Lions scratch last: Boyd County holds off Tomcats on the road in first meeting of the season

Jan. 9—ASHLAND — It was another instant classic as Boyd County came out on top with a 73-67 win over Ashland in a barn burner on Tuesday night in front of a jam-packed Anderson Gymnasium.

Close, action-packed games are nothing new to this rivalry. The two teams split in their four meetings last year. The fourth was in the 16th Region championship, which went the Tomcats' way.

At different points in the game, it looked like the Lions were going to run away to a victory, or at the very least win comfortably, but the Tomcats trailed by just one point with a minute to play.

"With two good teams, it's always going to come down to runs," Boyd County coach Randy Anderson said. "We made our runs, and they fought back. We made another run, but I think we got a little lax defensively. and that's what got us both of our big leads, keeping them to one-and-done possessions."

Boyd County's final five points were free throws as Ashland tried to preserve time to get back into the game.

Five free throws were Ashland's final tally from the charity stripe. The Tomcats finished 5 of 10 from the line. The misses, along with limited trips to the line, were enough to make the difference in the contest.

"Us going five of ten from the free throw line on our home court doesn't sit well with me, and it doesn't sit well with our guys either," Ashland coach Ryan Bonner said. "They're accountable young men. We have to do a better job of making our free throws and getting to the line a bit more."

While free throws proved costly throughout the game, it was takeaways that told the story early on.

Ashland looked out of sync as the game began. Its first three possessions resulted in turnovers, which the Lions capitalized on to start the game on an 11-0 run.

"We're a very good basketball team, but I think right now, one of the biggest problems is, especially early in the game, consecutive empty possessions," Bonner said. "When you do that against a team like Boyd County, they'll make you pay for it and stretch the lead."

Ashland finally found the bottom of the net at the 3:35 mark after a bucket from Cam Davis.

A trio of Boyd County turnovers of its own opened the door late in the frame for the Tomcats to gain back some ground but they still trailed 17-8 after the first eight minutes.

Zander Carter, Ashland's leading scorer this season, fired up to start the second quarter, getting three quick buckets to start the stanza after being held at bay for much of the opening quarter.

Carter's points, along with a 3 from Braxton Jennings, cut the Lions lead to 19-17 with 5:20 to go in the first half.

Both teams traded punches following a Boyd County timeout.

During the exchange, the Lions managed to pull back out in front by six at 30-24.

The Tomcats battled back, however, as a late putback by Asher Adkins at the buzzer capped off a productive quarter for Ashland and put the score at 32-30 in favor of the Lions.

One big loss for the Tomcats during the second quarter was Tyson Lalonde, who left the game with an apparent ankle injury just 25 seconds into the frame and did not return to the game.

The loss of Lalonde was significant for Ashland. The junior averages 15 points per game and is the leading 3-point shooter for the Tomcats with 3.5 per game.

Despite the early giveaways by the Tomcats, it was the Lions who had the most turnovers at the half with six to the home squad's five.

Out of the break, Hicks drained a pair of quick treys to put Boyd County up 38-30, leading to an Ashland timeout just 70 seconds into the second half.

"We just let them get comfortable with our man," Anderson said when talking about the changes made at the half. "We weren't guarding Braxton and Zander the way we needed to. So we changed the face of our defense a little bit to give them a different look, just to throw them off balance, which it did. and then we just made shots."

Adkins hit a 3 out of the timeout, but it was slim pickings for Ashland throughout the quarter, as the Lions built on its lead.

Jacob Spurlock, who had a quiet five-point first half, put up 10 points in the third quarter en route to Boyd County taking a 55-41 lead into the final frame.

"A lot of people don't understand that Jacob is a worker," Anderson said. "That doesn't just happen by natural causes. It happens because of a lot of hard work. He has a lot of confidence and his teammates have a lot of confidence in him. He's just starting to mature to where he doesn't get frustrated and he keeps working, moving, and looking for space. I'm just proud about how he responded."

