Ashley Ridge Girls Added Depth

Roger Lee • January 9, 2025

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Senior Kaylin Brown is one of eight lettermen back for the Ashley Ridge Girls Basketball team this season.

By Roger Lee

Contributing Writer

Summerville – The Ashley Ridge Girls Basketball team is out to top last year’s success.

The Swamp Foxes return eight varsity lettermen from last season when the team won its region championship and advanced to the third round of the playoffs before being eliminated by eventual 5A Champion Sumter.

“Most of our seniors have been with our program for three years and a lot of them played varsity when they were sophomores so it has been nice to see their maturation,” Ashley Ridge coach Jimmy Brown said. “We have added some depth so we really can go 10 or 11 deep.”

The Swamp Foxes added six players to their roster. The team has eight seniors, five juniors and two sophomores.

Senior transfer student Skyla Tuthill, who surpassed the 1,000^th point scored bench mark early in her high school career and has signed to play for Rice University, was selected as one of the 5A, Division 1 Top 5 Seniors this preseason.

The Swamp Foxes also picked up a pair of junior transfers during the offseason. Andrea Kelly transferred from Burke and LaChar Lawrence transferred from Cane Bay.

Ashley Ridge graduated its starting center, but continues to have success. The Swamp Foxes lost their season opener to Lexington, falling 69-68, but they haven’t lost since. Last week the team improved to 14-1.

“We are a totally different team this year,” Brown said. “We don’t have the traditional big so we are more guard oriented. We have a nice rotation with Nubia McElveen, Andrea Kelly and Samiah Boatwright.”

McElveen is one of the seniors who brings considerable experience to the court.

“Nubia sets the tone for us,” Brown said. “She is the heart and soul of our team. We feed off her energy, defense and rebounding and toughness. Katie Johnson also does a good job helping defend other teams’ bigs.”

Senior Kaylin Brown returned at point guard and senior Briana Davidson is also back with a lot of guard experience. Seniors Nadia President, Taleyah Hartzog and Alaina Duggins also returned.

Other members of the team are Jameson Foley, Logan Hardy, Ella Reck and Treneay Alston. Ashley Ridge went 3-0 during the 2024 Carolina Invitational tournament Dec. 27-30 and then defeated Beaufort 64-47 on the road Jan. 3.

Tuthill led Ashley Ridge over Beaufort, scoring a game-high 18 points. Foley added 9 points while Lawrence, Hartzog and Boatwright all contributed 6 points. Tuthill also led the team in rebounds with 7 and senior Kaylin Brown had 5 rebounds.

Ashley Ridge faced stiff competition during the holiday tournament but came out on top against South River of Maryland, East Forsyth of Georgia and Georgetown of Texas.

According to school officials, Georgetown coach Rhonda Farney has the most career coaching wins of any active basketball coach in the nation with more than 1,200 victories. Brown, a longtime Lowcountry coach, led the Swamp Foxes to a 56-51 victory over Georgetown Dec. 30.

Tuthill finished the game with a team-high 17 points. Johnson added 10 points and Davidson added 7. Tuthill and Johnson both had 6 rebounds and McElveen had 5.

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First Baptist Hires New AD and Football Coach

By David Shelton • July 30, 2025

By David Shelton Senior Writer Charleston – First Baptist School has new leadership within its football program and athletic department for the coming 2025-26 school year. Kevin Mapp was hired as the new head football coach in the early spring and Jay Godbolt was hired as the new athletic director at the start of the summer. Mapp has extensive coaching experience on both the college and high school levels while also working in law enforcement. First Baptist is his first head coaching position. Mapp last coached defensive linemen at James Island Charter High and has had coaching stints at James Madison, Hampden-Sydney, Georgetown, Marshall, Missouri State and Coastal Carolina. Mapp graduated from James Madison and was a defensive lineman on the 2004 Division I-AAA (now FCS) national championship team. “Coaching has always been my passion,” Mapp said. “Ever since I was playing, I wanted to be a coach. I have always found a way to coach while working in law enforcement. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunities to do both.” Mapp has been with the Charleston County police department for the last 10 years. He took some time away from coaching to start a family. “I felt like First Baptist was the perfect fit for me and my family,” Mapp says. “It’s a great opportunity at a great place. The kids here work hard and there is a lot of support from the administration. I’m excited to be the head football coach at First Baptist.” Mapp has hired coordinators on both sides of the ball. Will McCombs , once the head coach of the program, will call the offensive plays. Chris Hart comes over from James Island as the defensive coordinator. “Our numbers are improving and the kids are working hard,” Mapp said. “I feel like we can be a competitive team. It’s year one of the building process.” Godbolt has been a coach and athletic director in the Charleston area for nearly two decades. As the boys basketball coach at Charleston Collegiate, Godbolt coached three state championship teams. He also has been a coach and athletic director at Lowcountry Leadership Academy. Godbolt has more than 450 career victories as a head basketball coach. Current First Baptist basketball coach Antoine Saunders was Godbolt’s assistant at Charleston Collegiate.