Zander Carter shook off a slow start, individually, to carry the Tomcats in the second half. He closed with a game high 29, including 22 after halftime with 8 boards and 8 assists.

Drew Smith and Preston Hoskins provided firepower from behind the arc, making four threes each. Ashland made 11 as a team.

Jonah Butler led the Lakers with 23 and 9 rebounds. Lockhart, Armstrong, and Finley joined him in double figures. 

 

Final a big win for the Tomcats. What a game by the Liberty commit Zander Carter he had 29 points on 12-18 from the floor 1-3 from 3 and 4-6 from the line. He also had 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

The Tomcats will have a rematch with Bowling Green in the first game of Friday's quarterfinals. The Tomcats lost to Bowling Green by 6 at Woodford Co. in early February.

Ashland shot 63% for the game from the field and 68% for the 2nd half and they 12-13 in the 4th quarter 92% that is going to get you a lot of wins.

Ashland shot 12/13 from the field in the 4Q and 4/5 from three. ? ? ? 

A.B.C....

I was there and Ashland did definitely Light It Up!!! Carter took the game over and could not be stopped. Shooters were flame throwers!!! Jonah Butler from Calloway was Really Good!!! He played his butt off. Played extremely well in all areas of the game. A top three player that I have seen this year. Stoney Brook stole one right from under the noses of local colleges. Ashland against Bowling Green is going to be a very interesting game. Wish I could be there, but work duty calls. Good Luck to both teams!!!

Congratulations to Ashland on a big win and to Calloway County on their successful season. These two schools have a little bit of a history, more than one will think given their distances with nearly 400 miles of separation.  Calloway County came to Ashland in 2021 as a part of the Ashland Invitational Tournament that season and actually ended up playing Ashland that year in the tournament. Like they showed last night and throughout the season, Calloway County has a fantastic program and is a great representative of the 1st region both on and off the court. 

With Ashland it felt like a different player had a stretch where they took over. First it was Drew Smith, who I believe had 10 of Ashland's first 14. Then Preston Hoskins got hot from downtown. Then in the second half Zander Carter stepped it up. A neat fact about Carter, is his first big breakout game as a Tomcat came in Rupp Arena in 2021 against Boyle County when he scored 18 points and had 5 assists, going 4-5 from downtown. He has grown into a strong, confident leader and last night his maturity showed. That happened at Bardstown earlier this season, when a tight game was opened up after Zander stepped it up in the fourth. He has a knack for doing that and last night did so on the biggest stage in a tight game against a 30+ win team and the Kentucky 2A State Champion. Big, big win for Ashland and it should be another exciting matchup coming up with Bowling Green.