Blythewood knocks off Mauldin in AAAAA Division I girls Upper State championship game

          Newberry  — For the first time in 90 minutes of basketball action at Newberry High School Friday night, Chase Thomas could relax a little.

          The Blythewood senior and South Carolina State signee grabbed a defensive rebound in the closing seconds of their AAAAA Division I girls basketball Upper State championship game against Mauldin and scooted down the right side of the court with no resistance.

         The game’s top scorer and rebounder darted under the net still bouncing the basketball. When the buzzer sounded, she made a beeline to the Bengals’ bench, which erupted with arms and shouts.

         Such was the end of Blythewood’s 60-54 victory over the Mavericks.

         “I just trusted myself, I trusted my teammates,” Thomas said. “I knew we could pull through and we could do it. I knew it was going to work out for us.”

         The Bengals (23-5) play the winner of Saturday’s Lower State matchup of Wando and Lexington for the 5A Division 1 state championship at Colonial Life Arena Friday at 6:30 p.m.

          Thomas led all scorers with 29 points and 12 rebounds. India Williams had 15 points.

          Noting No. 4 Blythewood’s upset of No.1 seed Dorman 54-52 earlier in the week, head coach Emily McElveen-Schaeffer credits her team with digging deep and finding a way to win on the road against another tough opponent in No.2 Mauldin (22-4). 

          “Playing together and confidence, that’s what it is,” McElveen-Schaeffer said. “Playing with each other, and being in the big moment. We’ve been there before, we’ve had a hard one last week, and just staying true to who we are and what we do.”

          From J’dah Aiken’s 3-pointer and Thomas’s field goal that opened the scoring, Mauldin and Blythewood exchanged shot for shot throughout the game. The largest margin coming at the very end, when Thomas went 4-for-6 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to preserve the 6-point victory.

          “Chase I can count on,” McElveen-Schaeffer said. “She’s going to do what she’s got to do to get it done. A lot of the time she’s undersized, but that doesn’t phase her. She’s got a dog in her and she’s going to go after it and do whatever it takes to get it done.”

          Another Thomas field goal followed by an India Williams basket at the end of the first quarter gave the Bengals an 18-14 lead going into the second quarter. Toward the end of that period, Blythewood’s 6-0 mini run before the half gave the Bengals a 29-24 lead. Zara Leamon’s 3-point play with 14 seconds left cut that lead at halftime to 29-27.

          Mauldin came out in the second half behind leading scorer Imani McKiver, who had 10 of her 22 points on the night in the third quarter. With back-to-back baskets from Leamon, the Mavericks took a 43-42 lead on the Bengals—until Thomas took the inbounds pass and darted into position to sink a 3-pointer at the buzzer that kept Blythewood on top.

         The final two of nine lead changes in the game happened midway through the fourth quarter, when baskets from Leamon and Malia Hall gave Mauldin a 51-50 with 3:40 left.

         That lead disappeared in 20 seconds with a Williams 3, followed a minute later with a clutch 3 from Kirsten Fulton to put the Bengals up 56-51.

         McKiver’s 3 at the 1:59 mark was the Maverick’s last shot. With Blythewood up 56-54, Thomas scooped up three of her team’s four defensive rebounds in the final stretch, and drew three 2-shot fouls—her last shot with 18.3 seconds left closed out the win and punched the Bengals to their state title defense next week. 

         “It was a ton of emotion,” McElveen-Schaeffer said. “I’m proud of the girls, the coaching staff and everybody involved. I’m proud of our community and our program to be able to come back and try to do it again.”

Blythewood     18        11        16        15        --         60

Mauldin           14        13        16        11        --         54

Blythewood

Chase Thomas 29, India Williams 15, Hightower 7, Fulton 5, Guerrero 4.

Mauldin  

Imani McKiver 22, Malia Hall 11, Zara Leamon 10, Aiken 9, Smith 3.