Ridge View basketball teams on the rise

Ridge View girls coach Terrence Gibson didn’t want his team to forget its disappointing end to last season.

At the team’s first meeting this year, Gibson showed the final minute of the of the 45-44 loss to Rock Hill in the third round of the playoffs. In that game, the Blazers blew a late lead, had a couple of opportunities to put the game away and missed a last-second, game-winning shot.

This season, the Blazers haven’t had many disappointing moments. Ridge View is 13-3, won 10 straight games, unbeaten in Region 3-4A play and ranked No. 3 in the Class 4A poll. The Blazers will be one of the favorites when the postseason begins next month.

“We talk about it,” Gibson said of state title aspirations. “But every day is a process and (we) want them to enjoy the journey and get back better every day, instead of worrying about the end.”

The girls aren’t the only ones having success this season. The Blazers’ boys squad is atop the Region 3-4A standings under first-year coach Yerrick Stoneman. After a 1-4 start, the Blazers have won have eight of their last 10 games, and are ranked No. 6 in Class 4A.

“In the summer, I didn’t know how we would do or compete because we had just one returning starter and everyone else didn’t play a lot of minutes,” Stoneman said. “But these kids have changed my mind and have shown the commitment over the summer until now.”

Ridge View, along with Keenan, are the only two Midlands schools to have their boys and girls teams ranked in this week’s coaches polls. Both coaches say that the teams feed off of each team’s success, and Stoneman said Gibson has been a big help in his transition to the school and talk regularly

“We talk and he gives me a lot of insight,” Stoneman said of Gibson. “We talk X and Os and he is a great resource and I trust his opinion. He knows these kids and has their best interests at heart.”

“We are both here for the kids at the school. We are trying to do the best and pull for another,” said Gibson who has been head coach since 2006. You are playing for your teammates, community and school. It’s very important to be behind each other.”

Both teams are lead by senior leaders. On the girls’ side, it’s the trio of Armanii Grice, Erica Tisdale and Laura Ajukwa. Grice, a UNC Asheville signee, is averaging 14.3 points a game and 9.8 rebounds a game, while Tisdale is averaging 12.6 points and 4.4 assists per game.

The trio was on varsity as freshmen and won eight games last season. Since then, they have been part of 52 victories over the past three seasons.

“They been through everything from blowouts their freshmen year until now,” Gibson said. “They supply great leadership and are willing to make teammates better.”

The Blazers had some question marks in their front court, but have gotten answers from Najari Beshear and Jayla Bolden, who didn’t play on varsity last year.

“I love our back court, but I am confident in our frontcourt and compete with anyone in state,” Gibson said.

The Ridge View boys didn’t have as much experience returning with senior Kaiden Rice, as the team’s lone starter from last season. Rice, a Division I prospect, leads the team in scoring with 14:9 points a game and 6.4 rebounds.

The supporting cast around Rice includes point guard Waylyn Napper, who played on the JV squad at Westwood last year, Darian Johnson, Trakell Flemming, Tre’ High, Josiah Coatie and D’Markis Neal-Taylor. Napper is second on team in scoring and leads team in assists, while Johnson leads team in rebounding. Neal-Taylor hit the game-winning shot against Spring Valley on Wednesday night.

The Blazers started slow and played tough competition in the Bojangles’ Bash as they waited to get some players back from the football team’s postseason run. The turning point for the team might have come over the Christmas break. They defeated Irmo and then won their bracket at the Farm Bureau Classic.

“That sparked us and gave us a belief,” Stoneman said. “We were down against Shiloh by 17 and we battled back and came back then beat Spartanburg and Hillcrest. Kids are trusting the process of playing. I knew were going to lose some of the game but I wanted to play against the best. Because when we get to the playoffs, we will be tested and played on that kind of stage before.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Ridge View basketball teams on the rise."