By Thomas Grant Jr.

Ridge View and Blythewood basketball are headed towards a collision course for the Region 5-5A.

Feb. 5 marks the first of two meetings between the two Northeast schools. Before then, each will have two games to remain undefeated in the region.

The two schools’ boys and girls teams kept place with each other Tuesday night with road victories. Both Blythewood teams rolled to double digit wins over Spring Valley by the scores of 80-61 (girls) and 77-57 (boys).

Ridge View found itself involved in two close contests with Westwood. It started with the Lady Blazers rallying from seven points down before winning in overtime 71-64.

Sian Banks had a team-high 19 points, including the game-tying layup with four seconds left in regulation. Samaria Smith had 19 points and Anasia Harvey finished with 14 for Ridge View.

Aneya Britt had a game-high 25 points and Amari Alexander finished with 16 for the Lady Redhawks. Lyric Rogers added nine points on three 3-pointers.

The boys’ matchup was reminiscent of last year’s contest won by the home team. It was a defensive battle in which Westwood slowed the pace and Ridge View struggled from the free-throw line.

Down the stretch, Korie Corbett scored seven of the Blazers’ final nine points in the 53-50 victory. He finished with 21 points and Yale Davis added 16 to lead Ridge View to their 15th straight in-state victory.

“We knew Coach (Trent Robinson of Westwood) was going to have his team ready, he and the staff,” Ridge View head coach Joshua Staley said. “I knew it was going to be a battle. They really played tough at the house (the first meeting won by the Blazers) and so, we’re just fortunate to get out of here with the W.”

The Redhawks jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first quarter. Jayden Crews scored nine of his team-high 19 points from the free-throw line as he consistently threw fouls driving to the basket.

Ridge View stiffened its defense in the second quarter. Converting turnovers into fastbreak points, the Blazers scored 12 straight points during a 16-3 run to take a 30-25 halftime lead.

“That was a tough stretch,” Robinson said. “We started out so good and then, of course that run, but when you play teams like this, you know the run is coming. You’ve got to handle the emotions of the game. I thought we did. We bought it to five at halftime.”  

The Redhawks fought back to tie the game at 39-39 in the third quarter. Larry Brown scored six of his 13 points in the quarter and D’Marcus Thomas finished with 10 points and five assists.

Despite going 15-25 from the free-throw line, the Blazers managed to take a 41-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

With the score tied at 44-44, Corbett completed a 3-point play to put the Blazers ahead. He then answered a field goal by Westwood with another layup to make it 49-46 with 3:16 left.

The Redhawks answered with three free throws and a putback to take a 50-49 lead. After Davis missed two free throws, Corbett got the rebound and layup to put Ridge View up for good.

It added two free throws and got a key defensive stop with 15.5 seconds left to close out the hard-fought win.

“We were fortunate to make a few more plays down the stretch,” Staley said. “I thought (Westwood) was gritty. I thought Westwood did a good job tonight. They kept fighting.

“We’ve got to shoot free throws much better. We’ve got to close out much better. We’ve got to rebound and check out much better. So we’ve got some things we need to work on.”

“Credit this team,” Robinson said. “They’ve been facing adversity for a while. It’s been tough within the program, but we fought. We battled. That’s what you want to see playing a team that caliber. Top team in the state. You’ve got to battle, battle, battle and make plays at the end.”

S.C. BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION TOP 10 POLLS

(BOYS)

CLASS 5A

Division I

1. Ridge View

2. Byrnes

3. Dorman

4. Blythewood

5. Dutch Fork

6. Cane Bay

7. Summerville

8. Mauldin

9. River Bluff

10. West Ashley

Division II
1. Fort Mill

2. Indian Land

3. Goose Creek

4. Greenville

5. Conway

6. Westwood

7. Berkeley

8. Greenwood

9. Riverside

10. James Island

CLASS 4A

1. North Augusta

2. Lancaster

3. Wren

4. Crestwood

5. Brookland Cayce

6. Gray Collegiate

7. Wilson

8. Westside

9. Bluffton

10. Greer

(GIRLS)

CLASS 5A

Division I

1. Ashley Ridge 

2. Blythewood 

3. Summerville

4. Clover

5. Dutch Fork

6. Carolina Forest

7. Wando

8. Dorman

9. Rock Hill

10. Lexington  

Division II        

1. Gaffney

2. North Myrtle Beach

3. Berkeley

4. White Knoll

5. Riverside

6. Fort Mill

7. St. James

8. Socastee

9. Irmo

10. Greenwood  

Photos by Thomas Grant Jr.