Ridge View girls rout Westwood to remain unbeaten in region play

Following a dominant performance against Westwood on Friday night, Ridge View remains undefeated in the girls Region 3-4A standings.

The Blazers rolled past the visiting Redhawks 84-54, with senior guard Armanii Grice leading the way with 20 points. Seniors Laura Ajukwa and Erica Tisdale weren’t far behind, contributing 19 and 13, respectfully.

“I liked the way we executed the gameplan, and more importantly, I like the way they played like a team,” Ridge View coach Terrence Gibson said. “They didn’t really care about who got the ball, but cared about what they did together as a team.”

Ridge View (13-3, 4-0) jumped out to an early lead over Westwood (14-4, 3-2), as Tisdale charged the paint with ease and Grice found success behind the 3-point arc. Grice finished with three 3-pointers and knocked one down at the buzzer, giving the Blazers a 27-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Coming into Friday’s matchup averaging 53.4 points per game, the Blazers led 54-25 at the half and had no problem sustaining their lead behind their veteran senior leaders.

“Tisdale, Grice and Ajukwa, they’ve been through the battle before. They grew up on the court,” Gibson said. “They’re great leaders and they’re great people. They’re passionate about their work, they’re passionate about the game and more importantly, they’re passionate about the process, which makes the game a lot easier.”

Senior guard Unique Drake led Westwood with 18 points, but the rest of the Redhawks struggled creating shots against Ridge View’s tight defense.

“We try to be a defensive team and play defense first,” Gibson said. “We try to communicate, because it’s all about communication and effort. When you have good communication and effort, everything takes care of itself.”

Boys

Ridge View 59,

Westwood 53

In a defensive and foul-heavy region battle, Ridge View edged Westwood to improve to 4-0 in Region 3-4A. Sophomore guard Walyn Napper led Ridge View with 18 points and came up clutch with a tip-in layup to put the Blazers up 53-49 with 52 seconds left in the fourth.

Westwood senior guard Xavier Dobey charged into the lane to put the game within two, but four clutch free throws from Ridge View’s Josiah Coatie sealed the win.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Ridge View girls rout Westwood to remain unbeaten in region play."