Lauren Harley (22) puts up a jumper at Lugoff-Elgin.
After dropping three straight games to end the month of January, the Lady Bengals basketball team (15-8, 5-4) is back to its winning ways. As they turned the calendar over to February, they’ve earned back-to-back victories and were even able to clinch a playoff berth. Last Friday Blythewood went on the road to beat the Lady Demons (6-15, 1-7) of Lugoff-Elgin, 67-40.
Offensively, Blythewood used the scoring combo of Kierra Brown and Aaliyah Keels to do the majority of the damage with 19 and 18 points respectively. Keels grabbed 10 rebounds as well and recorded her first double-double of the season. Freshman Lauren Harley cracked double digits netting 13 points.
With Lugoff-Elgin in their rearview mirror, Blythewood turned their attention to Richland Northeast (3-17, 1-8) on Tuesday night. The Lady Cavaliers have struggled this season and have only one win in region play in their last 39 attempts dating back through the last three seasons. Tuesday night’s game was no different for Richland Northeast as the Lady Bengals coasted to a 45-18 victory.
Through the first three minutes Richland Northeast held an early lead at 5-4, but the Lady Bengals stunned their opponent with a 13-0 run to end the first quarter and take a 17-5 lead. Blythewood would never again trail in the contest. The Lady Bengals led 23-9 at halftime and outscored Richland Northeast 16-6 in the third quarter.
Harley tied her season high by pouring in a game high 13 points. As a team Blythewood was 9-11 at the free throw line. Five Lady Bengals made their final appearance on their home floor including Aaliyah Keels, Gabrielle Morgan, Kimberly Cobb, India Maple and Kierra Brown. However, Brown did not play in the game after turning her ankle in practice this week. The four seniors who did play combined for 24 points including season highs from Morgan and Maple at 8 and 6 respectively.
Blythewood will wrap up the regular season at Ridge View tonight (Feb. 8) with tip off scheduled for 6 p.m. Blythewood has already clinched a playoff spot but is in pursuit of the number three seed out of region IV-4A to avoid a first round matchup against the Lady Silver Foxes of Dutch Fork (22-0) out of region 5-4A. You can listen to the live broadcast at www.facebook.com/bhathletics.
