Photo by Westwood High School – Jayden Crews
By Thomas Grant Jr.
The S.C. High School League semifinals will once again have a heavy presence from the Northeast region.
On Monday, Westwood boys basketball and defending Class 5A Division I girls champion Blythewood won third round games to reach the Lower and Upper State finals.
The Redhawks defeated Westwood 60-57 in the Class 5A Division II Lower State bracket. D’Marcus Thomas scored 21 points and had five assists, Daytron Cockfield finished with 12 points and Cylan McLeod finished with 10 points.
This is the first-ever appearance in school history for Westwood (23-3). It will face Goose Creek Friday in Florence for a berth in the March 5 state final nightcap.
The Blythewood girls clinched a return trip to the State final following a 54-52 road win over Dorman in the Class 5A Division I Upper State bracket.
Chase Thomas finished with 22 points and fellow All-State selection India Williams had 13 in the win.
This contest featured the co-winners of the S.C. Basketball Coaches Asssociation’s Class 5A Player of the Year Award in repeat winner Thomas and Dorman center Morgan White.
The Lady Bengals will face Maudlin, a 54-51 winner at home over Dutch Fork, on Saturday at a site to be determined. The winner will face either Lexington or Wando in the state final.
Third team awaits
Should 2-time defending champion Ridge View defeat Dorman in the highly anticipated Class 5A Division I Upper State third-round matchup Tuesday at home, the Northeast region will have three state semifinalists for the second straight year.
Ridge View forward R.J. Davis drives to the basket.
Last Saturday, the Blazers began their 3-peat run with an 87-64 win over Boiling Springs.
After falling behind 24-12 at the end of the first quarter, Ridge View responded by outscoring the Bulldogs 30-2 in the second quarter.
Turning up the defensive intensity, the Blazers held Boiling Springs without a field goal for the entire second quarter.
“Just stay poised, it’s too much time off,” Staley said was his message to the team. “Craig () does an unbelievable job. He’s always really tough teams. His teams at Myrtle Beach (for example). So, we knew they were going to be prepared. We knew they were going to be able to play and we hadn’t played since last Friday. So that was a lot of days off.
“Even though we practiced hard, we practiced the right way. I just told the guys just weather the storm. We just had to get our feel back.”
The Ridge View/Dorman winner faces Dutch Fork or J.F. Byrnes Saturday at a site to be determined.
Up 42-26 at halftime, the Blazers scored 31 points in the third quarter as it made five more 3-pointers. They finished the game with 13 as a team, three each by D.J. Wylie, Talon Staley and Christopher Horton.
Wylie led the Blazers (24-3) with 21 points, five assists and five steals. R.J. Davis had 14 points; Staley finished with 13 points and Moore added 12 points and six rebounds.
“We just had to bounce back,” Wylie said. “We started out bad. I had great teammates to pick me up and kept the energy good.”
