Retooled Ridge View lineup ready for another deep basketball postseason run
With a retooled starting lineup and players in different roles, the Ridge View boys basketball team is ready to make another title run.
The Blazers finished their regular season with a win over rival Blythewood, 56-44, on Friday. Ridge View overcame a four-point halftime deficit with a 19-4 third quarter for its 11th straight victory.
Ridge View will be the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A Division I Upper State playoffs that begin next week. The Blazers have a first-round bye and will play a first-round game at home on Feb. 21. Playoff brackets come out Saturday.
“You want to be playing well at this time of year,” Ridge View coach Joshua Staley said. “I think we are playing well, and I think we are getting after it. So, we are excited about the momentum we have going into the playoffs.”
The Blazers, who have won two straight championships, began the season at No. 1 but entered the season with plenty of question marks after the loss of several key players from last year’s roster. Guards Korie Corbett and Yale Davis left the school and transferred out of state to finish their high school careers. Corbett is at Oak Hill (Va.) and Davis is at Zephyrhills Christian (Fla.). The Blazers also graduated the team’s other three starters in last year’s championship game.
But sophomores RJ Davis and CJ Moore, juniors DJ Wylie, JT Van Kallen and senior Talan Staley, who went over the 1,000-point mark for his career Friday against Blythewood, stepped into the starting lineup and have delivered along with other players. All of them were on the team last year but this year their roles have increased.
“We had to get into the roles, fill our roles. But the work we put in. We were ready,” Talan Staley said. “Of course, we miss the kids who left us, but we were ready and put that work in.”
And it showed in big moments. Davis earned MVP honors at the Arby’s Classic in Tennessee. Moore was on the all-tournament second team in helping the Blazers to the tournament title. The other new starters have had their moments, giving the Blazers a balanced scoring attack. Ridge View had four players in double figures against Blythewood.
“First of all, we wanted Yale and Korie to stay, but they had to do the best for them,” Joshua Staley said. “But the next man is always going to be ready. You don’t get ready when the moment comes. You get ready before the moment. All of these guys have been getting ready and putting tireless hours in and their moment came. I am not surprised at all.”
Ridge View girls knock off Blythewood
Reagan Ferguson scored 11 points and had a key steal and layup as the Ridge View girls knocked off defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Blythewood, 49-48, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
“It is a pride game. We are ten minutes down the road (from each other),” Ridge View coach Aaron Lucas said. “... We were playing for all the work we put in against a very, very good team. This is one of those moments where we got to see, can we get over the hump and this is just one of those humps. But this gives our team confidence because of the hard work we put in, and it shows we can execute at the end of the game.”
Ferguson’s steal gave Ridge View a 49-46 lead with 1:03 left. The Bengals cut it to 49-48 and had the ball with a chance to take the lead but missed a couple of 3-pointers.
Ridge View had a chance to add to the lead but missed two free throws and then was called for traveling, giving Blythewood the ball back with 9.3 seconds left.
But the Bengals’ India Williams missed a halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Amiyah Carr led Ridge View with 13 points and Joliyah Robinson had 11, all in the first half, but before leaving the game in the second half with a leg injury.
Chase Thomas led Blythewood with 17 points and Williams had 12. The Bengals played the game without starting guard Hayley Hightower, who missed the game because of the flu.
Both teams will begin the playoffs next week. Blythewood, the Region 5-5A champion, will have a first-round bye while Ridge View will host a first-round game Monday.
Friday’s basketball scores
Boys
AC Flora 51, Camden 45
Hammond 75, Northside Christian 37
Fox Creek 65, Keenan 49
North Central 46, Buford 33
Richland Northeast 58, South Pointe 32
Sumter 73, Westwood 71 (OT)
Girls
AC Flora 64, Camden 58
ACF: Teonna Draughn 22, Naja Gray 22, Skylar McCray 12. C: Harmony Jefferson 15, Shanaryah Wright 11, LA Alexander 10, Jilian Rush 10
Hammond 44, Northside Christian 6
H: Jazz McMillan 17, Campbell 9
South Pointe 71, Richland Northeast 25
Westwood 53, Sumter 45
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 11:47 PM.
