BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood and Ridge View’s Saturday matchup provided plenty of entertainment—four of the top Region 5-5A teams clashing in a late-season matchup with region championship implications.
It was a game two weeks into the making. Originally scheduled for Jan. 21st, the matchup was delayed because of the Midlands snowstorm. The game was set for Feb. 5, but when Blythewood’s wrestling team reached the 5A upper-state championship, the Bengals hosted Boiling Springs on that day and the Blythewood-Ridge View game was bumped again to Saturday.
For the basketball crowd, it was worth the wait.
The Blythewood girls extended their 15-game win streak—and best season since 2006-2007—with a 59-46 win over the Blazers.
The Blythewood boys did what they could in going up against the Ridge View boys, but in the end the Blazers showed they were playing on a higher level in a 64-52 victory over the Bengals.
In the girls game, the Blazers (16-8, 9-1), who won the Region 5-4A title and played for the 4A lower state championship last season, had no problem with region competition at the 5A classification. Senior forward Anasia Harvey led the Blazers with a 15.6 points and 11.0 rebounds per game average.
The pathway for Blythewood (24-1, 11-0 Region 5-5A) has been a long and winding road over the years. The Bengals last won 22 games in 2006-2007, never won a region title, and went winless in the 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 seasons.
Three juniors have led Blythewood’s attack—all of whom played on the last winless team as eighth graders. Forward and scoring guard Chase Thomas leads the way with a 23.5 scoring average and 11.0 rebounds per game. Scoring and point guard India Williams averages 17.7 points and 5.1 boards, and scoring and point guard Hayley Hightower averages 14.5 points and 5.5 steals per game.
On Saturday, Ridge View took a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but over the second and third quarters Blythewood outscored the Blazers 37-17 to take a 48-33 lead into the final quarter. The Bengals cruised to a 59-46 win.
“We switched up our defense in the second quarter, we went man-to-man and got out of that zone,” second-year head coach Emily Schaeffer said about overcoming the deficit. “That created intensity, which led to turnovers, and that’s how we play. We play the transition game, and that’s what changed the momentum in the second quarter.”
Williams scored her 1,000th career point on a jump shot from the foul-line area at the 4:50 mark of the fourth quarter. She finished the afternoon with 16 points.
Thomas led all scorers with 29 points. Harvey scored 13 points to lead the Blazers.
The win came a day after beating Sumter 53-34.
After two weeks of waiting, the Ridge View boys (18-7, 11-0) released the tension from the tipoff. The Blazers, who won the 4A championship in 2024 before moving up to 5A, blasted the Bengals with a 24-7 run in the first quarter, took a 42-23 lead at the half, and finished with a 64-52 victory.
Freshman forward Korie Corbett scored 20 points and freshman point guard Yale Davis added 15 points to lead the way for the Blazers, who are one step closer to winning their first region title since 2022.
“We knew it would be tough, Blythewood is well-coached. (Bengals) Coach (Zeke) Washington has been doing this a long time,” third-year Blazers head coach Josh Staley said. “We’ve been in a lot of games like this to get sole possession of first place late in the season. We wanted to come out with some intensity, and we wanted to be able to defend T.J. Lewis. We know he scores at a very high clip and we respect that. We were trying our best to make every shot he got tough, and to defend him at a high level.”
Lewis, a senior forward, led the Bengals with 23 points. Tyler Stephens had 11.
Blythewood (20-4, 9-2) beat Sumter (12-11, 7-3) 68-44 Friday night, T.J. Lewis scored 35 points. Tyler Stephens added 16.
Blythewood and Ridge View meet again Friday to close out the regular season. The Blazers beat Sumter 82-46 Tuesday to clinch the region championship.
Girls
Ridge View – 16-9-8-13 — 46
Blythewood – 11-23-14-11 — 59
R: Anasia Harvey 13, Robinson 8, Ferguson 6, Smith 6, Carter 3, Johnson 3, Lewis 3, Willingham 2, Banks 2. B: Chase Thomas 29, India Williams 16, Hightower 9, Waters 3, Guerrero 2.
Boys
Ridge View – 24-18-13-9 — 64
Blythewood – 7-16-8-21 — 52
R: Korie Corbett 20, Yale Davis 15, Cooper 9, Staley 5, Vankallen 5, Smith 4, Moore 2, Mack 2, Wylie 2. B: T.J. Lewis 23, Tyler Stephens 11, Sims 4, Little 4, Davis 3, Hill 2, Jones 1, Moore 1.
