girls’ contest. The boys’ contest pitting the fourth-ranked Bengals and number one Blazers will follow at 3 p.m.

This marks the third rescheduling of this important contest. After it was originally pushed back to last Monday due to weather conditions but then pushed back again to Saturday.

How the two schools faired Tuesday would determine if first-place rides on the first of two meetings. Blythewood traveled to West Florence, while Ridge View faced Lugoff-Elgin on Tuesday.

Last Friday, the Ridge View girls edged Spring Valley 58-54. The boys game saw the top-ranked Blazers dominate the Vikings 103-65 as five players scored in double figures.

JT Van Kallen led the Blazers with 16 points, Yale Davis and Talon Staley each had 14, Malachi Cooper finished with 12 and Korie Corbett had 10.

Over at Blythewood, the Lady Bengals improved to 21-1 following an 85-21 rout of Lugoff-Elgin. In the boys’ game, Tyler Stephens scored 20 points in a 50-34 win.

S.C. BASKETBALL COACHES ASSSOCIATION TOP 10 RANKINGS

BOYS

Class 5A

(Division I)

1. Ridge View, 2. J.F. Byrnes, 3. Dorman, 4. Blythewood, 5. Summerville, 6. River Bluff, 7. Dutch Fork, 8. Mauldin, 9. Ashley Ridge, 10. Carolina Forest

Class 4A

1. Lancaster, 2. North Augusta, 3. Crestwood, 4. Gray Collegiate, 5. Wren, 6. Brookland-Cayce, 7. Bluffton, 8. Wilson, 9. Greer, 10. May River

GIRLS

Class 5A

(Division I)

1. Ashley Ridge , 2. Blythewood, 3. Summerville, 4. Clover, 5. Dutch Fork, 6. Carolina Forest, 7. Wando, 8. J.L. Mann, 9. J.F. Byrnes, 10. Lexington     

(Division II)

1. Gaffney, 2. North Myrtle Beach, 3. Berkeley, 4. White Knoll, 5. Riverside, 6. Fort Mill, 7. Greenville, 8. St. James, 9. Greenwood, 10. Goose Creek  

(Photo by Thomas Grant Jr.)