AR Girls were strong on the hardwood By Roger Lee Summerville – The Ashley Ridge Girls made their deepest playoff run yet and that’s just one of the things they have to celebrate. “I am extremely proud of my team and how these young ladies have competed and grown in the two years I've been here,” Ashley Ridge coach Jimmy Brown said. “This season was truly a harvest from the seeds planted my first year. All of our losses this year were to teams that either played for a state title or made it to the third round of the playoffs. We had a lot of Firsts this season.” The Lady Swamp Foxes rolled into the third round of the playoffs, but were eliminated Feb. 19 with a loss to Sumter . Ashley Ridge, ranked No. 5 in the state coaches association final 2024 Class 5A Girls Basketball Rankings, finished the season with a 20-6 record. This season marks the first time the team has advanced to the third round. The team also celebrates having its first player surpass the 1,000th points scored benchmark, senior Dianna Blake , and a perfect 8-0 record in its Region 7-AAAAA games this season. The last time the team captured a region championship was in 2016. Blake was named the Region Player of the Year and also received All-State and North-South All-Star honors. Juniors Katie Johnson and Kaylin Brown were also named to the All-Region team and Brown was named the region’s Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. Ashley Ridge stands to return a solid group of players next season, but will lose seniors Blake, Taleyah Hartzog Jacinda Whitley and Ty Chisolm. Blake was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, averaging 16.2 points per game and 8.3 rebounds. Chisolm averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds. Whitley saw less time on the court, but averaged 1.3 points and 1.8 rebounds. Johnson averaged 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds and led the team in assists with 82. Briana Davidson averaged 8.5 points and 1.3 rebounds. Brown averaged 8.4 points and 3.3 rebounds and led the team in steals. dsNadia President averaged 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds. Nubia McElveen was the team’s third-leading rebounder. Other members of the team are Aubrey Shaw, Jamison Foley, Logan Hardy, Alaina Duggins, Lainie Makris and Samiah Boatwright . AR Boys The Ashley Ridge Boys were doing ok early in the season, but struggled closing out some of its region games and finished in fourth place for its region. With the exception of its losses to Summerville, all of the Swamp Foxes’ region losses came by a small margin. “We progressed throughout the year and played well in our first-round playoff game but didn’t make enough plays to keep our season going,” Ashley Ridge coach Brad Dobbels said. “We have a great group of guys who are committed to growing on and off the court so we can keep building a championship culture.” Ashley Ridge had averaged 54.7 points per game in January and February but it failed to breach the 45-point mark Feb. 13 during a 46-43 playoff loss at Berkeley . The Swamp Foxes lost seven of their last nine games to drop to 13-14 on the season. Senior guard Jahlil Hope led the team in points per game, averaging 17.7, and rebounds, averaging 8.8. He and sophomore guard Clayton Everett (8.2 points per game/5.3 rebounds per game), received All-Region honors. Hope ends his AR career with 1,331 points and 666 rebounds. The Swamp Foxes face replacing the production of Hope and fellow seniors Jordan Davis (7/3.3), Jeaden Wadley (4.1/1.9), Jordan Washington (3.9/2.1) and Noah Jackson (2.3/2.4). However, with Tre Green (6.2/1.9) and Javion Gathers (5/3.7) expected to lead the way for a large group of returners Ashley Ridge has a solid foundation to build upon. Other members of the team are Noah Jackson, LA Childs , Brayden Amerson , Nasir McElveen , PJ Brown and Ben Duncan . AR Wrestling On the mat, the Swamp Foxes were 11-5 in duals matches this season. The team placed second in its region, advanced to the second round of the playoffs and finished ranked among the Top 20 5A teams in the state. AR hosted and won its first girls’ wrestling match, defeating Wando . The Swamp Foxes had six wrestlers, three boys and three girls, qualify for this year’s individual wrestling championships. Annalise Maralit won the Girls 100-pound state championship and Sydney Palma won the Girls 135-pound title. Isabella Henry also qualified for the tournament in the 140 class. Emory Dalton placed fourth in the 5A 120 class. Ajani Redwood qualified in the 157 class and Jeremiah Venning qualified in the 190 class. Dalton was also selected to participate in the North/South All-Star matches.

