BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls basketball team is in rare territory.
Three years after going 0-19, the Bengals won a share of the Region 5-5A championship, earned a first-round bye in the 5A Division I playoffs and beat Byrnes and Rock Hill in the second and third rounds.
For the first time in school history, the Blythewood girls will play for the upper state championship Saturday afternoon at the Florence Center.
The second-seeded Bengals (26-2) sealed the deal with a 60-47 victory over No.6 Rock Hill Monday night, which came three days after they eased past No.7 J.F. Byrnes 63-49. Blythewood will play fourth-seeded J.L. Mann (20-6), 57-47 victory over top-seeded Dutch Fork Monday night.
Second-year Blythewood head coach Emily Schaeffer said getting this far—farther than any other Blythewood girls team has gone—is a credit to her coaching staff and to the girls themselves, several of whom were on the court during that winless 2021-2022 season.
“It’s who I’m with. My coaching staff is great. Day in and day out they’re there, always giving advice, things like that,” Schaeffer said after the Rock Hill game. “But it’s the girls. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They buy in. They buy in to our game plan. I told the girls before the game, we’ve got a lot of talent in this room but we’ve got to trust each other and that’s what it comes down to, trusting each other and trusting us as coaches.”
In the Byrnes game, the Bengals found themselves down 12-5 late in the first quarter but went on an 11-2 scoring run straddling the first and second quarters to go up 16-14 at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter.
The Rebels and Bengals went through five lead changes in the next three minutes, but when Hayley Hightower made a steal and Chase Thomas got the basket to make it 22-20 at the 2:12 mark, Blythewood never looked back.
The Bengals held a 26-21 advantage at intermission. In another scoring burst straddling the third and fourth quarters, Blythewood held a 53-38 lead with 5:21 left and held on for the win.
Four Bengals reached double figures against the Rebels. Thomas scored 21 points, India Williams had 14 points, and Sherron Waters and Daniella Bosmans scored 10 points apiece.
On Monday night, Thomas sparked the defensive and offensive effort, scoring 31 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the Bengals’ 60-47 victory over the Bearcats.
“She stepped up big time,” Schaeffer said. “She’s definitely a good player, bright future ahead of her. She has big moments and when she steps up, that’s all I can ask for.”
The Bengals and Bearcats were deadlocked at 12 after the first quarter, but the Blythewood defense clamped down in the second quarter. Thomas had 12 points and 10 boards over the first two quarters, and the Bengals held a 25-20 lead over Rock Hill at intermission.
“It really started on the defensive end,” Thomas said.
“We shut down one of their best players (Chloe Hudson, who averaged 18.0 points per game but finished the night with just three points), and I just started attacking, getting to the rim, getting fouled, and as a team we started to play together more.”
Thomas and Blythewood kept one step ahead of the Bearcats in
the third quarter, taking a 45-35 lead going into the fourth quarter, and
finishing strong in the final period.
“At halftime we had to make a few adjustments, had to contain and close down
the middle,” Schaeffer said. “We had to quit letting the drive go in and just
pick up our defense and that was the difference.”
Blythewood outrebounded the Bearcats 25-11. Rock Hill had 26 turnovers in the game to Blythewood’s 24, but the Bengals had just seven turnovers in the second half.
Besides Thomas, Williams scored 10 points.
“Two keys I told them before the game: protect the ball, don’t turn the ball over, and get the boards, and we’ll win the game,” Schaeffer said. “That was my challenge to them, and we didn’t do as well as we would’ve liked with the turnovers, but rebounding wise, they executed.”
Against J.L. Mann, Blythewood will battle sophomore leading scorer Jade Hailstock, who averages 14.8 points and 2.8 assists per game. Juniors Imari Richardson and Olivia McKinney average over 11 points per game. Richardson is the team’s leading rebounder with 9.6 boards per game.
“We’ve been playing all season for this,” Thomas said. “Before the season they didn’t rank us at all, so this is like a get-back season. Last year we went out in the first round and it didn’t feel very good. This year we came back with a better attitude and worked hard and it shows now. It feels great. It feels amazing to be back and to show what Blythewood can do.”
Thursday
Byrnes – 12-9-17-11 — 49
Blythewood – 11-15-21-16 — 63
JFB: Ashlyn Evans 15, Jaida Johnson 14, Silver 8, Turner 4, Smith 2, Dukes 2, Brockman 2, Barnes 2. B: Chase Thomas 21, India Williams 14, Sherron Waters 10, Daniella Bosmans 10, Hightower 6, Guerrero 2.
Saturday
Rock Hill – 12-8-15-12 — 47
Blythewood – 12-13-20-15 — 60
R: Aubrey Stevenson 22, Emine Hollis 11, Land 6, Hudson 3, Williamson 3, Joseph 2. B: Chase Thomas 31, India Williams 10, Bosmans 9, Hightower 4, Waters 3, Guerrero 3.
