By Thomas Grant Jr.
The road to the South Carolina High School League Class 5A Division I championships go through the Northeast region.
A year ago, Ridge View boys and Blythewood girls swept the state titles in that classification. It was the sixth championship for the Blazers, second under head coach Joshua Staley, and first ever for the Lady Bengals under head coach Emily McElveen.
Both teams will begin their respective repeat runs this weekend after receiving first-round byes. A fourth seed in the Upper State bracket, Blythewood plays host Friday to Clover who defeated Spring Valley 69-32 on Monday.
The same bracket had Ridge View, fresh off its season-ending win over the Lady Bengals, fall 58-53 to J.L. Mann. The Lady Blazers finished with a 15-8 record.
On Saturday, the Ridge View boys will begin its 3-peat run against the winner of J.L. Mann at Boiling Springs. The Blazers (23-3) enter the post-season on an 11-game winning streak.
On Tuesday, Spring Valley travelled to Mauldin and Blythewood visited Clover in opening round games.
Also on Monday, the Richland Northeast girls were unable to hold the lead in its first-round Class 4A matchup at Blue Ridge. Leading 34-32 after three quarters, the Lady Cavaliers were outscored 17-7 in the fourth quarter of a 49-41 loss.
Westwood in playoffs
The Redhawks had a first-round bye in the Class 5A Division II playoffs. They will open play Friday at “The Castle” against Conway, a 42-30 winner over North Myrtle Beach on Monday.
The Westwood girls opened the post-season Tuesday at home against Conway. The winner travels to second-second North Myrtle Beach on Saturday.
All-Region honors
Defending Class 5A Division I champion Ridge View had five players selected to the All-Region 5-5A boys team.
Making the team were senior guard Talen Staley, who scored his 1,000th career point last week, D.J. Wylie, C.J. Moore, JT Van Kallen and R.J. Davis.
Westwood had four players selected led by senior guard D’Marcus Thomas. Joining him were Jayden Crews, Cylan McLeod and Daytron Crockfield.
In the girls, Blythewood All-State guard/forward Chase Thomas accomplished a rare feat as she was named Region 5-5A Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
The South Carolina State signee averaged 22.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game during the regular season. She was joined on the All-Region team by teammates India Wiliams, who signed with USC-Aiken, and Kirsten Fulton.
Williams was also selected to participate in the North-South All-Star Game. She will play on the South roster.
Other Northeast girls players selected to the All-Region team were Amari Alexander and Lyric Rogers (both of Westwood), Amiyah Carr and Reagan Ferguson (both of Ridge View) and Destiny Simmons and Mariah Moody (both of Spring Valley).
