‘He is the glue.’ Zander Carter has Ashland Blazer back on track and eyeing a region title.
It’s impossible for Ashland Blazer to fall off the radar in Kentucky boys high school basketball. The six-time defending 16th Region champions have won four state titles and more games than any other program.
But the Herald-Leader preseason No. 9 Tomcats got off to a 3-5 start against a bruising schedule that included then-No. 1 Great Crossing out of the gate and a King of the Bluegrass holiday tournament that dealt them back-to-back overtime losses.
Those setbacks weren’t necessarily part of coach Ryan Bonner’s plans, but the lessons they taught were. And the leadership of Ashland’s surefire Mr. Basketball candidate Zander Carter has been key to the eight-game win streak Ashland (11-5) has put together over the last month.
“We learn to band together when stuff hits the fan and when we go down 10 or 15 on a top team, like Great Crossing, for example, when we were at their place,” Carter said after scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds Friday in a 78-23 rout of host Lincoln County.
Great Crossing edged Ashland 95-89 on Dec. 2. Then came the overtime losses to Woodford County and Lloyd Memorial in Louisville two weeks later.
“It’s just a moment that we can continue to stand together and find each other’s true identity,” Carter said. “It’s a huge testament to our guys and our coaching staff that no matter if we lose two overtime games like that … we’re going to continue to prep how we always do. We’re going to continue to get in the gym even more.”
Carter, who broke Ashland’s boys all-time points mark a year ago, has led the Tomcats in scoring and rebounding each of the last two seasons, and he was one of three juniors to earn Herald-Leader First Team All-State honors last year along with Great Crossing’s Malachi Moreno and Vince Dawson. But Bonner says his senior’s merits go far beyond statistics.
“His contributions off the floor are probably more important than his contributions on the floor. And we’re talking about a guy that does everything for us on the floor,” Bonner said. “He is the glue that holds our locker room together. He’s our leader, and he always keeps us forging ahead in the right direction.”
A team leader since his sophomore year, Carter’s goal now is to not just help Ashland tie its own record of consecutive region championships at seven, it’s also to be the example that helps Ashland keep winning for years to come. A state title wouldn’t be too bad either.
“Zander is a person that’s always going to do the right thing, regardless of who is watching. And our players see that, and they gravitate toward that. It just always helps maintain our culture that we have,” Bonner said. “What Zander has done a really good job of this year is pulling some guys in with him, some younger guys to kind of set it up to where he can pass off the torch, so to speak.”
Carter has averaged 23.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season. Teammates Caleb Clarke and Drew Smith, both juniors, also average double figures with 11.9 and 11.7 points per game, respectively.
Through Saturday’s win over Bardstown, Carter unofficially has 2,753 points in a varsity career that has spanned seven seasons, including two at Greenup County while in middle school and a repeat COVID-19 freshman year at Ashland. He has 2,380 points as a Tomcat.
Some might consider Carter a darkhorse candidate for Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball honor for the state’s top senior with Great Crossing’s Moreno, the 6-foot-10 University of Kentucky signee, also in the mix.
But Carter’s a near-lock to be among the 16-20 Mr. Basketball nominees when they are announced by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches next month. He fancies his chances.
“No matter what it is, no matter who I’m against, I’m always going to bet on myself,” said Carter, who said he could have jumped to Atlanta’s Overtime Elite league in the offseason to perhaps better prepare himself for college ball at Liberty University.
He preferred being in the Kentucky senior player of the year conversation.
“That’s a huge reason I stayed home and didn’t take the Overtime Elite deal,” he said. “I truly do believe in myself and think it’s possible. I think I’m going to be Mr. Basketball.”
Carter committed to Liberty ahead of his junior year in large part because of his faith. The small private Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia, has grown into a significant NCAA Division I program. Former Ashland teammate Colin Porter is a junior there.
“I have huge respect for every team that recruited me, but it was an easy decision to make that early simply through prayer. I got validation from the Lord on it,” Carter said. “Coach (Ritchie) McKay, the whole coaching staff, and everybody really respect me and I really feel like I fit there.”
Former Lexington Christian standout Kyle Rode, who graduated from Liberty and recently signed with the NBA G League’s Austin Spurs, helped recruit Carter, as well.
“I still talk to (Rode) and get advice,” Carter said. “I was asking him about what the difference between college and pro ball was, because, at the end of the day, my final goal is to glorify Jesus, but also ultimately get to that pro level.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM.
