Ridge View moves on to state AAAAA finals with dominating win

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer FLORENCE – Ridge View’s boys basketball team had played Region 5-5A rival Blythewood twice before—two double-digit victories punctuated the Blazers’ region season in early February. On Friday night, the Blazers added a third victory over the Bengals, a 71-47 win that secured the 5A Division 1 state championship at the Florence Center. “I’m really happy for the young men because they bought into what we’re doing,” Ridge View head coach Josh Staley said. “It’s all about experience when you lead young people, you want to give them experiences to help them grow and be better people, and they bought into the process.” Junior guards Korie Corbett and Yale Davis led the way for the Blazers (23-7). Corbett scored a game-high 23 points and Davis added 13 points. “It was really just rebounds and getting to the basket, being down and dirty with everybody so my team can get the win” Corbett said. He was 8-for-11 from the floor and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, and got a team-leading seven rebounds and four steals.  “That’s just who he is. He puts the work in, he’s a humble young man who accepts coaching,” Staley said of Corbett. “He does things like he does tonight and we’re not surprised by it.” The win is the second straight state championship for Ridge View, which won the 4A state title last year before moving to the 5A classification. It’s the fifth state championship for the Blazers since 2018. Ridge View jumped to a 7-0 lead off of a Corbett jumper, two foul shots from Malachi Cooper and one foul shot from Treyvon Smith , and a basket from Reginald Mack . Blythewood finally got on the scoreboard with Torrean Sims’ 3-point play at the 4:05 mark of the first quarter. Sims later scored on a dunk to make it 7-5, and Mujahid Jones drained a 3-pointer with 2:58 left to give Blythewood an 8-7 lead. It was the Bengals’ only lead of the game. Seven seconds later, Corbett went to the foul line and sank two free throws to give Ridge View a 9-8 lead. From that point Ridge View’s furious man-to-man coverage flustered Blythewood’s offense. The Bengals shot just 17-for-54, or 31.5 percent. The Blazers ended the first quarter with a 17-11 advantage and outscored the Bengals 13-7 in the second quarter to carry a 30-20 lead into intermission. In the second half Blythewood lost two players to foul trouble—Sims, who fouled out at the 4:25 mark of the third, and Kemuel Little , who fouled out in the 6:42 mark of the fourth. Starting forward Tyler Stephens played with four fouls on him since early in the third quarter. Even with being in foul trouble, the Bengals kept trying to get the ball in the net. At the start of the fourth quarter Little’s layup cut Ridge View’s lead to 46-35. Seeing a score to start the fourth quarter may have given some hope for Blythewood fans, who saw the Bengals rally late for a 46-45 upper-state victory over Dorman the week before. Ridge View blotted that hope out awfully fast. The Blazers went on a 20-4 scoring run to take a 66-39 lead with 1:50 left, and afterward brought in the second-stringers to finish the game. “That’s how you prepare. You prepare to play a whole game, and the work you put in comes out in moments like this,” Staley said. Davis, who scored all his points in the second half, said he put the pressure on himself to improve over the third and fourth quarters. “In the first half I knew my shots weren’t falling, so I had to get to the rack and get my teammates involved,” Davis said. “I just did what I needed to.” Senior T.J. Lewis was the only player who scored in double figures for the Bengals (23-6). Lewis had 17 points, while the rest of his teammates scored six points or less. “It was a really great run,” head coach Zeke Washington said. “We rode our seniors as much as we could. T.J. had a phenomenal year and our seniors played hard. We had some young kids that played hard.” Friday night was Blythewood’s second state championship game. The Bengals fell to Dorman in the 5A state title matchup in 2017. Washington won state titles with Fairfield Central boys (3A) in 1998 and with Chester girls (3A) in 2004. Blythewood 13 7 13 14 – 47 Ridge View 17 13 16 25 – 71 B – T.J. Lewis 17, Tyler Stephens 6, Torrean Sims 6, Kemuel Little 5, Mujahid Jones 5, Terrion Mack 4, Eugenio Bandini 2, Elijah Major 2. R – Korie Corbett 23, Yale Davis 13, Malachi Cooper 9, Talon Staley 8, Robert Wylie 7, Brayden Mack 5, Reginald Mack 3, Joshua Vankallen 2, Treyvon Smith 1.