16th Region: Week 10

16th Region News and Notes

• Boyd County is officially king of the jungle around these parts after beating the 16th's two other Lions.

The region's recently minted #1 bested Elliott County by a comfortable 85-70 score, though it was a far cry from the 53 point margin of their previous meeting two years ago. This was Elliott's first look at the tip-top of the region, and it resulted in a respectable showing for the young Lions of Sandy Hook. Jacob Spurlock dropped a game high 34 points.

The more seasoned Lions of Vanceburg didn't fare as well, losing handily to Boyd, 82-57. It was especially disappointing coming on the heels of Lewis’ 23 point win over Raceland the night before. Lewis also gave Boyd a good scrap in the season opener for both, but the Lions of Cannonsburg are starting to cook, winners of ten straight. 

It appeared early on that Lewis County was going to be a problem. They held a six point lead midway through the 1Q, but a 20-3 run by Boyd opened the game up. 

A consequential subplot to the Boyd/Lewis game was the coronation of Jacob Spurlock as Boyd County's all-time scoring leader. He entered the game tied with Frank Lee at 2,731 points and made his move to sole possession of #1 quickly with an early free throw.

• It was a bounce back week for Ashland after dropping consecutive games to Boyd County and Bowling Green following a ten game win streak. The Tomcats handed previously unbeaten George Washington (WV) its first loss, escaping Charleston with a 64-40 win over one of the top teams in the Mountain State. Zander Carter shouldered the offensive load with 28 points plus 10 boards.

Ashland crossed state lines again to tussle with Huntington High (WV), besting the Highlanders 52-49 to complete a 5-0 record against out of state opponents this season.

The Tomcats capped a 3-0 week by welcoming a formidable, dangerous Fleming County squad to Anderson Gym. The last time the two met, Fleming upset Ashland in Flemingsburg. The Panthers looked determined early on to write a sequel, holding a lead until midway through the 2Q. 

Ashland's Preston Hoskins kept his team in the game with five first half threes en route to a team high 23 points before the Tomcats got in front by a nose and stayed there. 

A snapshot of Zander Carter's tireless drive to improve following the Fleming County game:

Seth Hickerson paced the Panthers against Ashland with 28 points a night after pouring in 38 during a rout of Menifee County. 

The win over Menifee was Fleming's only victory for the week, but it was a nonetheless productive slate for the Panthers. Before losing to Ashland, they took Montgomery County to overtime before ultimately falling 82-75 in a battle of wits between former Ashland coaches Buddy Biggs and Jason Mays.

Ashland versus Fleming also marked the season debut of recently cleared Russell transfer Elijah Neel, who made a splash with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. He's another bullet in the chamber for an Ashland team already deep with scorers.

• My how the turntables…. Lewis County's aforementioned 61-38 win over Raceland came two weeks after the Rams beat the Lions by 13 at the 'Palace'. Drew Noble recorded a double-double of 20 & 11, while the entire team put in work defensively, holding Raceland to 25% from the field. The Rams did themselves no favors, shooting a chilly 48% from the charity stripe. 

The other half of the unpredictable 63rd District hooked up on the same night, with Russell and Greenup County getting together at the 'Marv'. The Devils tried to maintain a semblance of order, beating the Musketeers by seven after topping them by nine three weeks ago. Ryder Burgess led the way with 26 points. He was this ? close to perfect from the field, but the play of Tyler Cordial was equally paramount to Russell's victory. He grabbed a season high 14 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. Cordial's activity in the paint served as the spark to ignite the final push for Russell to put the Musketeers away.

• A one point loss to Greenup County is all that separated Morgan County from a 4-0 week. The Cougars beat East Carter, Magoffin County, and West Carter before falling to the Musketeers 68-67. Asher Gamble averaged 21 ppg for the week.

Ranking The Region

1. Boyd County (17-8) ?

2. Ashland (16-7) ?

3. Fleming County (16-9) ?

4. Lewis County (14-8) ?

5. Rowan County (12-13) ??

6. Russell (11-10) ?

7. Raceland (16-8) ?

8. Elliott County (13-6) ?

9. Bath County (8-11) ??

10. Greenup County (9-15) ??

11. Morgan County (10-11) ??

12. East Carter (6-13) ??

13. West Carter (3-21) ☄️

14. Menifee County (4-19) ??

15. Fairview (4-16) ?

Player Of The Week 
Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County) - When you become the all-time scoring king of one of the region's most storied and successful programs, it's an easy call to make. Spur averaged 24 ppg for the week to power the Lions to a 4-0 mark, with the high point being 34 against Elliott County. He shot 50% from behind the arc across those four games.