Ashley Ridge center Diana Blake is a leader on both sides of the court 

Gamecocks come up with five interceptions, limit Salley's explosive plays to advance

Samantha Alwardt makes a dig for Ashley Ridge.

Charleston - Ashley Ridge senior receiver Derrick Salley was not selected to the 2023 South Carolina Shrine Bowl all-star game. If the SC coaching staff can have a do-over, they would be well-served to put the 6-3, 200-pound phenom on the roster. In the next of some amazing performances, Salley literally carried the Swamp Foxes to a 31-20 win over West Ashley. He caught seven passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, and added a six-yard run out of the Wildcat formation to propel Ashley Ridge to their sixth win in seven games. Salley has 67 receptions for more than 1,200 yards and has accounted for 20 touchdowns this season. “We had a lot of guys play their guts out tonight but we don’t win this game without No. 6 (Salley),” Ashley Ridge head coach Jeff Tate said. “He’s unreal. He’s the best I have ever coached and I’ve had some good ones in my career.” Ashley Ridge improved to 6-1 and 1-1 in region play while West Ashley dropped to 5-3 overall and 1-1in region play. West Ashley running back Kevin Brown rushed for 156 yards as the Wildcats totaled more than 250 yards on the ground. Both teams entered the game with hopes of remaining in the region 7-AAAAA race. To do so, each needed a win on Friday night. West Ashley won its region opener last week, beating Stall, but still has region games left with Summerville and Fort Dorchester. “Yeah, we needed a win after last week,” Tate said. “Last week took a lot out of us, emotionally and physically. We were beat up tonight. We had some guys out and it hurt us some. But the guys we had out there played with a lot of heart. And I am sure glad No. 6 (Salley) is on our team.” Ashley Ridge lost its region opener, to Fort Dorchester, last week, and also has a game with Summerville on the horizon. West Ashley moved the ball at will with their potent running game but managed just one touchdown in the first half. A fumble at the Ashley Ridge seven-yard line ended their first drive. The Swamp Foxes responded quickly after the fumble with Kalisz combining with Salley on an 89-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 lead. Salley caught a short pass and broke four tackles before breaking free and out-running the secondary. The Wildcats went back to work on the ground, with great success, on their next possession. A 13-play, 76-yard drive, all on the ground, was capped off by Mason White’s six-yard run with :57 seconds left in the first quarter. A missed extra point made it 7-6. Ashley Ridge added a 30-yard field goal by Keith McCune with 7:56 remaining in the first half. The Swamp Foxes threatened again late in the second quarter but a fumble ended the drive at the 28-yard line. Kalisz completed nine-of-12 passes for 172 yards in the half, with Salley catching three passes for 111 yards. West Ashley ran for 160 yards in the half with Brown accounting for 70 yards rushing, The Wildcats opened the third quarter with an 11-play drive and scored on their first completion of the game on a third-and-12 pass of 14 yards from David Dounian to Jude Claborn to take a brief 13-10 lead. The lead was brief because the Swamp Foxes did what they do best, throw the ball to Salley. Kalisz and Salley combined on a 70-yard touchdown pass, again with Salley taking a short pass and out-running the secondary to the endzone. The extra point made it 17-13 in favor of Ashley Ridge. But, again the Wildcats had an answer. West Ashley capped another 10-play drive with White’s five-yard run to take a 20-17 lead on the second play of the fourth quarter. A 39-yard pass to Salley resulted in a first down at the West Ashley 25-yard line but the Wildcats forced a fourth down. Kalisz flipped a short pass to Salley, who busted through tackles for a 13-yard gain and a first down. Three plays later, Salley took a direct snap and scored on a six-yard run to put the Swamp Foxes up, 24-20 with 8:12 left in the game. West Ashley lost a fumble on their next possession and Salley struck again, this time on a 41-yard catch and run to push the lead to 31-20 with 6:50 left in the game.

Senior receiver Derrick Salley is out to a strong start this season.

