Mar. 21—MOREHEAD — One of Ashland’s goals is to begin every resumption of play with two straight defensive stops, so it might ordinarily have bothered Jason Mays that Bath County’s Zack Otis got loose to score on the first possession of the fourth quarter Saturday night.
The Tomcats’ coach got over it, because it was the 16th Region’s leading scorer’s first (and last) bucket of the game, and because by then Ashland was ahead by enough that it already had strictly substitutes on the Ellis T. Johnson Arena floor.
The Tomcats knocked off the Wildcats, 69-36, in the region tournament quarterfinals, shooting 55.8% from the field and scoring 32 points off 21 Bath County turnovers.
“Our pressure on defense was definitely the key,” Ashland junior Cole Villers said, “because then once we get pressure, our transition game’s really good. We’re either hitting 3s or getting fast-break layups and-1.”
The Tomcats won their 35th consecutive game against region competition — the longest such streak in 41 years — by building off a 23-10 lead after one quarter and a 45-16 edge at intermission.
“Our pace was the difference because we just started turning (Bath County) over,” Mays said. “That allowed us to get going in transition, and that’s when we’re at our best.”
The Wildcats led, 8-7, after Tyler Buckhanon’s drive with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. They were down 23-10 by the end of the first frame, with Ashland having begun a 53-12 surge that gave it a 40-point lead on Villers’s trey midway through the third quarter.
“We got off to a good start,” Wildcats coach Bart Williams said. “Our kids came out and played well. … I’ve watched a lot of (Ashland’s) games, and in 30 seconds to a minute, they can just blow you out. They’re just so good.”
The Tomcats’ Zander Carter got that run started with a 3-pointer in the corner, which put Ashland in front to stay. Five Tomcats scored in the final 2:38 of the first quarter, capped by five points from Villers in the final 17.2 seconds of the frame.
That was enough for Ashland, with its focus on denying Otis — averaging 25.5 points per game — from so much as touching the ball. Colin Porter took the main assignment of guarding Otis, while the Tomcats deployed Sean Marcum as a rover — a 6-foot-8 one — to ensure Otis couldn’t get the ball and break their press.
“We were trying to keep the ball out of Zack Otis’s hands, because he’s their best ballhandler and best scorer, and it worked,” Villers said. “We made their big bring it up (the floor) a little bit. We were just making everyone (other than Otis) bring it up so they couldn’t get set in their offense and they couldn’t slow it down, because they had no rhythm.”
Villers’s transition and-1 with 5:49 to go in the third quarter set the continuously running clock in motion.
It was a tough end to an up-and-down season for the Wildcats (7-16). But Williams saw value in Bath County making its fourth consecutive appearance in the region tournament, which it hadn’t done since 1977, and in the opportunity for a generally young and inexperienced team that had graduated seven seniors the year before to get back to Morehead State.
“We persevered and came through a lot of adversity,” Williams said. “We got a lot of kids coming back from that team, and if we can keep them together and grow and get better and have a normal summer, I think we’ll be a good basketball team and I expect to be back over here next year.”
Buckhanon had 10 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Wildcats. Ashland harassed Otis into a 1-for-9 shooting night and two points.
“Rowan (in the 61st District Tournament final) and Ashland made it one of their top priorities to shut him down, and they did a good job,” Williams said. “He’s a sophomore and I told him, don’t forget that one and let it drive him all summer to get back here and get another chance against them.”
Villers scored 21 points and Porter added 16 — on 7-of-8-shooting. The Tomcats made 29 of their 52 floor shots and nine of 19 3-pointers.
Ashland (18-4) advances to meet West Carter, which beat Raceland 72-54 earlier Saturday, in the region tournament semifinals on Thursday night.
Williams thinks the Tomcats’ ceiling is well beyond that.
“I’ll be shocked if they don’t win the state tournament,” Williams said of Ashland. “I want to see the team that beats them. I just think they’re so good and so quick and got so many weapons, I really couldn’t tell you what defense to play against them.”
(606) 326-2658 — zklemme@dailyindependent.com
BATH CO. FG FT REB TP
Rushing 2-3 2-2 2 6
Manley 0-2 0-0 1 0
Buckhanon 5-8 0-0 13 10
Otis 1-9 0-2 3 2
Wilson 3-7 0-0 1 6
Sorrell 1-4 0-0 2 3
Hill 2-4 0-0 1 5
Smith 0-0 0-0 1 0
Brashear 0-0 0-0 0 0
McCarty 0-1 0-0 0 0
St. John 2-2 0-0 1 4
Butcher 0-1 0-0 0 0
Roussos 0-1 0-0 0 0
Team 2
TOTAL 16-42 2-4 27 36
FG Pct.: 38.1. FT Pct.: 50.0. 3-pointers: 2-10 (Sorrell 1-1, Hill 1-2, Manley 0-2, Buckhanon 0-1, Otis 0-1, Wilson 0-1, McCarty 0-1, Butcher 0-1). PF: 6. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 21.
ASHLAND FG FT REB TP
Carter 3-5 0-0 6 8
Porter 7-8 0-0 2 16
Sellars 4-10 0-0 1 9
Villers 9-15 2-2 2 21
Marcum 2-3 0-1 6 4
Atkins 2-2 0-1 1 5
Gillum 0-3 0-0 1 0
Ashby 0-3 0-0 0 0
Conway 1-2 0-0 1 3
Adkins 0-0 0-0 1 0
Davis 1-1 0-0 2 3
Freize 0-0 0-0 0 0
Williams 0-0 0-0 0 0
Team 1
TOTAL 29-52 2-4 24 69
FG Pct.: 55.8. FT Pct.: 50.0. 3-pointers: 9-19 (Carter 2-4, Porter 2-3, Sellars 1-3, Villers 1-5, Atkins 1-1, Conway 1-2, Davis 1-1). PF: 10. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 10.
BATH CO. 10 6 7 13 — 36
ASHLAND 23 22 15 9 — 69
Officials: Benny Campbell, Tommy Hall and Will Fugate.
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