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer FLORENCE – Around this time three years ago, the Blythewood girls basketball team finished the season 0-19. On Friday night at the Florence Center, the Bengals won the 5A Division I state championship with a 62-59 victory over lower-state champion Summerville . “Their hard work has definitely paid off,” second-year head coach Emily McElveen - Schaeffer said. “That was what I was most proud of, that they worked hard since June, day in and day out, fall ball, and I’m glad they get to reap the benefit of that.” Over the past three years India Williams , Chase Thomas , and Hayley Hightower have developed into team leaders, and it showed on the court and in the box score Friday night—Williams led Blythewood (29-2) with 22 points, Thomas had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Hightower had 11 points. “It means a lot, this is the first state title in, like ever,” Williams said. “It’s a great opportunity to be a part of this, and in only my third year here, it’s incredible. We started off working very hard, and we were like, this is our season, and we definitely came out and performed to that.” It was a Williams-Thomas-Hightower show against the Green Wave (24-4) in the first half. The veterans got around Summerville’s 3-2 zone by hitting six 3-pointers in the first half, which was just enough to help the Bengals to a 29-25 halftime lead. Thomas had just four points in the first half, a free throw and a 3-pointer. Williams had 14 points in the first half, but just one layup to join her four 3-pointers. “She stepped up big in the first half,” Schaeffer said of Williams. “She had the first six points of the game from that corner. The corner 3, that’s her shot.” Hightower scored nine points in the first half—a 3-pointer, two foul shots, and two layups. Hitting baskets from behind the 3-point line has been a trait for all Blythewood players this year, and Friday’s 3-pointers—four from Williams, one from Thomas and one from Hightower, proved to be the difference. “I play a little team. We have a lot of guards so we rely on that,” Schaeffer said. “We shoot a lot in practice. We knew they would come out in a zone and I told the girls to occupy the guards, get it to the corners and let us shoot the ball.” While the Green Wave’s zone prevented a lot of easy baskets, Blythewood did just enough in the second half to keep Summerville behind. “Like I told the girls, basketball is a game of runs,” Schaeffer said. “When teams go on runs you’ve got to be able to control those runs. You can’t let the atmosphere take over, because in this kind of atmosphere here, the crowd’s gonna be involved. I think we did a good job of responding to their runs.” Aniyah Guerrero sank the first basket of the second half to give the Bengals a 31-25 lead, but Cailah Tucker and Molly Daugherty put up baskets to cut that margin to two. Williams made good on a jumper and a foul shot, and a jumper from Hightower brought Blythewood’s lead back up to 36-29 at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter. The Bengals outscored Summerville 9-8 the rest of the way to end three quarters of play with a 45-37 lead, even with senior point guard Sharron Waters on the bench in foul trouble. Without Waters, who’s a consistent 3-point hitter as well as a good ball-handler, the team relied on Thomas in the paint and at the free-throw line, and Daniella Bosmans who had nine points in the game, as the game drew to a close. “Our team is more than one person,” second-year head coach Emily McElveen-Schaeffer said. “We rely on each other and Chase had to do her role tonight, and in the fourth quarter they went man, and we could open up against what we’re used to playing all year, and that just shows that all five on the court can go.” Bosmans’ basket early in the fourth gave the Bengals a 47-37 lead, the first double-digit lead of the game. Thomas, who had a 3-point play in the third quarter, made good on another 3-point play in the fourth quarter that put Blythewood up 57-45 with just over three minutes to go. She scored 11 points—seven from foul shots—in the final quarter to help preserve the win. Tucker’s 3-pointer with 19 seconds left was the last score of the game, and as Molly Daugherty’s 3-point attempt failed at the buzzer, Blythewood players cleared the bench in celebration of closing out the season with a victory. Molly Daugherty scored 22 points and Tucker had 18 points to lead Summerville. “One of the things I felt that hurt us was that we had like 10 days off,” Green Wave head coach Calvin Davis said. “But we gave it our all, we left it all on the floor. