The Ashley Ridge girls finished on top of their region this season, but Sumter denied them the chance to grab a Lower State title.
The Lady Swamp Foxes rolled into the third round of the playoffs but were eliminated Feb. 19 with a 59-46 loss to Sumter. Ashley Ridge, ranked No. 5 in the state coaches’ association final 2024 Class 5A Girls Basketball Rankings, finishes the season with a 20-6 record after making its deepest playoff run. Sumter, ranked No. 1, went on to defeat No. 7-ranked Summerville Friday, Feb. 23, in the Lower State Championship game to improve to 24-0.
After fighting Sumter to a tie in the opening quarter, Ashley Ridge trailed by only four points at halftime. However, the Lady Gamecocks started pulling away in the third quarter and held onto the lead.
Senior Dianna Blake led the way for Ashley Ridge, scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Katie Johnson scored 16 points and hauled in six rebounds. Junior Briana Davidson finished with four points and three rebounds, and junior Nadia President finished with three points and four rebounds.
Ashley Ridge stands to return a solid group of players next season but will lose seniors Blake, 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. She will graduate having scored more than 1,000 points for the Swamp Foxes. 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. Davidson averaged 8.5 points and 1.3 rebounds. Junior Kaylin Brown averaged 8.4 points and 3.3 rebounds and led the team in steals. President averaged 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds. Nubia McElveen was the Swamp Foxes’ third-leading rebounder.
