‘Connected’ Ashland Blazer rolls over Boyle County in Sweet 16 quarterfinals
Ashland Blazer kept up its defensive intensity from a night ago and Friday reminded everyone it’s also one of the top scoring teams in the state.
The Tomcats routed Boyle County 80-44 in the quarterfinals of the KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 presented by UK HealthCare Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine at Rupp Arena.
The convincing victory sends Ashland to Saturday’s state semifinals where it will face Highlands, a 63-53 winner over McCracken County in Friday’s late quarterfinal.
It was a season-opening 84-75 loss to the Bluebirds that broke Ashland’s win streak after an undefeated 33-0 2019-20 season. That loss and others along the way as Coach Jason Mays tried to throw his team into the fire, has helped the Tomcats reach the level they are playing at now, the coach said.
“We played the very first game of the season at Highlands — on a weeknight — you know, it’s a two-and-a-half hour, three-hour trip for us, and we started that game (down) 18-4,” Mays said. “These guys don’t know this, but I’m on that sideline and I’m saying, ‘Thank you, we needed this.’ This is exactly how this season needed to start, because we’re quick to realize, OK, this is a new thing we’ve got to get connected.”
Those connections showed Friday. The Tomcats, as they did the night before in a 56-38 win over Knox Central, stifled their opponent’s offense, holding Boyle County to just eight points in the first quarter.
But this time, unlike Thursday, Ashland’s offense got rolling.
Sophomore point guard Colin Porter ran off 11 straight points, including two three-pointers and two circus drives into the paint. His final bucket put Ashland up 46-16 at halftime. An inbounds assist early in the third period to Cole Villers for a layup made the margin 36 points and kicked in the mercy rule running clock under KHSAA rules.
“He’s blossoming into one of the best point guards this state has seen in a long time,” Mays said. “I know that’s a bold statement. … He reminds me of Travis Ford — just the way he plays the game. He’s got instincts with the ball. He’s got instincts defensively … He’s got leadership. And if you’re going to be that guy, that size (5-11), you better be able to hit threes, too.”
Ethan Sellars, saddled with foul trouble the night before, made up for lost time with two of Ashland’s four three-pointers in the first quarter as the Tomcats ran out to a 24-8 lead. The tenacious Ashland defense forced four Rebels turnovers and 11 missed shots in that period.
Mays decided against putting Sellars on their opponent’s best player two nights in a row and that decision paid off. Sellars finished the night with 20 points, tied for the team lead with Villers, and made all four of his three-point attempts.
“I think that enabled him to get going because he didn’t have as much defensive pressure on him,” Mays said. “And … obviously, when he catches it in transition outside of the arc, he’s like my high school coach used to say, ‘Death eating crackers,’ so, he got a lot of those shots up today.”
Sellars said even with a different assignment, defense remained his focus.
“I knew that if I was stepping up on defense, creating a lot of pressure then my offense was going to create for itself,” Sellars said.
Ashland freshman Zander Carter added 18 points and another four three-pointers. Luke Imfeld led Boyle County with 12 points.
“Guys, we just got beat by a team that just played lights out tonight,” Boyle County Coach Dennie Webb said. “They shot it well. They played defense well. So, hat’s off to Ashland. They just kind of wore us out tonight.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 7:58 PM.
