(Photo by S.C. High School League) Westwood Redhawks
By Thomas Grant Jr.
Richland School District Two in the Northeast area is the capitol of Class 5A basketball.
For the second straight year, its three schools advanced to the S.C. High School League finals held this year at Colonial Life Arena.
Both Ridge View boys and Blythewood girls were seeking to repeat in Division I. Meanwhile, Westwood was making its first-ever state title appearance in Division II.
The teams went 3-0 for the district in claiming three of the four titles in the Class 5A divisions.
They finished the season with a combined record of 76-9.
This made it five state titles in the past two years won by district teams.
Westwood boys
The Redhawks kicked off the two days of championship-winning basketball last Thursday a 67-55 win over defending champion Greenville.
D’Marcus Thomas scored 23 points and Jayden Crews added 20 as Westwood once again rallied from a first half playoff deficit.
Adding to winning the school’s first state title in basketball for Westwood was insuring it had beaten every team on the schedule this season. Having split with region rival Ridge View and Sumter, it looked to avenge the 50-45 loss to the Red Raiders on Dec. 20 in Florence.
“I knew once we got Greenville, that was our first thought,” Robinson said. “We were in Florence. We had an hour and 10 minutes on the road coming back and it was Christmas break. So, we were off five days. So, we have to sit through Christmas Day. So, I knew that was going to (get them mad).”
Coached by former Ridge View head coach Yerrick Stoneman, Greenville jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter. Carter Coleman led the Red Raiders with 16 points.
Unflustered, the determined Redhawks opened the second quarter with a 14-4 run to close the gap. Crews had two of his 4 3-pointers during the run and Thomas added seven points.
“Just one possession at a time,” Crews said. “We were down 10. It was 20-10, so we were just down. We were just going one possession at a time.”
Westwood (25-3) took over the game in the second half. A smothering defense and fastbreak scoring sparked a 14-0 run to put the Redhawks in control of the game.
“I don’t know of a lot of people that can run with us up and down,” Westwood head coach Trent Robinson said. “Even though they were athletic, we just have a little more players and were deeper, especially on the defensive end. So, we were like let’s make this a down and back game. That was pretty much the gameplan.”
The lead would grow as many as 15 points with Westwood going 26-33 from the free-throw line. This was an improvement from the 10-25 put forth in the December loss.
As the clock ticked away, Westwood fans began showering their team with support in anticipation of bringing the state trophy back to Blythewood.
“We worked our tails off – 5 a.m. practices,” Crews said. “This means everything for us.”
Blythewood
After a 1-3 start, the Lady Bengals were determined not to succumb to a ‘repeat jinx’.
Following an 8-point loss to defending Class 4A champion North Augusta, Blythewood proceeded to win 19 of its next 20 games.
The Lady Bengals claimed the Region 5-5A title again, but lost to Ridge View in the regular-season finale for the second consecutive year.
Like last season, the defeat served to refocus the Lady Bengals for the post-season. After a first-round bye, they defeated Clover and proceeded to win close road games over Dorman (54-52) and Mauldin (60-54) to clinch a return trip.
Standing in the way of a repeat last Friday was Wando. The Lady Warriors rallied from a 15-point deficit to Lexington to take a 53-52 victory in the Lower State final.
The Lady Warriors opened with a 17-9 lead after the first quarter. From there, the Lady Bengals reasserted themselves with an 11-3 run to take the lead.
With the score tied, All-State senior India Williams connected on a 3-pointer to put Blythewood up 30-27 at the break.
Blythewood Lady Bengals
The All-State senior tandem of 2-time Player of the Year Chase Thomas and India Williams each had 28 and 20 points, respectively.
She and fellow senior and 2-time S.C. Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A Player of the Year Chase Thomas combined on 13 straight points to push Blythewood’s lead to double digits.
Thomas finished with 28 points and Williams had 20 points.
“We never took our foot off the gas,” Thomas said. “We just kept going hard. No matter what happened, we just stayed together, played together and that’s how we had to be.”
There would be no comeback for the Lady Warriors, who were held to nine points in the third quarter, had 18 turnovers for the game and later had All-State forward Ava Rush foul out in frustration.
Blythewood stretched their lead to 26 points before emptying the bench in the final four minutes of the 68-44 win. It finished the season 24-5 having won 23 of the last 25 games.
Ridge View
Following Blythewood girls’ victory, the Blazers took the court looking to bring a third consecutive title back to ‘View County’.
They faced an Ashley Ridge team making its first-ever state championship appearance. The Swamp Foxes were also coming off a dramatic 58-56 win over Cane Bay in the Lower State final on a layup in the final seconds by Javion Gathers.
As for Ridge View, it faced a gauntlet of challengers from Region 2-5A. It started with a tough home opener against Boiling Springs, followed by a second-half comeback against Dorman for the first-ever win in four meetings.
Playing the Upper State final at Rock Hill High School, the Blazers found themselves down double digits again to J.F. Byrnes. After scoring the final eight points of the game, Ridge View was back in the state final for the fourth time in seven years.
The championship game proved anticlimactic as the Blazers never trailed Ashley Ridge. It pulled away in the second quarter using tenacious defense that forced 16 turnovers and led to fastbreak points.
Ridge View Blazers
Once the second half began, Ridge View pushed the lead up to 28 points. It ended up with the 65-44 victory to complete the ‘3-peat’ and finish the season 27-3 with a 15-game winning streak.
R.J. Davis led Ridge View with 11 points, followed by Staley and J.T. VanKallen with 10 points each.
“We basically played two state championships before this game,” Staley said. “It was great practice. Last game against Byrnes we were down 11 in the third quarter and came back. So, it was good practice for the state championship.”
This was head coach Joshua Staley’s fourth state championship with three different schools.
“I was on the other side,” Staley said. “We were getting our butt kicked by 30 and 40 in the state championship. I lost my first five before I won one. But that’s what makes life beautiful. You get the opportunity to keep working and share your testimony with somebody else so that they know what you’re working to.”
