BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls basketball team fell behind Westwood in the second quarter Friday night, but the Bengals used a strong third quarter to overcome a 29-26 halftime deficit and beat their Region 5-5A rivals 61-50 at Westwood.
Chase Thomas led all scorers with 28 points, Hayley Hightower had 11 points and Daniella Bosmans put up 10 points to lead Blythewood to their first region victory. The Bengals, 15-1, continue a breakthrough season with their only loss being a 65-53 defeat against a strong Dutch Fork team in tournament play Dec. 21.
Winning against their crosstown rival has been a tall order for Blythewood in recent years. The Redhawks (6-10) had been a 4A power over the past six years, with six region championships through 2023. In contrast, the Bengals went 0-19 in 2022, then in 2023 posted their first winning season in 10 years.
Thomas, Hightower, India Williams and Madison Thomas were eighth graders on that 2022 team. Friday night’s win may well be a benchmark for those players, now juniors, as they continue to get better and improve the team.
“That definitely ups the fire, I guess,” Second-year Blythewood head coach Emily McElveen said. “For them, I think they’re saying it’s our turn to take things our way. The last few years have not gone our way. It’s definitely a confidence booster for them.”
Aneya Britt led Westwood with 16 points, and Amari Alexander put up 11 points.
The Redhawks built on their 29-26 halftime lead with two baskets from Britt and one from Alexander to go up 35-26 early in the third quarter.
From that point Blythewood started connecting from behind the 3-point arc, draining three 3-pointers from Hightower, Chase Thomas and Williams in a 19-3 scoring run that closed out the quarter.
Up 45-38 to start the fourth quarter, the Bengals took a 52-42 lead by the 3:55 mark and cruised the rest of the way with a double-digit cushion.
Westwood head coach Gregory Bauldrick, whose team has just two seniors, said his young team is gradually getting better, but the team’s lapse in the third quarter helped spark the Blythewood rally.
“I thought the third quarter was key,” Bauldrick said. “They stepped up their defensive energy in the third and we didn’t respond well. Importantly, I thought we gave up too many offensive rebounds. They scored on every one we gave up, and then we couldn’t shoot our free throws.”
Westwood was just 6-for-12 from the free-throw line, while Blythewood made 18 of 22 shots.
“It’s going to be hard to beat anybody when they’re free (to score) and you don’t take it to them,” Bauldrick added.
The Redhawks fell 62-53 at Ridge View Monday.
For the Bengals, who beat Spring Valley 71-55 Monday and played at Lugoff-Elgin Wednesday, the season is playing out well thus far, led by those young veterans Hightower, Chase and Madison Thomas, and Williams.
McElveen said while those contribute heavily, she notes that this year’s success has been a total team effort.
“We’ve been playing well, playing together,” McElveen said. “We’ve got two girls, Sherron Waters and Daniella Bosmans, that came to us this year and have been helping us out. They’re definitely making a difference, maybe not on the stat sheet, but helping to distribute the ball and getting our shooters to where they can shoot. I’ve had a lot of good minutes from Aniya Guerrero as well. She’s stepped up big this year and has given me some good minutes.”
BLYTHEWOOD – 11-15-19-16 — 61
WESTWOOD – 11-18-9-12 — 50
B – Chase Thomas 28, Hayley Hightower 11, Daniella Bosmans 10, Williams 9, Waters 3.
W – Aneya Britt 16, Amari Alexader 11, Curry 9, Davis 7, Cummings 4, Rogers 2, Green 1.
