Westwood girls roll past Ridge View, take over first place in Region 3-4A

Zaria McClurkin scooped up a loose ball and beelined to the basket for a two points at the first-quarter buzzer.

That shot marked the last time the No. 2 Ridge View girls scored in the first half at Westwood on Friday night.

The No. 4 Redhawks shut out the Blazers in the second quarter and dominated their Region 3-4A rival 53-19.

“I’m very proud of the total-team performance. Focused. Dialed in,” Westwood coach Gregory Bauldrick said. “They understood that this is separation Friday. After a long, tough week, we were concerned about their energy level, but they came out and executed pretty much 90 percent of what we were looking for.”

Westwood (18-3, 5-0) outrebounded Ridge View 39-20 and held the Blazers (16-5, 4-1) to 5-for-37 shooting.

Ja’mari Frederick hit three 3-pointers and finished the night with 16 points. Malayziah Etheredge sank two 3s and had 14 points. Nyah Leveretter had 11 rebounds.

In the boys game, Ridge View (13-6, 5-0) overcame a 39-33 deficit in the third quarter to close out a 65-58 victory over the Redhawks (13-6, 2-3).

Westwood plays host to Richland Northeast Friday. Ridge View plays in the Sunshine Classic on Tuesday, then hosts South Pointe on Friday.

THREE THINGS

1. Westwood’s height under the net kept Ridge View off balance. Leveretter, at 6-3, and and the 6-4 Jala Wade shut down the Blazers inside, combining for 20 rebounds. The Blazers were just 5-for-37 on the night.

“We knew we needed to match their big girls and offset that,” Bauldrick said. “Nyay and Jayla came to play. I don’t know what the rebounds were, but we always say more is better.”

2. Ridge View, struggling to find any way to stop the Redhawks, tried to rattle Westwood around the perimeter with a man-to-man attack. Not only were the Redhawks sly with their ball control, they went on the attack from the 3-point line. Westwood drained three 3-pointers in each half.

“We’re a pretty balanced team inside and out,” Bauldrick said. “We knew that, but we also knew they made about 60 percent of their shots behind the 3-point line in previous games. We knew we had to take that away, and cut the head off the snake.”

3. With wins over the top three 4A girls teams over the past week, it’s safe to say No. 4 Westwood will be moving up in the next SC Basketball Coaches Association poll. The Redhawks edged top-ranked North Augusta 61-59 at the MLK Bash last Saturday, knocked No. 3 South Pointe off balance in a 52-42 victory Tuesday night, and rounded out their week with the win over the No. 2 Blazers

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we feel really good,” Bauldrick said. “We’re gonna live in the moment, enjoy where we are, and rest up, hydrate, and then we’re gonna get back at it.”

Girls summary

RV: Keller 5, Wasswa 5, Hauser 4, McClerkin 2, Mitchem 2, Acox 1.

W: Ja’mari Frederick 16, Malayziah Etheredge 14, Mines 6, Woods 6, Leveretter 4, Thompson 3, Scott 2, Wade 2.

Boys summary

RV: Cincere Scott 20, Ja’von Benson 20, Tyler Rice 14, Everett 5, Smith 4, Jackson 2. W: McQuaje McDaniels 13, Michael Jefferson 12, Lewis 9, Richardson 9, Turner 8, Green 3, Salvage 2, McCray 2.

This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 10:18 PM.