Blythewood boys basketball rolls past Ridge View in opener

Blythewood looked to be in midseason form in a 75-56 victory against Ridge View in the boys basketball season-opener Tuesday night.

Jonathan Breeland, Tre Jackson and Robert Braswell combined to score 55 points, and the Bengals used a decisive third quarter in a matchup that featured two teams ranked in the top five of their respective classifications.

“All of those guys got major minutes last year,” Blythewood coach Zeke Washington said. “They know what they have to do for us to be competitive, and they did it. They’re good scorers and have scorers’ mentality, and we know that and we let them play to what they do best.”

The early season match-up of No. 2 Blythewood in Class 5A and No. 5 Ridge View in Class 4A was close for a half.

Braswell and frontcourt mate Cayman Williams were instrumental in a 29-5 run that turned a close game into a rout. The duo made the Blythewood full-court press impossible for the Blazers to get set on the offensive end.

The Bengals forced 12 turnovers in the third quarter and limited the Blazers to five shots from the field. Braswell had three thunderous dunks during the run and had three steals from midcourt. The senior scored 13 of his 18 points in the quarter after being quiet in the first half that ended with Blythewood holding a 28-24 lead.

“We turned it up a notch and started playing as team,” Braswell said. “The first half was kind of slow and the game was tight, but the third quarter we made the lead bigger.”

The 29-5 run included a stretch in which the Bengals scored 19 straight points while making eight consecutive field goals. They finished the quarter 12-of-16 from the field.

“I think our guys competed a little more than they did in the first half,” Washington said. “We were more determined in the second half. That third quarter was big for us. We applied pretty pressure and our guys just competed better.”

Ridge View coach Yerrick Stoneman said the Blazers’ lack of experience showed in the third quarter.

“We had a lot of inexperienced guys trying to go against that press they run,” Stoneman said. “Blythewood stepped up defensively on the wings. We were trying to attack the middle, but their two back guys came up very aggressive and got several steals. The turnovers we had was the biggest momentum turner.”

Crosby Harris-James finished with 19 points for Ridge View.

In girls action, Ridge View never trailed and won 56-34 over Blythewood behind 12 points each from Jayla Bolden and freshman Laila Acox.

The Blazers were ranked No. 2 in the preseason coaches poll but have to replace a wealth of talent from last year’s team that advanced to third round of the playoffs. Ten players scored in a solid season-opener.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 10:31 PM.