1977 Ashland Tomcats VS. 2009 Elliott County Lions

[westsider]

That was quite the upset wasn't it? Was Tilghman the favorite coming into the tournmant that year.

Tilghman and Lexington Catholic were considered the favorites coming into the tournament, especially because several other top contenders had been knocked out in the regionals.

 

Tilghman had beaten nationally-ranked University Heights late in the regular season, which started to get them a lot of attention.

 

Basically, Tilghman laid an egg at Rupp, although Ashland had quite a bit to do with that. Ashland got on a roll and made it all the way to the finals.

 

Paintsville won with a huge performance from Vanhoose in the semis ... 29 points and 27 rebounds in the win over Lexington Catholic.

[Kansas City Shuffle]

I'm assuming that they had much more depth than Ashland. I guess who each team played prior to that could have had a lot to do with it also. If Valley had a couple of easy games, and Ashland had two tough games. I don't know. Just speculating. Does anybody know who each team played the first two rounds?

 

Don't remember exactly who either team played the first 2 games but you are right on both counts, I do remember Valley had much more depth and had 2 easier games than Ashland, plus, if remember correctly, Ashland had to play the last game Friday night also.

[Kansas City Shuffle]

So why didn't Valley have "dead legs" on Saturday?

 

 

See my last post.

[LRCW]

Tilghman and Lexington Catholic were considered the favorites coming into the tournament, especially because several other top contenders had been knocked out in the regionals.

 

Tilghman had beaten nationally-ranked University Heights late in the regular season, which started to get them a lot of attention.

 

Basically, Tilghman laid an egg at Rupp, although Ashland had quite a bit to do with that. Ashland got on a roll and made it all the way to the finals.

 

Paintsville won with a huge performance from Vanhoose in the semis ... 29 points and 27 rebounds in the win over Lexington Catholic.

 

 

 

I don't know what kind of team Tilghman had, but I do know that Ashland was pretty big underneath. They had Kyle Umberger, who went on to play at Morehead, Tony Barrow, and Chris Lynch. They averaged about 6'6 in the front court, and Lynch was a lefty that could stroke it from outside. Ashland also had pretty decent guard play. Ashland's strength was also Paintsville's strength, and they were just a bit stronger.

[westsider]

I don't know what kind of team Tilghman had, but I do know that Ashland was pretty big underneath. They had Kyle Umberger, who went on to play at Morehead, Tony Barrow, and Chris Lynch. They averaged about 6'6 in the front court, and Lynch was a lefty that could stroke it from outside. Ashland also had pretty decent guard play. Ashland's strength was also Paintsville's strength, and they were just a bit stronger.

Ashland's size caused a lot of problems for Tilghman. John Smith (played at Eastern Illinois) was their post player. He got in foul trouble early and their offense revolved around him.

 

Ashland played a 2-3 matchup zone, as I recall, and their size kept Tilghman's guards from penetrating. And the Tornado didn't have a consistent outside threat to pull the Tomcats out of the zone.

 

Umberger was a nice player ... he was a sophomore then. He and Smith played against each other for two seasons in the OVC.

[ACE]

I don't know what kind of team Tilghman had, but I do know that Ashland was pretty big underneath. They had Kyle Umberger, who went on to play at Morehead, Tony Barrow, and Chris Lynch. They averaged about 6'6 in the front court, and Lynch was a lefty that could stroke it from outside. Ashland also had pretty decent guard play. Ashland's strength was also Paintsville's strength, and they were just a bit stronger.

 

I think you are referring to Michael Lynch(David's son) the left hander with the great shooting touch, he was a little younger than Chris(Bill's son), who I believe was right handed.

[LRCW]

I think you are referring to Michael Lynch(David's son) the left hander with the great shooting touch, he was a little younger than Chris(Bill's son), who I believe was right handed.

 

 

You are correct Ace. Thanks for correcting my mistake. All of the Lynch's could play.

[oldrambler]

All of the Lynch's could play.

:thumb: That may be the understatement of the century.

Huh??

That was exactly what I was thinking???

[Titleist1]

I would have liked to have seen either of the teams mentioned above against the 2002-2003 Rose Hill team prior to the departure of Walker in late January. That team had two future NBA players to go with Marques Dawson (still holds the state record for steals in a game and received a D-1 scholarship), Zach Gillum, and Mark King.

 

I don't believe either of the other teams could compete with that team. It had too much athleticism and much too much quickness. Walker, Mayo, and Dawson were also fine dunkers- particularly Walker who may be the best in state history.

 

That team won't win a popularity contest among partisans in the 16th Region- particularly around Ashland- for both valid reasons and jealousy (more of the latter than the former) but, if we are honest, there were none better in the last 47 years (that excludes the 1961 Ashland team which may or may not have been able to play with the 2002-2003 Walker edition Royals).

 

02-03 RH Royals, best team to ever play in the 16th Region. Would beat Elliott Co. by a margin>15.

[martstone]

1977 Tomcats against 2009 Elliott Co. Elliott Co. takes this one hands down !

 

02-03 Rose Hill against Elliott Co. To close to call ! We'll never know.

[LRCW]

1977 Tomcats against 2009 Elliott Co. Elliott Co. takes this one hands down !

 

02-03 Rose Hill against Elliott Co. To close to call ! We'll never know.

 

 

Hands down? Wow. That is a big statement. Who in the world would be able to stop in inside presence of Kovach and Harkins? Did you see that Ashland team play?

[16thregionfan]

You all have to consider the increase in talent level over the last 30 years. In my opinion, and this is only an opinion so everybody dont freak out, I think that you could take any top 10 ky team and put them in the league 30 years ago and they would dominate. Agan just an opionion by seeing the talent levels across all levels of basketball increase over the years.

Hands down? Wow. That is a big statement. Who in the world would be able to stop in inside presence of Kovach and Harkins? Did you see that Ashland team play?

["old"shooter]

Hands down? Wow. That is a big statement. Who in the world would be able to stop in inside presence of Kovach and Harkins? Did you see that Ashland team play?

 

Kovach and Harkins were good players. As I recall, Ashland "borrowed" both of them from Holy Family.

[ACE]

Kovach and Harkins were good players. As I recall, Ashland "borrowed" both of them from Holy Family.

 

My recollection is that Harkins came to Ashland as a sophomore. I believe Kovach was always in the Ashland system.

["old"shooter]

My recollection is that Harkins came to Ashland as a sophomore. I believe Kovach was always in the Ashland system.

 

The Kovachs were very much Holy Family people. I don't know if the Kovach boys both attended Holy Family prior to defecting or not. So, to be safe, I guess we could say that the family was "influenced" by Ashland and Harkins was "borrowed".