BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls basketball team got the second half of the region schedule underway Friday night exactly the way they opened the region schedule on Jan. 2—by beating their crosstown rival Westwood.
This time around, Chase Thomas scored 26 points, had 21 rebounds, and made 10 assists for a triple-double night. Kirsten Fulton added 19 and India Williams put up 17 points as the Bengals eased past the Redhawks 78-40 at The Castle.
“We’re coming out and we’re playing better together as a team, passing the ball, taking the best shots,” Blythewood head coach Emily McElveen-Schaeffer said. “I tell them not to just take any shot, but move the ball around until we get the best shot. I saw a little bit of that tonight.”
The Bengals (17-4, 8-0 Region 5-5A) beat Westwood 72-39 Jan. 2, and Friday night’s game resembled that early Jan. win, when they led 38-23 at the half.
On Friday, Blythewood got off to an 18-7 lead after the first quarter, and led 38-24 at the half. The Bengals outscored Westwood (13-9, 4-4) 23-10 in the third quarter to take a 61-34 lead, then finished the game with a 17-6 fourth quarter.
Shaniya Heath led the Redhawks with 10 points.
“Defense wins the game for us,” McElveen-Schaeffer said. “Our offense is fueled by our defense and we’ve got to be able to hold people. I don’t worry about us scoring as much. We’re a small team, pretty much undersized every night when we go into games and we’ve got to be able to hold teams and outscore them quarter by quarter. Our job is to win every quarter.”
The Bengals beat Spring Valley (6-13, 3-5) 74-29 Tuesday night. They play at Lugoff-Elgin Friday and host West Florence Tuesday.
The team’s big matchup comes at home Feb. 13 with second-place Ridge View (10-7, 5-2). Blythewood beat the Blazers 53-35 Jan. 20, the team’s closest game of region play.
While dominating the region thus far, McElveen-Schaeffer said the Bengals still have room for improvement as they prepare for a tough postseason slate. She said she likes the team’s trajectory as the 5A Division 1 playoffs draw near.
“I’ve got a team that when they get physical they can make things happen,” she said. “There are times where I can look at the score and see many of our people impacting the game and that tells me they’re doing what I’m asking. They’re giving the open person the ball and playing better and making it happen.”
In the boys’ game, the Redhawks (18-2, 7-1) got off to an early lead on the Bengals (8-13, 2-6) and rolled to a 68-38 victory.
Westwood led 13-4 after the first quarter. Three minutes into the second quarter Jayden Crews sparked a 16-6 run with a dunk and a free throw, and the Redhawks held a 31-14 lead at halftime.
“The second quarter really separated the game, we were able to buy in on some possessions and get some energy,” Westwood head coach Trent Robinson said. “The first quarter was really ugly, but there was a 2-minute sequence where we were starting to dominate, winning the rebounding battle, getting out and running.”
D’Marcus Thomas led all scorers with 21 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half and another 3 in the third quarter. Crews had 15 points.
“D’Marcus has been hitting some high-level shots, and Jayden is like our Swiss Army knife,” Robinson said. “Jayden does pretty much everything, he can shoot, he can dribble, he gets it to the rack, he’s athletic. Both of them and our whole senior core has finally been coming together.”
Elijah Major led the Bengals in scoring with 15 points.
Westwood, which beat Blythewood 67-52 Jan. 2, fell 64-47 at Ridge View (18-3, 6-1) Tuesday night.
The Bengals beat Spring Valley (9-12, 3-5) 52-35 Tuesday night. The Bengals head to Lugoff-Elgin (12-8, 5-2) Friday and play host to West Florence (4-17, 0-7) Tuesday.
Boys
Blythewood – 4-10-15-9 – 38
Westwood – 13-18-22-15 – 68
Blythewood
Elijah Major 15, Mickle 6, Sheperd 6, Scriven 6, Collins 2, Jones 1, Davis 1, Latimer 1.
Westwood
D’Marcus Thomas 21, Jayden Crews 15, Veal 7, Jenkins 6, Grant 5, McGill 4, Cockfield 4, Huell 2, McLeod 2, Hardy 1, Hudson 1.
Girls
Blythewood – 18-20-23-17 – 78
Westwood – 7-17-10-6 – 40
Blythewood
Chase Thomas 26, Kirsten Fulton 19, India Williams 17, Hightower 7, M. Thomas 5, Spain 4
Westwood
Heath 10, Alexander 7, Clarke 6, Rogers 4, Dugger 4, Curry 3, Entzminger 2, Green 2, Pickett 2.
