BLYTHEWOOD – Ridge View stormed into The Castle Monday night with an eye on going up early on the Westwood basketball team and keeping them behind.
The Redhawks had another outcome in mind, and overcame two double-digit deficits to pull off a 64-61 victory over the defending 5A Division I champion Blazers before a packed house.
Guard D’Marcus Thomas led the way for Westwood with four 3-pointers late in the game and a game-high 28 points on the night. Fellow guards Cylan McLeod Jayden Crews also had double figures, with McLeod putting up 14 points and Crews adding 10.
“We got out-toughed in the first couple of minutes but it was a rivalry game and we knew this was gonna happen,” head coach Trent Robinson said. “They overcame that and if that wasn’t enough, they got down in the second half and they overcame that. They’re the heart and soul, they’re a great group and I love ‘em. They caused me a big headache but I was happy they were able to come out on the good side of it.”
The first four minutes of the game were not so good for the Redhawks (13-1, 2-0 Region 5-5A). Ridge View opened up by building a 12-0 lead by that point. McLeod broke the drought with a 3 at the 3:55 mark, which sparked a 14-4 Westwood scoring run that put the Redhawks to within 16-14 to start the second quarter.
The Blazers (12-2, 1-1) outscored the Redhawks 14-10 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-24 lead.
Ridge View opened the second half with another surge to take a 38-27 lead after the first two minutes of play, but Westwood’s defense began making more stops and the Redhawks shooters kept the game within single digits.
The Blazers held a 44-36 lead when Crews drained a 3 at the 1:46 mark of the third. Seconds later Thomas hit a basket and followed up with a 3 to get Westwood to within 46-44 going into the fourth quarter.
Thomas’s last two scores in the third quarter, coupled with the Redhawks 8-0 run to open the final quarter, propelled Westwood to a 52-46 lead. Thomas opened the fourth with a fadeaway jumper that was good for 3 and gave the team its first lead of the game, 47-46.
“It was big,” Thomas said about the rally. “We were down coming out of the half, and we just hit threes and played solid D and made our shots. We play D every day, we take pride in our defense.”
The Redhawks used a halfcourt trap in the fourth that caused Ridge View problems with their timing and with moving the ball down the court. The Blazers kept it close, even tying the game at 55 with 2:06 left, but Westwood hung on with effective foul shooting.
“We got real stagnant in the third quarter,” Ridge View head coach Josh Staley said. “We didn’t score a ton and we tried to finish the third quarter strong, but they were just a better team tonight. We knew it was going to be a difficult game and we were really worried about the (holiday) lag was kind of funky, but at the end of the day we played our game but they just outplayed us.”
Ridge View’s top scorer R.J. Davis, who had 25 points on the night, made a long-distance 3 for the Blazers’ last score. With less than two seconds on the clock, there was nothing that Westwood needed to do other than inbound the ball and let the final 1.7 seconds expire.
“Credit the guys on the beat. We got down by 12 two different times and we had a bad practice yesterday (Sunday), but our guard, 5, stepped up,” head coach Trent Robinson said, referring to Thomas. “The last four games 5 has been good. Been really good and that’s the reason we won. Our guards played tough, played hard, and everybody eventually decided to come on. It was a great win.”
Robinson, a Ridge View graduate, dedicated the Redhawks’ win to one of his former coaches, Tecauma Lettsome, a Ridge View coach who died last week after a long battle with ALS and who was recently elected to school’s Hall of Fame.
“My heart goes out to that community. I praise him,” he said. “He was a coach who impacted so many lives at Ridge View. He was just a great guy and guy who cared about the community.”
The Westwood boys opened region play with a 67-52 win over crosstown rival Blythewood Friday afternoon.
In the girls game Monday night, Westwood (9-7, 0-2) with a 59-52 loss to the Blazers (5-5, 1-0).
Lyric Rogers scored 17 points and Si’Niya Curry added 12 points for the Redhawks, who opened region play falling 72-39 to Blythewood Friday afternoon.
“If you’re not ready to compete with your opponent for 32 minutes, you’re going to be on the short end of the stick most of the time,” head coach Gregory Bauldrick said. “It’s like teaching a kid to swim, you can’t teach her to swim until you get her into the water.”
The disappointing region start after what Bauldrick said was a positive effort in the holiday tournaments was a setback for the team.
“I thought we were where we needed to be coming out of that even though we lost some close ballgames, but we competed hard,” he said. “I thought there was some good momentum coming into region play, but you get (defending 5A Division I state champion) Blythewood, and then you get Ridge View. Everybody’s got a plan until they get hit.”
The Redhawks play at Spring Valley Friday.
Boys
Ridge View – 16-14-16-15 – 61
Westwood – 14-10-20-20 – 64
Ridge View
R.J. Davis 25, Talan Staley 15, D.J. Wylie 11, Moore 5, Van Kallen 3, Ross 2.
Westwood
D’Marcus Thomas 27, Cylan McLeod 14, Jayden Crews 10, McGill 7, Veal 6.
Girls
Ridge View – 18-12-12-17 – 59
Westwood – 6-15-11-20 – 52
Ridge View
Reagan Ferguson 12, Kallie Robertson 11, English 9, Lewis 8, Carr 7, Johnson 6, Foster 4, J.Robinson 1.
Westwood
Lyric Rogers 17, Si’Niya Curry 12, Heath 9, Alexander 6, Clark 5, Entzminger 3.