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to end, but in the end they grew, and they became special in that sense of being developed.” Summerville’s five seniors, tucker, Lavassar, Emma and Molly Daugherty, and Madison Thomas , provided a strong foundation for the team over the past three years. “Three of them will go on to play at the next level, and the other two might,” Davis said. “They’re very special to me. They’ve been with me for at least three to four years. I love them, they grew up as my leaders.” Blythewood 16 13 16 17 – 62 Summerville 13 12 12 19 – 56 B – India Williams 22, Chase Thomas 18, Hayley Hightower 11, Daniella Bosmans 9, Aniya Guerrero 2. S – Molly Daugherty 22, Cailah Tucker 18, Jayden Bennett 5, Emma Daugherty 4, Madison Thomas 3, Krissa Lavassar 2, Destinee Grant 2.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Florence – When you have two evenly matched teams a lot of times it is the little things that make the most impact in a game such was the case in the Class AA state championship game between Atlantic Collegiate Academy and High Point Academy . Second year Atlantic Collegiate Academy was able to make more plays and hit their free throws as they knocked off High Point Academy 58-52 Saturday at the Florence Civic Center to capture their first state championship. “This is the guys championship. They earned it. They put in a lot of time and effort at work end in a championship. That is what I’m most proud of with this team, ” said Atlantic Collegiate head coach Tanner Massey . The Armanda went 20-2 last year in their initial season beating some the best teams in the state so this run to a championship was not unexpected. This team was ranked number one in class AA all season and they proved they were the best. They finished the year at 24-3. “The rankings proved right as the two best teams battled for the title. I would put my team up against anyone,” Coach Massey said. The Grizzlies were looking for their second state championship and first at the AA level. They won the class A title in 2019. They finish the year 27-4. “We made two many mistakes and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities at the line but they forced us into some of the mistakes so give them a lot of credit,” said High Point head coach Lee Sator . The opening quarter was back and forth with High Point leading by one at 16-15. Senior Chonci Miller led High Point with five point while Atlantic Collegiate was led by Jaylen Bellamy, who also knocked down five points in the quarter. The second quarter was much like the first with neither team gaining control of the contest as they were tied at 21 when a TV time out stopped play. After the timeout, the Armada took control as they went on an 11-0 run to end the quarter and take a 32-21 lead into the half. Bellamy continued to lead the Armada as he had six points in the quarter with Jamie Brooks and Justin Bellamy combining for 8 points. High Point came out on fire in the third quarter as Trapp Morman nailed to three-pointers and Miller had a basket for an 8-0 run to start the quarter cutting the Atlantic lead to three at 32-29 with 5:54. Causing coach Massey to use a time out. “We knew they would come out strong in the third quarter. We called the timeout to settle us down and I put Justin back in the game because he is our defensive stopper and as soon as he went in he forced a turnover,” coach Massey. After Justin Bellamy forced the turnover the Armada went on a 5-0 run to regain control of the game. They would finish the quarter outscoring the Grizzlies 11-6 taking a 43-35 into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter High Point cut the lead to four at 46-42 with 2:01 to go but they would got 4 for 10 from the line in the quarter while Atlantic Collegiate would knock down 13 of 22 attempts from the line to maintain their cushion and ultimately close out the game 58-52. Free throw shooting proved to the biggest difference in the game as the Armada went 17 for 25 while the Grizzlies were 13 for 26. The Armada and the Grizzlies were about even in every other category but the free throws were the difference. The Armada was led by Jaylen Bellamy, who had a game high 20 points to go with six rebounds and a team high four steals. Brooks had 14 points and team three blocks while Clayton Hemingway chipped in 9 points. The Grizzlies were led by Morman with 16 points. Also, scoring in double figures were Jaden McNeil with 11 and Miller with 10.