Adkins and Jennings each hit 3-pointers that looked to jumpstart the Ashland offense.

"If we can get that same effort on both ends of the court consistently out of Braxton and Asher, then we get our other guys going, we'll be hard to stop," Bonner said. "Those guys' efforts on both ends, I couldn't have asked for any more. If we get that consistently, we're going to be really tough to handle at the right time. Really proud of those two."

Unfortunately for the Tomcats, a 3 from Griffin Taylor put the margin back out to 60-49, which led to a Lions timeout.

That timeout seemed to fuel Ashland, who went on an 11-2 run to shrink the Lions' lead to 62-60. Boyd County called another timeout.

Carter tied the game up out of the timeout following a Lions turnover, but Boyd County responded with a pair of baskets.

With 31.1 seconds remaining, down 69-67, the Tomcats turned the ball over. It was their first miscue since the opening quarter.

Ashland fouled to stop the clock and was gifted a pair of missed free throws from the Lions.

The Tomcats had the ball with 28 seconds to go. Jennings got the ball over to Davis in the corner for an open 3-point attempt, but the ball rattled out and Hicks pulled down the rebound.

"I thought Cam showed a lot of confidence throughout the course of the game," Bonner said. "I'd have him take that corner 3 a hundred times over again. You can't ask for a better look. He's going to get to the point where he's making them consistently. I know that. I don't worry about that with him. Each game he's making growth on the offensive end. His defense has always been there."

Hicks hit a pair of free throws from there that ultimately sealed the win as the clock worked against Ashland down the stretch.

"This is game 16 for us," Anderson said. "We've had some really tough games and good competition. The message before the game was 'Focus on the game. You guys are being built for this.' The more we can put our kids in front of competition like this in these types of arenas, it's going to make us better."

Hicks led the night in scoring with 26 and finishing five of six from beyond the arc. Spurlock recorded 17 points and Jason Ellis added 14.

"I think the difference in the game was Cole Hicks," Bonner said. "We couldn't find an answer to that matchup. He was hitting tough shots and contested 3s. He came in averaging 13, but that's deceiving, because he's fully capable of dropping 30 night in and night out. He just hurt us from everywhere."

Adkins had the high-water mark for the Tomcats with 22, a season-high total for the senior.

Boyd County (13-3) will compete in the Kentucky 2A State championship on Friday against Bell County.

Ashland (9-5) will look to bounce back Friday at Madison Central.

BOYD CO. FG FT REB TP

Hicks 9-11 3-5 4 26

Spurlock 5-14 6-7 10 17

Ellis 5-6 4-5 1 14

Taylor 2-6 4-4 4 9

Holbrook 1-4 0-0 6 3

Smith 1-2 0-0 1 2

Martin 1-2 0-0 1 2

Team 1

TOTAL 24-45 17-21 28 73

FG Pct.: 53.3. FT Pct.: 80.9. 3-pointers: 8-17 (Hicks 5, Holbrook 1, Spurlock 1, Taylor 1). PF: 9. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 7.

ASHLAND FG FT REB TP

Adkins 9-14 0-1 9 22

Carter 9-16 1-3 5 19

Jennings 6-9 1-3 9 15

Davis 3-6 3-3 3 9

Freize 1-5 0-0 9 2

Lalonde 0-1 0-0 0 0

Lyons 0-1 0-0 0 0

Clark 0-3 0-0 0 0

Team 0

TOTAL 28-55 5-10 35 67

FG Pct.: 50.9. FT Pct.: 50. 3-pointers: 6-23 (Adkins 4, Jennings 2). PF: 19. Fouled out: Adkins, Jennings. Turnovers: 6.

Officials: Maurio McKissick, Kenny Huddleston, Jeff Adkins.

BOYD CO. 17 15 23 18 — 73

ASHLAND 8 22 11 26 — 67