Usually shot-happy Ashland Blazer turns defensive demon to beat Knox Central
Ashland Blazer, one of the most prolific and accurate three-point shooting teams in the state, unveiled a less-heralded wrinkle on unsuspecting Knox Central on Thursday night in Rupp Arena — devastating, physical, lockdown defense.
Ashland (21-4) held the Panthers to a mere 10 points in the first half on its way to a 56-38 first-round win in the KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 presented by UK HealthCare Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine.
The victory set up a 5 p.m. Friday quarterfinal against Boyle County, who came from behind to defeat Paintsville earlier Thursday.
The key to Ashland’s game plan, according to Coach Jason Mays, was quickly picking up Knox Central’s 14th Region player of the year Jevonte Turner defensively, and not letting the Panthers get comfortable.
“Sometimes these guys get frustrated about how animated I get and how intense I want to be in our man-to-man defense,” Mays said. “We don’t allow open threes. And we’re going to make players finish one-on-one, hopefully, outside the frame of the backboard. … That pressure is disruptive, and they (Knox Central) couldn’t get into any kind of flow.”
While Ashland scored only 10 points to Knox Central’s two in the first quarter, the tone had been set. The Tomcats defense produced a 16-4 run over the final six minutes of the second quarter that included nine points off turnovers for layups, and they got three-pointers from Cole Villers and Ryan Atkins in that span as the Tomcats’ lead ballooned to 30-10.
Foul trouble on starter Ethan Sellars meant bigger roles for Hunter Gillum and Ryan Atkins in trying to help limit Turner, who was held scoreless in the first half, but ended the game leading Knox Central with 20 points. Gillum and Atkins scored nine and seven points, respectively off the bench.
“Hunter hit a three, and it’s always a celebratory occasion when Hunter hits a three,” Mays joked. “He’s got a lot of moxie. He’s a senior. He’s a winner. He was a state champion football player. … Ryan’s the same way. He’s going to one day be a great Division I baseball player and he’s got a chromosome that’s the competitive chromosome.”
Colin Porter led the Tomcats with 17 points, eight assists and two steals. Villers scored 14 points.
“I never focus on how many assists I have,” Porter responded when asked about his passing ability. “We were just trying to win tonight. I don’t ever look at the stat sheet or anything. I’m just trying to win.”
Ashland made four three-pointers on 14 attempts, quite a departure for a team that put up 559 threes leading into Thursday’s game, eighth most in the state. They make them at a clip of 39.2 percent. Though they succeeded in stretching out a lead and were trying to kill the game, Villers couldn’t resist an open three late in the third quarter when Ashland probably could have just run out the last 20 seconds.
“I saw the look, and I knew I’d make it, so I shot it,” Villers said.
Mays didn’t question it.
“You can’t coach these guys and limit them,” Mays said. “That’s who we are. We shoot the basketball. I’d be the dumbest guy in the world to tell Cole to pass up an open shot from 20 feet.”
Knox Central (21-5), the 13th Region champs, fared better in the second half, but couldn’t overcome the horrendous start.
“Words cannot describe how proud I am of these kids this year,” Panthers Coach Tony Patterson said. “It’s not the ending we wanted, but it had to end sometime. … They are the closest, most loving group I’ve ever coached.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 11:37 PM.