Volunteers blow game open in 2nd quarter on way to 89-36 triumph over Eau Claire

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Florence – The Lancaster Bruins used a dominating second half performance to win their first AAAA boys state basketball title defeating the North Augusta Yellow Jackets 69-55 Friday afternoon at the Florence Center . “Words cannot describe the feeling that I have right now,” said Lancaster head coach Jerron Cauthen . “These kids have worked hard and earned everything they got, but I also love it for our community and our principal Ms. Rosalyn Mood . She’s going to retire sometime soon and now she’s got a championship under her belt.” Coach continued, “For my kids, for their parents, they’ve been around basketball since these kids were very young. Just to see their hard work and what they’ve done outside of what we do, everybody plays a role. The kids play a role. Parents play a role. School plays a role, and as long as everybody stays in their lane, we’ll be fine, and that’s what we have all done.” The Bruins (27-1) finished the year on a 23-game winning streak and did not lose to a team within the state borders. The state championship was their second as they won the class A title in 1950. They also finished runner up in 1946 and 2023. The ending to the year was bittersweet for the Yellow Jackets (26-2), however, the loss can not take away from their season. They captured the region AAAA title, won their first lower state championship and made their first state final. “It feels outstanding to have gotten this far. This team to be the first team in school history to get to the state championship game is a tremendous accomplishment. I have a lot of sophomores and juniors and I told them to remember this feeling that you want to be back here next year with the same opportunity,” said North Augusta head coach Tony Harrell. Friday’s contest started out as a game of runs with the Yellow Jackets getting off to an 8-0 start as seniors Daron Dunbar and Jamison Mckenzie scored both on the inside and the outside. The Bruins responded with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game up. Senior Jacarey Ballard keyed the run scoring six points. Keyed by Dunbar, the Yellow Jackets finished the quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 17-12 lead after one. The second quarter went back and forth with the Yellow Jackets maintaining the lead throughout the quarter. Mckenzie led the Jackets with 8 points in the quarter. The Bruins saw their three-point shooting wake up as juniors Columbus Parker and Malik Tinsley combined to hit three from behind the arc. The teams went to the half with North Augusta still leading 32-29. The third quarter belonged to Lancaster senior Jordan Watford. Coach Cauthen moved the move at halftime to put Watford at the point running the offense and he showed why he is one of the top players in the state as he drove to the basket picking up fouls and going to the line or kicking the ball out to his teammates. After scoring only four points in the first half, he scored nine in the third quarter alone. “Jordan told me at halftime, to give him the ball and he would make it happen. He is the best player in the state and his teammates trusted him to get the job done,” Cauthen said. Parker was also big in the quarter scoring seven points on a three-pointer, two foul shots and a driving layup. The Bruins outscored the Jackets by 10 to take a 45-38 lead. They held the Jackets to six points in the pivotal third quarter. When asked what changed in the third quarter for his team, North Augusta coach Harrell said, “Number “O” (Watford) was a big reason that we had a hard time in the third.. He was able to get the free throw line and the basket while involving his teammates. We just did not have an answer for him in the third quarter.” The fourth quarter saw the Bruins steadily pull away with Watford, Parker and Tinsley scoring from inside and outside. They were also deadly from the line going 8 for 10 in the quarter. They were 19-26 for the game from the charity strip. Watford and Parker led the Bruins with 19 points each but it was their second half production that was the key to their win as Watford scored 15 and Parker scored 12 in the second half. Also, scoring in double figures for the Bruins were Ballard and Tinsley with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Mckenize led the Jackets with a game high 21 points with Dunbar adding 16 and junior Quh'mareon Webb scoring 10 points

Photos from March 7th, the SCHSL Class AAAA Girls Championship Game between Blythewood and Ridge View . Enjoy this sample of images, follow this link for the full gallery

Photos from March 7th, the SCHSL Class AAAA Girls Championship Game between Lancaster and North Augusta . Enjoy this sample of images, follow this link for the full gallery

