Upper State 4A Final: Catawba Ridge HS vs Westside HS

In the SCHSL 4A girls ranks, Westside has established itself as the team to beat. The Rams were last year’s 4A state champions and went into its Upper State Final contest as winners of their last 36 contests. The latest team hoping to put Westside in the win column for the first time since mid-January of last season was Catawba Ridge, participating in its first Upper State title game in the school’s short history. The Copperheads gave it a notable try, but coach Jackie Roberts’ Rams ran its win streak to 37 consecutive games with a 44-36 victory over Catawba Ridge at Davis Field House at Bob Jones University. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2796-scaled-crop-1751x1150-1646228099.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-395253" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2796-scaled-crop-1751x1150-1646228099-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> In a matchup were points came at a premium, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124094" first="Destiny" last="Middleton"]</strong> led the way for the defending 4A champions with 13 points. The Lander University signee began her scoring performance late in the first quarter – one where she would tally five following the first eight minutes of play. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2841-scaled-crop-1240x814-1646228471.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-395259" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2841-scaled-crop-1240x814-1646228471-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="253666" first="Aziyah" last="Bell"]</strong> added 10 points to the Rams’ effort. Those 10 proved to be difference makers in ensuring that Bell, a senior, would play her last game in Westside’s colors at USC-Aiken instead of Bob Jones University. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2804-scaled-crop-1466x962-1646228580.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-395262" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2804-scaled-crop-1466x962-1646228580-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> For the Copperheads, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="195513" first="Skyla" last="Tuthill"]</strong>’s freshman campaign concluded with an 11-point showing. Tuthill scored the first two points of the game in the first quarter and drained the second of back-to-back triples late in the third quarter as part of that third quarter flourish which concluded with Catawba Ridge ahead by a score of 35-33. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2752-scaled-crop-1854x1217-1646228683.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-395264" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2752-scaled-crop-1854x1217-1646228683-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>Brielle Windisch (2023)</strong> also came through for Catawba Ridge as she would score nine points. She made a few clutch baskets throughout the game for the Copperheads – including one that tied the game up at 18 as well as one at the end of the frame that maintained Catawba Ridge’s two-point lead. Who is up next for Westside? That was determined in the Lower State Final at Florence Civic Center between North Augusta and South Florence. The Yellow Jackets, winners of the last four 4A championships before Westside won it all last season, prevailed over the Bruins by a score of 47-42, setting up a “repeat vs. reclaim” matchup on Saturday at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center. The Copperheads scored the first four points of the game before the Rams answered with an 11-2 run through the first quarter. Westside led 14-9 after the opening stanza. Both teams went cold from the field in the second quarter as a combined eight points were put on the scoreboard between Westside and Catawba Ridge. The Copperheads had six of those points and trailed the Rams 16-15 at halftime. “We probably struggled in that second quarter worse than we’ve struggled all year,” Rams coach Jackie Roberts said. “Good thing that it only lasted for a little while.” By virtue of a late-third quarter flurry from both teams, the Rams and Copperheads managed to put the ball through the hoop consistently in the latter portions of the third frame. This time, it would be Catawba Ridge who had a two-point advantage (35-33) with three complete. The Rams managed a defensive clinic in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Copperheads by a margin of 11-1 in the closing eight minutes. “That’s exactly what I told the girls before the game,” Roberts said. “Defense is what got us here last year. That what got us a championship and that’s what we going to have to do tonight. And I told them every night somebody might struggle on offense. Your shot may not be there, your tries may not go in, but you can bring defense every night because it comes from the heart. Westside scored victories over Laurens (82-37), South Pointe (64-50) and Westwood (47-44) prior to the contest with Catawba Ridge. As for the Copperheads, its wins were at the expenses of Irmo (64-31), Easley (68-54) and A.C. Flora (55-49) to clinch its place in Tuesday’s 4A Upper State final. Coach Sheridan Pressley’s Copperheads are not graduating any seniors from this season’s rendition, a detail of the 2021-22 team that will have her Catawba Ridge bunch returning for more in 2022-23.