Jasrial Thompson (10) lunges to the basket. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD – The Lady Bengals’ (6-12, 2-3) basketball team had their two-game win streak broken last Friday night by Ridge View. Formerly with Blythewood, Breelyn Blanding put up a game-high 19 points in her return to the Blythewood floor as the Lady Blazers managed a 55-40 victory.
Jasrial Thompson put the Bengals on the board first with a basket to start the contest, but Ridge View responded by going on a 19-4 scoring run over the next five minutes and held a 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blanding poured in 10 points during the run.
Blythewood clamped down in the second frame as each squad managed just nine points in the second quarter, but the Bengals still faced a 30-19 deficit at halftime.
Ridge View’s Cierra Goodwin netted the first three points in the second half to extend the lead to 14. Goodwin finished with second on the team in scoring with 15 points. Ridge View had three players finish in double figures.
Trailing 41-26, the Lady Bengals made their move in the final minutes of the third quarter. Lauren Harley and Thompson combined to score the final eight points of the third quarter and cut the Blazer advantage to a manageable 41-34 heading into the fourth quarter. Harley and Thompson finished with 18 and 13 respectively.
Harley buried a jumper to start the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to just five points, but that’s as close as the Lady Bengals would get because Ridge View countered by scoring the next six points unanswered. Blythewood was held to just six points in the fourth quarter as the Blazers secured the win to move them into second place in Region IV-4A with a 13-4 overall record including 4-1 in region play.
Blythewood had Tuesday night off and will return to the floor tonight (Jan. 30), when they travel to play Dutch Fork.
Ridge View 55, Blythewood 40
RV: 21-9-11-14 – 55
BH: 10-9-15-6 – 40
Individual Scoring – Blythewood: Keayra Jackson 2, Aubria Greene 3, Jasrial Thompson 13, Lauren Harley 18, Ajane Williams 2, Amari Lott 2. Ridge View: Laura Ajukewa 2, Breelyn Blanding 19, Janell Addison 10, Erica Tisdale 3, Ashlynn Anderson 4, Cierra Goodwin 15, Destiny Gainee 2.
