JDEaston

Trinity's defense is legit and is what led me to ask the question during their game with St. Xavier whether they play a slow it down style of game. I expected they did but was told they aren't slow. That said, they remind me a lot of Virginia at the college level, they're not slow, but try to slow the game down to their advantage, which is good coaching on their part, seems to be what will work best for them this season. That said Ashland held them to one of their lowest point totals of the season but was still lucky to win. Ashland wasn't hitting shots like they have throughout the season and I credit that to Trinity's defense. Ashland still beat them at their style of game though, which says a lot for Ashland as well, imo.

Ashland by three, 44-41 with 1:17 left.

Trinity up by one after 3. I missed the score. Not looking good as far as Ashland pulling away imo. Trinity is controlling the pace of the game and their defense is really solid.

I don't consider it a revenge game, Trinity isnt the same team this season as they were last season. A win is always nice though. Porter is very good for a freshman. Word is UK is looking at him. Ashland has played a lot of teams that are bigger than they are or try to slow the game down and during the first half that has worked. Coach May's has been really good at making the adjustments needed to pull away in the second half though. That said, Ashland is due for a loss.

My Town TV - Home will broadcast the game live.

I'll defer that question because I'm no longer part of the team and only worked football in the past. So any answer I gave would be based on football and from years ago. But you're not far off when talking about football when I did it, it's a great system to be honest.

I would trust the BGP poll over the AP, just personal preference. But the BGP top 20 has Highlands at 15th, which seems more accurate, though teams 11-20 are likely interchangeable on any given night.

Agreed. I'd go as far to say that after the top 4, teams 5-10 are a fairly equal on the second tier.

Constructive criticism! I've been on your side of doing the rankings in the past but with football. To me, basketball is even more difficult to get right, so I know where you're coming from and try not to nitpick too often. The good thing as region play hits full swing the regional rankings will really start to work themselves out. Personally I feel like Beechwood finishes around fourth in the 9th. You could probably roll the dice for the next tier of teams and so on.

I'm not one to nitpick rankings but I just can't see how Beechwood is still #2. I have no bias, I live two hours away from the 9th, I just can't wrap my head around it. The glaring discrepancy is that St. Henry just beat Lex Cath by 11 and Beechwood lost to Lex Cath by 19 a few days prior. I know that St. Henry played at home and Beechwood had to travel but 30 points is a noticable difference. Especially given that those teams played each other less than 7 days apart. I would also have Highlands in front of them as they have a similar strength of schedule according to the RPI, yet Highlands has 5 less losses. I'm not huge on the RPI early in the season but at this point in the season it's starting to become accurate with the exception of teams that have played a lot of out of state games. Highlands and Beechwood have each had one out of state game so that discrepancy is null. So given similar schedules I feel like 0 losses trumps 5 losses. Just my opinion from the outside looking in..

Does Trinity play a slow down style of ball this season? Just curious because most of their games have been close and relatively low scoring.

Congrats to the Red Devils, certainly a big win for the program going forward.

Thanks, I'll check their website and see if they offer an online stream.

Will there be any streaming video for this game?

I sure was hah. I actually thought I was in the basketball forum. Carry on folks...

Who did Paintsville play after Ashland in '96?

They probably are worn out. Honestly I expected a potential loss tonight due to that. They played three games last weekend then back to back games yesterday and today. That'll help them going forward though if they make it to the sweet 16. Prior to the AIT Ashland had played 4 games against the top teams in WV along with GRC from Kentucky. Their RPI wont show it but they've had to play 6 really good teams during that time, they played George Washington twice, add in Warren Central and Butler in the AIT. Then Union County and Woodford back to back this weekend. I'm really surprised they didnt take a loss during that stretch.

Warren Central has the talent to be one of the best teams in the state. That said, they play too much one on one ball and don't use their length and athleticism to their advantage. Dunno if that's coaching or players not listening to the coaches, but I picked up on it when they visited the AIT. They had the talent to win that tournament.

Size will be their downfall imo. But they have shown that they can switch up the defense to offset that when needed. Outside of their size I completely agree that they can beat anyone in the state. Those young cats have a high level of basketball IQ and may be the best shooting team in the state. Not to mention the coaching, coach Mays has done a really good job of adjusting to the opponent in the second half of close games.

I double checked the calendar, I was wrong. So I imagine that your info about the game being at Transy is correct.

Dickie is a character. Probably the best play by play guy in the state, but he does love his Tomcats. So if you're not an Ashland fan you either love him or hate him. Hard to knock his play by play talent though.

Per KHSAA website it doesn't indicate a location. I have a calendar telling me that my daughter (grade school) is supposed to attend "cheer with the cats" on Tuesday, they did this for yesterday's game as well. I could be wrong, maybe the Tuesday home game is a jv game.

A stat to take note of is that outside of an undefeated and National Championship in 1928 the Tomcats best start in their storied history is 18-0. It doesn't get any easier for the Tomcats though as Trinity visits Ashland on Tuesday.

The Tomcats move to 14-0 on the season. This game was closer than the score indicates. Woodford controlled the speed of play in the first half, leading 21-20 at halftime. Ashland was able to speed things up and run their offense in the second half, eventually pulling away for the win.

Ashland 68-49 final.