BLYTHEWOOD – Ridge View’s girls basketball team may have erased a huge Blythewood lead by the third quarter, but the Bengals rallied and outlasted the Blazers 50-44 Friday night.
Blythewood (5-2) watched Ridge View erase an 18-point deficit, but instead of simply watching, the Bengals shook it off and went back to their game—mainly forcing takeaways and making good behind the 3-point line.
“In the back of my mind, I thought they had gained the momentum,” Blythewood head coach Steve Inabinett said. “But the girls maintained their poise and composure, dug deep and came back. I’m so proud of them.”
Chase Thomas led the way with 17 points, including two 3-pointers. India Williams had four 3s and scored 16 points on the night. Hayley Hightower had 13 points.
Lucia Dailey led Ridge View (0-8) with 17 points.
Using its newfound strength from behind the 3-point line, Blythewood jumped to a 26-8 lead on the Blazers by the midway point of the second quarter. Ridge View got a 3-point play from Destiny Drakford, and after Madison Thomas made the back-end of two foul shots, the Blazers closed out the first half on a 10-0 scoring run. Lucia Bailey capped that run with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Bengals still held a 27-21 lead going into the third quarter, but Ridge View evaporated it within the first four minutes of the second half. A basket from Anasia Harvey, a foul shot from Drakford, and two 3s from Bailey gave Ridge View a 30-28 lead.
The two teams battled up and down the court for the rest of the quarter, but after Harvey’s basket cut Blythewood’s new-found lead to 37-36, Chase Thomas drew a 3-shot foul and sank all three foul shots to give the Bengals a 40-36 lead going into the final quarter.
Jasmine Young opened the fourth with a 3, and after Blazer baskets from Ervin Jenkins and Bailey, the Bengals went on a 13-2 scoring run and put the game out of reach with 2 minutes left.
Blythewood, coming off an 0-19 year, returns seven players from last season. Besides three fresh faces to the roster, the team’s 3-point shooting and aggressiveness on the court is a completely different look than in prior years.
“I used to not be in favor of 3s because I didn’t really have anybody who could shoot 3s. I’m a lot more liberal now that we have some 3 shooters,” Inabinet said. “They’re really aggressive, and sometimes that plays against us. We’ve got to learn as a team how to control that aggression so we can be more effective.”
In the boys game, Blythewood (4-2) opened strong against Ridge View for a 7-0 lead, but ultimately could not contain the Blazers’ defense and attack offense, falling 57-48.
“They take away a lot of things from us,” Blythewood head coach Zeke Washington said. “A lot of things we just can’t do against them, they make it hard for us to do. We’re still learning how to counter when people take things away from us. We know what we need to do, we just have to get better at doing it.”
Ridge View (6-2) evened the score at 9 with 2:32 left in the first quarter, but Blythewood led 13-11 by the end of the first quarter. After a 15-15 score two minutes into the second quarter, Ridge View pulled ahead for good on a 13-6 scoring run, and the Blazers led 28-21 at the half.
The Bengals played evenly with the Blazers throughout the second half, but Ridge View’s second-quarter scoring run was good enough to hand Blythewood a loss.
Ridge View hosts the Bojangles Bash beginning Thursday.
Blythewood played at Fairfield Central Tuesday and plays at crosstown rival Westwood tonight.
Boys
Ridge View – 11-17-14-15 — 57
Blythewood – 13-8-12 – 15 — 48
RV – Joshua Smith 20, Jayden Pretty 14, Perez 7, Corbett 6, Ukata 3, T. Smith 2, Z. Smith 1.
BHS – Will Olden 14, Pack 8, Stephens 6, Jackson 4, Haltiwanger 4, Coker 4, Guess 3, Mazyck 3, Washington 2.
Girls
Ridge View – 6-15-15-8 — 44
Blythewood – 15-12-13-19 — 59
RV – Lucia Dailey 17, Harvey 6, Drakford 6, Banks 5, Parrott 5, Ervin 2, Johnson 2, Glover 1.
BHS – Chase Thomas 17, India Williams 16, Hayley Hightower 13, Brown 5, Young 3, Simmons 3, Fluker 1, Thomas 1.