‘Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.’ Ashland Blazer stifles Knott Central.
Just 30 seconds remained in the first half when the Knott County Central Patriots scored their first basket Thursday.
That’s how dominant the Ashland Blazer defense was during its 46-34 first-round win in the 2023 Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena.
“That’s what we’ve thrived on all season long is our defensive effort,” Ashland Blazer head coach Stacy Davis said of her team’s start. “They came out that first half and I don’t think Knott County knew really what hit ‘em.”
Knott County Central (23-10) finished the half shooting just 6 percent from the field, landing only one of 18 attempts. Kylie Gayheart, the team’s leading scorer who averages 17.6 points per game, broke the seal for the Patriots with a three-pointer just before the first-half buzzer. Ashland Blazer led 21-6.
“That’s kind of what we’ve been all year,” Knott County Central head coach Justin Amburgey said. “We’ve dug a little hole at times and then just fought really hard to get back into games. And we’ve won a lot of games that way and it just didn’t happen today, but you know, we just couldn’t make one there in the (scoreless) first quarter. I don’t know if it was a little jitters or, for a while we just couldn’t get one to fall and kind of dug ourselves a hole but, you know, came back and won the second half by a couple points.”
The Kittens (26-7) didn’t exactly have a banner offensive performance, either. Ashland Blazer shot only 33 percent on 9-of-27 from the field in the first half. They finished the game with just 46 points, their second-lowest point total of the season.
The Patriots came out of the locker room firing, outscoring the Kittens 28-25 in the second half and elevating their shooting percentage to 55 percent.
But it never seemed to matter much that the Kittens couldn’t score as they typically do, or that Knott County Central found an offensive rhythm; Ashland Blazer controlled the entirety of the game with its defensive pressure.
“That’s been our philosophy,” Davis said. “We always say ‘offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.’ And that’s what these girls do.”
The Kittens weren’t supposed to make it to the Sweet 16, according to Davis. But after a successful championship run in the 16th Region, Ashland Blazer has something to prove.
“We weren’t even expected to win our region,” she said. “We were number four behind Rowan, Russell and Boyd, but for these girls to run the gauntlet like that in the region and come down here to stay for the first time at Rupp Arena for any of us ... Players, coaches any, to pull this game out in the first win at Rupp Arena is just ... It’s kind of speechless.”
This is Davis’ first year at Ashland Blazer, and the coach credits the trust her team had in the new staff for the Kittens’ ability to make it this far.
“We told them at the beginning,” Davis said. “’Listen, it’s a new philosophy, new staff. We’re getting to know you all, you’re getting to know us.’ But if they will trust us and believe in the process, that we would get them here in Rupp Arena.”
Kenleigh Woods scored 21 points to lead Ashland Blazer, and Ella Sellars added 12.
The Kittens will face the winner of McCracken County-Bethlehem on Friday at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 2:46 PM.