Lewis lifts Ridge View
Khalil Lewis had a senior night and a second half to remember Thursday night.
Playing in his final regular-season home game, the Ridge View guard scored 19 of his career-high 21 points in the second half as the Blazers defeated Blythewood 73-54.
With the win, Ridge View pulls into a three-way tie with Blythewood and Spring Valley for the Region 4-4A lead. The Blazers will have a shot to win the region title when the two teams meet again Friday in Blythewood.
“Khalil Lewis was special tonight,” Ridge View coach John Combs said. “Khalil to me, is highly underrated as far as basketball players across the city. He is extremely good at getting to the rim. There are few guys that can stop him getting in there. He just did an excellent job of finishing.”
Lewis did just that in the second half. He said he noticed Blythewood defenders going under the picks so that let him be more aggressive in the second half and attack the rim more aggressively after being a non-factor in the first two quarters.
“They couldn’t guard me going to the cup so I was just going to the cup, drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line,” Lewis said. “I started off kind of slow in the first half, so I had to pick it up, because I was going to let my team down if I didn’t pick it up.”
Cainan Griffin added 19 points for Ridge View, which is in search of its first region title since 2010. Griffin got the Blazers going by scoring eight in the first quarter as Ridge View jumped to a 14-2 lead.
The Bengals (18-7, 6-3) answered with an 18-6 run and took their first lead at 22-20 late in the second quarter. Ridge View (15-7, 6-3) scored the final eight points of the quarter, including a Griffin layup at the buzzer to make it 28-22.
The Blazers held the lead and were up 50-42 early in the fourth quarter before Blythewood scored six straight, and Josh Bowers got them within 50-48 with 4:16 left. That’s when Lewis took over. He scored on back-to-back possessions and then helped spark a 19-4 run to give Ridge View a 69-52 lead with 2:12 left.
Lewis had 11 of Ridge View’s 25 points in the fourth.
Trae Churn led Blythewood with 10 points, all in the second half. The loss was Blythewood’s second straight but the Bengals still have a shot to win the school’s first region title with a win over Ridge View.
Blythewood coach Zeke Washington hopes his team benefits from the short turnaround and playing at home Friday.
“I thought we did some good things, but we’ve got to play better,” Blythewood coach Washington said. “We don’t have time to second guess and you’ve got to make quick adjustments. We’ve got to be ready to go to work and they come to our house tomorrow.”
B: Johnson 2, Matthews 6, Riley 4, Bowers 4, Hammond 4, Eli Lake 8, Jenkins 8, Warmack 10, Trae Churn 10. RV: Cainan Griffin 19, Alewine 3, Khalil Lewis 21, Rice 3, Mason 2, Davis 1, Johnson 5, High 2, Lamondre Corley 11, Coatie 6
GIRLS
Ridge View 66, Blythewood 41: Erica Tisdale scored 15 points and Laura Ajukwa added 14 as the Blazers clinched at least the second spot in Region 4-4A.
Ridge View (16-6, 7-2) trails Spring Valley by one game with one left.
Lauren Harley led the Bengals with 22 points. Blythewood is tied with Dutch Fork for the fourth and final spot heading into Friday night.
B: Lauren Harley 22, Rikard 9, Jackson 2, Greene 2, Mims 2, Shepard 2, Lott 2. RV: Erica Tisdale 15, Laura Ajukwa 14, Anderson 8, Grice 6, Harts 6, Lee 6, Gainey 4, Addison 3, Hobbs 2, Rogers 2
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Lewis lifts Ridge View."