Bengals Top Blazers, Lock Up Third Seed

Blythewood’s Donovan Leach (22) climbs the ladder for the layup Monday night. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)

BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood Bengals secured a third-position playoff spot when they defeated the Ridge View Blazers 62-57 in what was the team’s final regular season game. The victory solidified Blythewood’s final resting place in the region standings at 6-4, two games ahead of the Blazers.

The Bengals had three players score in double-figures with Trae Churn scoring 14 and Khalil Shakur-Harris and Donovan Leach scoring 12 points each.

Even with the balanced scoring, it was the Bengals’ defense that won the game. Ridge View scorer Dexter Foster was able to put up 23 points, but the Bengals kept the rest of the Blazer squad in check throughout the game.

The win sets up Blythewood with a trip to Bluffton on Thursday to take on the second-place Bobcats of Bluffton High School.

The Bobcats are 14-6 on the year and 7-3 in Region VIII play, finishing second only to Summerville in the regular season standings.

“It’s going to be a tough one, but we are going to practice hard and work on executing and playing our game,” said Blythewood head coach Ezekiel Washington.

Bluffton secured their second place seed with a nail-bitter win over Beaufort last week, 51-50. Bluffton is currently the 36th ranked team in the state and will put up a challenge for the Bengals.

Look for the Bengals to press the Bluffton ball handlers and try to convert the turnovers into easy buckets. The high-intensity defense has been the Bengals calling card all season long; so don’t expect much to change.

“We are going to have to execute defensively and play our assignments,” said Washington.

On offense, the Bengals will rely on the lethal scoring of Trae Churn and the corps of Bengals sharpshooters and slashers to get the ball through the rim.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m., on Thursday at Bluffton High School.

Blythewood: Johnson 7, Lake 2, McCrae 4, Khalil Shakur Harris 12, Womack 9, Donovan Leach 12, Trae Churn 14, Jenkins 2.

Ridge View: Torrey Robinson 11, Dexter Foster 23, Robinson 5, Washington 3, Taylor 4, Alewine 5, Hopkins 6.

Contact us: (803) 767-5711 | P.O. Box 675, Blythewood, SC 29016 | [email protected]