? AIT Championship ? 

Ashland Tomcats (5-5, KY Sports Zone #17)
vs.
DCA Warriors (7-1, R12 #2)

? | Tomcats and Warriors roll it back in rematch of last year's AIT final

? | Ashland seeks a second straight title in the tournament that bears its name. They handled DCA last year by 23, which was also the game high point total for Zander Carter, who comes into this one averaging 25.

?? | DCA will look to impose its length on the Tomcats at both ends of the floor, something they were unable to do last year. Rebounding was even and easy looks were few and far between for the Warriors as they shot 32% overall and 3/24 from behind the arc. 

Tip-off: Sunday (12/29) night at 7:00 at Ashland's Anderson Gymnasium 

Leek Ateny, arguably DCA’s best player, didn’t play against Ashland last year.  He wasn’t eligible yet.  He’s 6-10 and with Ayiei at 6-11 gives them the length you mentioned.  If I remember correctly Ayiei was in foul trouble pretty early which minimized their height advantage. 
 

Boyd’s not 100% yet after his illness so I have no idea as to what to expect.  He’s such an important player for DCA that if he’s not able to play his usual game they may struggle.

DCA has been a pleasant surprise to me. As I mentioned in another post, their role players are better than I expected and their new coach is more effectively using their size on both sides of the ball. At this point in the season, they sure appear to be the best team in the 12th.

Looking forward to seeing what they can do against a top 20 team. A solid showing, even without getting the win, still cements them atop what’s looking like a pretty weak region this year.

Without question to me, the best team in the 12th is DCA.

Live Stream

Ashland is clicking from 3 early. Two by Hoskins and one for Carter.

9-2 Tomcats 

5:10 1Q

Zander Carter drains his second three. 

Timeout DCA.

12-2 Ashland 

4:15 1Q

Titus Boyd stops the bleeding with a three of his own followed by a deuce.

12-7 Ashland 

3:30 1Q

A 10-2 run pulls DCA within 2.

14-12 Ashland 

1:30 1Q

End of 1Q

Ashland 18

DCA 12

 

Baskets by Ashland's Carter and Lalonde kill DCA's run to end the quarter.

Ashland gains a little breathing room, DCA comes right back.

22-20 Tomcats

4:00 2Q 

Boyd for 3. It's a one point game.

26-25 Ashland 

1:33 2Q

Braxton Jennings connects for his second three.

29-25 Ashland 

:50 2Q

Halftime 

Ashland 31

DCA 25

 

The Tomcats turned defense to offense in a flash, turning the Warriors over before Drew Smith found Lalonde for a layup to conclude the first half scoring. 

Carter has a game high 12 so far. He, Hoskins, and Jennings have two threes each.

Both teams are shooting 50% or better, but Ashland is hitting more from the perimeter and taking better care of the ball.

Offensive board and put back by Ateny. 

31-29 Ashland 

7:15 3Q