Strong first half propels Blythewood to win, top of region standings
Blythewood picked the right time to turn in its best first-half performance of the season.
The sixth-ranked Bengals outscored No. 2 Spring Valley 24-4 in the second quarter on their way to a 69-52 victory Tuesday in a key Region 4-4A contest.
With the win, Blythewood moves into first place by a half-game over Spring Valley and controls its destiny in the region race. The Bengals have three region games left, while the Vikings have two.
“That was one of the best halves we played all year,” Blythewood coach Zeke Washington said. “All the kids bought in and were on board. I saw from my team they wanted to win for everyone that was in the stands. They were playing for something more than themselves, and that is what we are trying to get here.”
Washington and forward Trae Churn both said redemption migh’ve been on their minds. Spring Valley defeated Blythewood 74-66 on Jan. 12, and Blythewood needed to win if it wanted to have a chance to win the region title.
“That got us hungry and made us want to play them again,” said Churn, a South Carolina State commit for football. “We wanted to redeem ourselves as a team. We were ready to play and ready to get them.”
Churn led Blythewood with 12 points, while Keith Matthews added 11 and Eli Lake had 10. The trio scored 27 of the Bengals’ points in the first half as they led 37-10 at halftime.
Defensively, Blythewood (17-4, 5-1) didn’t pressure as much as it usually does, and its zone kept the Vikings’ shooters in check.
Spring Valley went more than five minutes without a basket in the first half. The 52 points scored by the Vikings were a season low.
The Vikings’ shooting came around in the second half behind guard Noah Harper. The senior scored 19 of his 21 points in the final two quarters as Spring Valley (15-6, 5-2) cut the lead to 15 points in the fourth.
But the Bengals handled the Vikings’ pressure late in the game to push the lead back up to 20 points.
“The kids got to come to play,” Spring Valley coach Perry Dozier said. “No team can spot another team 20 to 25 points going into halftime. We didn’t play hard. They played much harder than us and we acted like we wanted to just be out there. We played better in the second half but it doesn’t do any good when you spot a team like that.”
SV: Noah Harper 21, Grant 3, Ward 9, Wall 4, J. Bruner 6, Guyton 2, Myers 4, Jones 3. B: Keith Matthews 11, Riley 4, Bowers 7, Hammond 2, Eli Lake 10, Shakir-Harris 5, Braswell 3, Warmack 7, Bailey 8, Trae Churn 12.
GIRLS
Spring Valley 75, Blythewood 33
Christian Hithe led four Vikings players in double figures with 21 points.
Spring Valley (19-2, 6-1) scored the first 12 points of the game and led 31-7 after the first quarter.
The win keeps the Vikings ahead of Ridge View by a half-game for first place in Region 4-4A. The two teams play Friday at Spring Valley.
Lauren Harley led the Bengals with 19 points.
SV: Christian Hithe 21, Taylor 18, Matthews 10, Dominique Hill 10, Jones 4, Graham 3, Wall 3, Porter 2, Davis 2. B: Lauren Harley 19, Mims 5, Rikard 4, Jackson 2, Greene 2, Lott 1.