SCHSL committee makes final ruling on 5A girls basketball playoffs. Here’s the latest
Ashley Ridge’s girls basketball season officially ended on Friday morning.
The S.C. High School League appellate panel voted 5-0 Friday to uphold sanctions against Ashley Ridge for the use of an ineligible player — penalties that included being disqualified from the playoffs.
The ruling came a day after the SCHSL executive committee voted 14-0 to deny Ashley Ridge’s request for sanction relief.
Ashley Ridge, the top-ranked team in Class 5A Division I, was scheduled to play Summerville in the Lower State championship on Saturday. As a result of Friday’s ruling, Summerville advances to the state championship game to face either Blythewood or JL Mann on March 7.
Summerville, which also was under investigation for use of an ineligible player, won its appeal Thursday.
On Thursday, the S.C. High School League testified that it received information on Tuesday from an anonymous source that Ashley Ridge had played games with an ineligible player this season.
SCHSL associate commissioner Charlie Wentzky said that no bonafide change of residence happened in this case. The transfer player, according to Wentzky, was living at one address while her brother was going to school in another district.
According to league by-laws, a transfer would have to sit out 365 days before being eligible unless one of the 16 exceptions in the league’s by-laws are met.
The player in question played at Cane Bay last season before transferring to Ashley Ridge this season. The schools are separated by about 18 miles.
Ashley Ridge leaders who spoke at Thursday’s hearing admitted that proper transfer paperwork for this particular player wasn’t done correctly. The team had two other transfers on its roster, but those were filed correctly with the league and the players were eligible.
“It was just an oversight. We admit it,” Ashley Ridge AD Kelly Lewis said during the meeting.
At Friday’s appellate panel hearing, Ashley Ridge’s representation again acknowledged the paperwork error but argued that a bonafide move had taken place and requested a hardship ruling. They testified that the parents were separated and the girl is living in the Ashley Ridge attendance zone with her mom.
SCHSL attorney Michael Montgomery said Friday that, in addition to the transfer paperwork error, the mom’s move didn’t satisfy the league’s definition of a bonafide change of address. The school could have asked for a hardship appeal before the season but didn’t in this case, Montgomery said.
“Procedure wasn’t followed, and we don’t accept retroactive hardships,” Montgomery said.
Summerville ruling
Summerville High School wasn’t originally listed on Thursday’s meeting agenda. But Wentzky said the league was notified later Wednesday about the eligibility of a student on the Green Wave’s girls basketball roster.
The league received information from the same anonymous person who turned in Ashley Ridge, Wentzky said.
Summerville’s player in question attended and played at Goose Creek last season, according to testimony Thursday. The anonymous tip said the player was still living in the Goose Creek attendance zone.
New Summerville athletic director Cory Magwood called the accusations false and presented such documentation such as utility bills to prove their case.
Ridge View ruling
Ridge View, which lost in four overtimes Monday to Ashley Ridge, was hoping they could replace Ashley Ridge in the Lower State championship game.
The Blazers’ case centered around an interpretation of the SCHSL by-laws regarding a situation like this that was put in place in 2023. Previously, if a team had been deemed ineligible in playoffs, the losing team in a particular game would get to move on.
Now, Article V, Section III, Letter C of the SCHSL’s by-laws say that, “Other than the first round and semifinals, if the team with an ineligible player won the last elimination game prior to the time declared ineligible, the game shall not count, the position is vacated and the opposing team in the next round will receive a bye.”
“We would love to see our kids compete this Saturday,” Ridge View athletic director Brian Rosefield said during the meeting.
Rosefield noted that the SCHSL’s website declares that Saturday’s game is the Lower State championship, meaning that Monday’s game vs Ashley Ridge was a semifinal game.
SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton said the league believes the Lower and Upper State championships — the games before the state finals — are what count as the semifinals.
The rest of the committee agreed.
“I can see where you are coming for it, but it is a reach,” SCHSL executive committee president Nicolas Pearson said.
Singleton said the league will update the by-laws to make the wording more definitive.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 12:18 PM.
