Appeal by Ashley Ridge Girls Basketball Fails, Season Over

SCHSL rulings end the Swamp Foxes' 27-1 season as Summerville advances to the state championship via forfeit.

Ashley Ridge girls' basketball is over as a result of SCHSL rulings. / Contributed

Ashley Ridge was supposed to play arch-rival Summerville in the girls’ 5-A state semifinals on Saturday.

Instead, off-the-court events ended what had been a spectacular season for the Swamp Foxes.

Ashley Ridge was found to have used an ineligible player after an anonymous caller contacted the South Carolina High School League. The SCHSL investigated and ruled the player ineligible, which meant Ashley Ridge was out of the playoffs.

There were two sets of appeals available to Ashley Ridge and the school pursued both to no avail.

The SCHSL Executive Committee held a virtual hearing on Thursday and voted 14-0 to deny the appeal.

Next was a hearing before the SCHSL Appellate Committee and that body also denied the appeal on a 5-0 vote.

Testimony in the hearing indicated that the player in question, who transferred from Cane Bay, did not have a bonafide change of address. SCHSL bylaws stipulate that a transfer must sit out 365 before becoming eligible unless one of 16 exceptions are met. 

Ashley Ridge representatives testified at the Thursday hearing that the transfer player’s paperwork had been filed incorrectly and she was eligible.

“It was just an oversight,” said Ashley Ridge athletic director Kelly Lewis. “We admit it.”

School officials also testified that the girl’s parents were separated and that she was living in the Ashley Ridge attendance zone with her mother. They asked for a hardship exemption.

But SCHSL attorney Michael Montgomery said that procedure wasn’t followed, and retroactive hardships aren’t accepted.

That wasn’t the only issue.

Summerville was also alleged to have used an ineligible player and testimony indicated it was from the same anonymous sources. School officials provided documentation and the Green Wave’s appeal was upheld on an 8-5 vote.

The Green Wave were granted a bye and advanced to the 5-A Division I state championship game because of the rulings.

Ashley Ridge had defeated Ridge View 64-60 in four overtimes in the third round of the playoffs. School officials from Ridge View felt the Blazers should be allowed to take Ashley Ridge’s place in the Lower State championship game.

SCHSL bylaws state other than the first-round and semifinals, if the team with the ineligible player won the last elimination game prior to the time declared ineligible, the game shall not count, and the opposing team in the next round will receive a bye.

Ridge View argued that their game with Ashley Ridge was a Lower State semifinal game and therefore the Blazers should advance. But the SCHSL, as expressed by commissioner Jerome Singleton, believes the Lower State and Upper State games are the semifinals. 

The executive committee voted 12-0 to reject the Ridge View request.

Summerville will play Blythewood winner for the state championship on March 7 at the Florence Center.

Ashley Ridge ended the season with a 27-1 record.