By Billy G. Baker HSSR Publisher Summerville — The annual Dorchester County Football Jamboree was hosted at Summerville High on John McKissick Field on August, 18 th with Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Woodland and Summerville all competing in two quarter scrimmages. Summerville won their scrimmage over Woodland 20-6 and over Fort Dorchester 7-6 in the night-cap. Ashley Ridge defeated Woodland 7-0 in the second scrimmage of the event. In the third scrimmage of the night Fort Dorchester defeated Ashley Ridge 14-0. Comments From Head Coaches To HSSR Publisher Billy Baker Following Scrimmage: Woodland head Coach Eddie Ford: “We just wanted out kids to come in and compete against some larger schools,” said Coach Ford. “We did not want to kill ourselves and have any injuries, Our goal was to come and play, do things the right way, and if we get beat, we get beat. “We have got to learn how to finish drives. We also have to learn how to quit making mistakes that kill drives. We have a young group, with a new quarterback ( ). We needed the experience of playing into two bigger schools to help our kids gain experience. “Mental toughness is definitely what we need to work on Monday in practice,” said Coach Ford. “The kids didn’t quit, and they kept fighting and played hard. I thought we could have played a little bit better but we will bounce back.” Key Woodland Players in the game: OL- Kam Pringle (6-7,325-SC) RB T.J. Wrigh t, DL Antonio Ford (5-11, 300) Season Opener: Bethune- Bowman Comments From Ashley Ridge Head Coach Jeff Tate: (Came From Wren High School) “Well, the first quarter tonight we ran two plays, and won 7-0 and in the second quarter we ran about 20 plays and had 50 yards worth of penalties so we experienced good and bad tonight,” said Coach Tate. “A few of our team leaders right now are senior tight end DC Simmons, senior receiver Derrick Salley , senior offensive lineman Isaiah Richardson , and Makhi Palmore , a senior defensive lineman. These guys have played well in our scrimmages and showed good leadership so far.” Ashley Ridge Prospects: Cody Peterson , OL (soph), Simmons, Salley Top Juniors: WR- Nivay Picou , RB Jayden Acosta Season Opener: Host Cane Bay Thursday 8-24 Comments From First Year Fort Dorchester Head Coach Joshua Smith : “It was good to get out on some live competition, somebody besides ourselves,” said Coach Smith. “We found some things that worked well and we find some thongs we need to work on. We have some good film from these two scrimmages to look at with our players and see where we can correct some mistakes. We as coaches as correct everything, we made a mistake on tonight. “I found out tonight that we keep fighting, even when we get down. It was good to see our offense come right back down the field and score when they (Summerville) went up.” Note: (Fort D will use two quarterbacks equally) “We used both of our quarterbacks tonight, Charles Watson and Bennett Riffer and right now they are like co-starters. Each of them brings a different element at different times. We are very high on our sophomore running back Ryan Campbell and he had some good runs tonight. I also love the big boys we have blocking u-front. (OL returnees include LT Tyrik Deas , RT Marquis Wilson & LG Preston Murphy ) “On defense some of our leaders are defensive linemen Jayden Acevedo and Malachi Watson long with linebacker Marcus Moon and defensive backs Jalen White and Jonathan Howard . We have a lot of guys stepping up and making plays.” Season Opener: At Beaufort 8-25 Comments From Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty Starting 4 th Season At Summerville: “We came out fast on our scoring drive against the Fort and that is how we like to play on offense,” said Coach Rafferty. “We still have a lot of work in front of us. Our defense gave up a lot of yards when they (FD) came down and scored after we scored. “We had around 10 players who missed the scrimmages tonight due to injuries, or other issues. I like our over-all talent top to bottom this season. Our new strength coach has done a very good job getting us bigger, stronger and faster over the summer.” Goals For the 2023 Season: “It has been a while since we won a region championship (2018) so that is one of our key goals, and we would like to go undefeated at home this season,” said Coach Rafferty. “Of course, we would like to take that next step and play for a state championship this season.” Key Senior Leaders For The Green Wave: WR Yannick Smith (6-3,200) (ECU Commit) DB Ryland Mitchell (6-1, 175), Army Commit , RB/FB- Trae Green (5-10,225) OL- Adam Traylor (6-1, 170), DL Jacob Cotterill (6-4,265) Army Commit, Key Juniors: DL Ray Middleton -(6-4, 315) & Dontrell Izzard (6-2, 305), OL- Jaderio Lott (6-3, 350) Ike Rutherford - LB-6-0,210 Key Transfer: QB Jaden Cummings (From Hanahan) Season Opener: At Carolina Forest 8-25