Over And Back

Ashland will be the hands down team to beat for the next several years.

Great win by the Rowan Lady Vikings. As I believe Maroon Cat already mentioned, the refs were not the reason Ashland lost this game. Ashland could not match Rowan's intensity and Rowan truly earned this win. It will be strange not seeing the Wilcox, Strait, and Farrow names in the boxscores next year for Ashland. It seems they have been playing varsity for Ashland for the last 10 years. Good luck to all the graduating seniors from both Rowan and Ashland.

I'll go along with Cantrell as coach of the year.

I think Ashland will be able to handle Rowan's press. Whether they can survive Rowan's offensive rebounding is another question.

Doesn't Rowan and Elliott have to play a few more teams to get to a final matchup:D

I actually prefer having out of region refs because, lets face it, the 16th region refs leave a lot to be desired. Out of region refs are likely to be unbiased and even the "bad" refs call it equally bad on each side. Its nice to see a ref squad that allows the girls to play. I thought that the 9th region refs did a good job.

I assume you believe Rowan to be the best defensive team in one bracket (which I agree with) but what is the second best defensive team of the 16th region in the other bracket? IMO, the defenses of Russell, Boyd, Elliott, or Fleming are not that intimidating.

:rolleyes:I Don't see that happening anytiome soon!!!! Oldtime fan - so you think that a Elliott victory over Rowan is not in the realm of possibility? Have you seen Elliott play the last 11 games? If East can pull out a win against Rowan so could Elliott. I wouldn't get too confident during tourney time - strange things tend to happen.....

Double WHAT??????

Here we go again. we may as well close this thread down right now.

And this is why the Ashland -RH disputes will last forever. Thankfully, no one has the bad taste to point out a specific kid and I respect that (although questionable comments about the Ashland coach's relationship with the officials were made), but the program bashing in unbelieveable. Not a great example to be setting for the kids. JMO

Again, as an non-RH and non-Ashland fan (actually I don't dislike either team) if the purpose of all these posts is to point out your displease with the refs then I believe that you have sufficiently made your point. You are not going to get Asahland fans to agree with you. Stop beating the horse, its already dead.

Old Shooter, you're essentially singing to the choir. You've been around this area long enough to know that 99% of RH fans (or Ashland haters) will agree with you and 99% of Ashland fans (or RH haters) will disagree with you. If you feel that an injustice has been done, lodge a formal complaint with the KHSAA and be done with it.

You've got to be kidding? First off, Some fans are not giving ANY credit to the Ashland ball players and for their effort in winning the game. Many of these fans are basically saying that the refs literally stole the game from their team. This is not graceful losing and it does not recognize the accomplishments of the other team. Basically it cheapens the win for all of the Ashland players who had no hand in the officiating of this contest. Second, this officiating controversy has just opened the door, once again, to snide comments between Ashland and Rose Hill fans. If I wasn't from this area and were reading these posts for the first time I believe the "intense dislike" between these 2 schools would be apparent. I do not consider this good sportsmanship between fans.

Congrats to Ashland and to their players and coaches. The Fairview - Ashland final should be a very competitive game. The Rose Hill boys worked hard the entire game. RH has some fine players. I was especially impressed with Terry, even more so because he is only a freshman. Ashland will miss Bonner at the end of the season. I really think that he has improved from just a football player playing basketball to a fine basketball player that had developed some good post moves. It is obviously clear that some RH posters feel that the officiating was biased, unfair, etc... and that is to be expected in a rivalry game. I know that they are trying to support their boys and they feel that an injustice has been done. I can respect that. I'm sure that in the past Ashland fans have probably felt they have been "mistreated" by the refs, maybe even in a previous RH matchup. Until video and computers take out the human element of officiating, there will always be controversy. I think that many fans will regret this, since it will take away some interesting "water cooler" discussions the next day. As a person with no dog in the fight, I think that this "officiating controversy" really just masks the resentment still held between Ashland and Rose Hill fans. Both sides seem to love jumping on any issue to slam the other side. As a bystander it is amusing, but I feel we are sending the wrong message to the kids. Yes, we all want to win, but good sportsmanship should be first and foremost. This is sorely lacking in the unhealthy Ashland / Rose Hill rivalry.

So if you are aren't implying that Kouns favors Ashland why do you care if he refs Ashlands games? If he is favoring a team, then the ref must obviously be calling an unfair game.

I have seen Kouns in action and you're entitled to your opinion of course. What I would like to see is the hard empirical data / statistics that Old Shooter has that shows how this situation benefits Ashland. By the way, I am not even an Ashland fan, but to say a ref is going to call an unfair game even before it is played is a little extreme. Good and bad refs, just like good and bad calls are part of the game. Either work harder to overcome it or go home. Excuses are for just that ---excuses.

Sounds like someone is already making excuses for a possible Rose Hill loss:D

East does seem to be coming together at the right time. The line score from the ADI showed that Ashland got out to a slow start and then outscored East in the remaining quarters but couldn't get over the hump. If I was an Ashland fan this might concern me at this time of the season. Ashland is a veteran team and should be mentally ready to play. All the credit to Coach Easterling and his Lady Raiders. They held off a late Ashland comeback (led by Conner's 17 second half points) to win just like they did against Rowan County - the sign of a veteran team.

I say Russell in a close one. Raceland seems to be struggling lately and Russell's players seem to be figuring out their roles better on the court. But, whoever wins, I think it will be a good one!

Teams better have a good lead going into the final quarter against Rowan if they hope to win. Rowan can really notch up its "d" in the final quarter and is a good free throw shooting team. With the recent losses of East to Lewis and of Ashland to Elliott there is no question in my mind that Rowan is now the hands down favorite to with the 16th.

Raceland has lost 7 of its last 10 games. This really surprises me as I thought they would be a darkhorse pick to do really well in the region this year.

Wow - great win for Coach Cantrell and his Lady Lions. Looks like they are gelling at just the right time, Ashland looks like they took a step back. Even with Wilcox playing this game I don't think Ashland could have overcome this beating. I'd say in the 16th its 1) Rowan 2) Elliott 3) East 4) Ashland 5-10) Anybody's guess

I agree:thumb:

Here are some stats for the local team's centers per the KHSAA website that are pretty recent (I also throw in some personal observations): West Carter - Stevens: 15 points, 13 rebs (Senior) One the hardest working and strongest centers in the region - good dribbler and spin move in the lane. Uses the backboard very well on post moves. Can use either hand when shooting Russell - Parsley: 11 points 9 rebs (as of January 7) (Junior) Not a power player but is really good at getting rebounding position. Has a nose for the ball. Also has a good shot underneath (soft touch around the rim). Rowan County - Riddle:13 points 4 rebs (Senior) Pound for pound probably the hardest working Center/Forward in the region. At only 5'7" Riddle uses her strength and grit to outmuscle much taller defensive players. She is a pretty good ball handler and can step back and hit the 3-pointer. Elliott County - Griffith: 19 points 11 rebs (Senior) A center/forward that can play outside or in. Great rebounder and very hard-nosed / strong player. A hard match-up for most teams. Always follows her shot. Ashland - Conner: 14 points 7 rebs (junior) A finese player that has an excellent shooting touch around the basket. If she would develop a power game she could be outstanding. Although behind the other region centers in terms of rebounds, she probably leads the region in blocked shots (in the games I have seen, she has averaged about 6 blocks a game) I couldn't get any info on Raceland's Keeton or Lewis or on East's Combs. Hard to say which is really the best center in the region looking at stats. Each player has their own individual strengths (and weaknesses of course). Who would a coach choose? Probably depends on the skills of the other players on the team and who would be the best fit.