Photos from March 7th, the SCHSL Class AAAA Girls Championship Game between Blythewood and Summerville . Enjoy this sample of images, follow this link for the full gallery

North Augusta makes history with sixth state championship By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Florence – As the saying goes it is not how you start but it is how you finish and in Friday afternoon’s AAAA girls state championship game the North Augusta Lady Yellow Jackets provided proof of the statement as they overcame a slow start to win their sixth state championship defeating the Westside Lady Rams 50-37 at the Florence Civic Center. The sixth championship moves North Augusta (30-1) into a tie with Bishop England and Keenan for third place All time in girls state championship history. The Lady Yellow Jackets have done all of this in the last nine years and Friday’s victory was a bit of revenge as Westside handed North Augusta their only defeat in state championship games at the end of the 2021/22 season. “First, I want to give all the glory to god,” said North Augusta Head Coach Al Young . “I am excited for the girls. They worked hard all year with a single goal in mind and this is the result of all their hard work.” Westside ended their year at 24-3. This was their third time reaching the state finals in the last five years, winning it all in 2021 and 2022. This was also the Lady Rams first loss in a state final as they had been 5-0 in their previous trips. “Credit North Augusta, their guards really pressured us, especially after halftime and we had trouble getting into our offense,” Westside Head Coach Nicole Hood said. “We knew they were a strong team inside the paint. We needed to rebound better and they had some shots go in that got their offense going and we missed some shots that we normally make.” The first quarter started slow for both teams as the quarter ended with Westside on top 6-5. However, what we did see was the leading scorers for both teams, junior wing Celena Grant for North Augusta and sophomore center Khalia Hartwell for Westside lead their teams in scoring. Grant hit a three for the Lady Yellow Jackets while Hartwell did her damage in the paint. In the second quarter each team’s offense started to find the range and get other player involved in the scoring. Junior Mariah Randolph started hitting from the outside knocking down a shirt jumper and then nailing a three. That opened up the inside for Hartwell as she scored nine points in the quarter including a three from the right side. North Augusta countered with senior forward Madison McCain and junior center Messiah Williams scoring five and four points, respectively. Grant also had a three the old fashion way and the teams went to the break with Westside on top 23-19. “We went into the half feeling good about where we were but we needed to pick up our intensity and believe in what we do. The girls came out determined and they continued to play hard,” said coach Young. The North Augusta ramped up their defense at the start of the second half and Westside had no answer. The Lady Yellow Jackets put a lot of pressure on the ball and on the perimeter causing several turnovers by the Lady Rams. The pressure also made it hard to get the ball inside to Hartwell. After scoring 13 points in the first half, she scored a single basket in the third quarter. Offensively, the Lady Jackets scored enough to grab a 31-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter. They finished the quarter on an 11-3 run keyed by sophomore forward Ashley Walker and Grant. McCain opened the fourth quarter by hitting a three and Grant had two driving lay ups and suddenly the Lady Yellow Jackets had some breathing room as they opened up a 10-point lead at 39-29 forcing Westside to call a time out with 4:39 left in the game. The Lady Rams would cut the lead six at 41-35 as Hartwell scored six consecutive points. Coach Young called a time out for North Augusta with 2:33 to settle his team down. After the time out North Augusta went into a version of the four-corners forcing Westside into a fouling situation. The Lady Jackets responded by hitting 10 of 12 from the charity strip to seal the win and capture their sixth state championship. Grant led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 17 points while Walker added 10 points. Walker scored all of her points in the second half on a three and by going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. McCain finished with 8 points for North Augusta hitting two of their made three’s and Williams, who battled Hartwell in the paint, had seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks. The Lady Rams were led by Hartwell, who posted a double-double before fouling out 49.6 seconds to go. She had a game high 21 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocks.