ballbrain

Point taken mcpapa. Just to fine tune 1 little thing, it was Ashland over Fleming by 6 not the other way around.:thumb:

Ashland by 7 in an intense, hard fought and entertaining game between two quality teams.

A very sober post. I agree totally & hopefully coach knows how much we appreciate his investment in Ashland's program. I believe Ashland is moving in the right direction. The AIT was very well done (I thought), and we have a sound program IMO. They'll show up on game night. I can't make myself pick GRC, but that doesn't mean I'll be shocked if Ashland loses. :lol:

Yeah, all the preseason threads and on up until the AIT the consensus has been that East Carter, Fairview and Ashland all have a chance to win the 16th. depending on who you talk to.

Ashland had great pressure on the ball again tonight. The press was working well, as was the perimeter pressure and help defense which all resulted in a 24 to 7 turnover ratio in favor of the Tomcats. It looked like one of Ashland's most unselfish performances this year with very good ball movement leading to balanced scoring that really got a lot of people into the game. I heard that Terry had a bad sinus cold that was really bothering him and Stai didn't play because of a sprained ankle. Fairview still outrebounded the Cats tho, by a margin of 36-28. I'm sure we can expect a another great one between these two on Jan 30 at Fairview.

:lol: Don't take it personal. I enjoy the humor of good natured ribbing. It's a pleasure to have so many really good teams in the AIT this year. I have been impressed with everyone! Additionaly, it's a thrill to be able to compete at a level good enough to be in the hunt with teams like Cov Cath and Mason Co. To me it has been exciting to watch! Credit Coach Biggs for the job he is doing, putting a good team on the floor. Good luck to all as we go into the final day of competition!:thumb:

Come on Big, it wouldn't hurt THAT bad to just admit Ashland has some talented players would it?

You're right, rebounding was 42 to 33 in favor of CC. I had a errant report initially. Tomcats had pressure on the perimeter all evening though.

You were right again Spindoc. I believe Cov Cath only out rebounded Ashland by 1. Ashland's pressure on the ball gave them fits all night, they only had a few open looks for the 3 ball. Very good game to watch, Cov Cath is obviously a quality team. I really thought CC believed they were going to win until the last 30 seconds of the game.

It was another close game for these two teams. Ashland had a wide open layup at the end of the game that would have put them up by a bucket but the shot just layed there on the rim for a second or two and rolled off to the side. Fairview out rebounded Ashland but, the Tomcat press caused a lot of turnovers so Ashland's quickness had the effect of balancing the size advantage the Eagles have. A good game to watch between two talented teams, as the score indicates.

Oops, never post late.:ohbrother:

You know, they really did. Coach Boyd is doing a great job with his team and I'm glad to see things going well for the Rams. Keep it up! Ashland looked like they may have been thinking that Raceland was on the ropes or close to letting up a few times during the game but that didn't happen. The point guard for Raceland really drove to the basket well all night long, I thought he looked good to say the least.

Thanks for putting that up LRCW. It was a very entertaining game to watch. A lot more physical than I expected with both teams in the double bonus for much of the 4th. Ashland has Cooper tomorrow at 3:45, I saw they are 0-4 on Riherds but they have played some good teams. Anybody know anything about them?

Hey spinner, you gonna stay around for the last game of the day?

QUOTE FROM ASHLAND DAILY: Coach Biggs, " We played all 15 guys four minutes or more" Starters played very sparingly in the 4th. They played together for a few minutes in the 1st quarter and again for a few minutes after the half to start the 3rd quarter. The rest of the time subs were in and out continually.

This isn't intended to be critical in ANY way especially to Boyd County's present coaching staff. I always thought Roger Zornes really did a good job with the program when he was there.

I heard they will press from the start to the very end. Also heard they are still good but this years' edition is not quite as talented. I bet they will be a tough out anyway. Saw them during summer ball, they've got good height but didn't have a lot of speed, several of their players were not there and were supposed to be good enough to make a difference. We'll know Saturday but, they ought to be good on the boards.

Good post Rock. Four of the players you mention are at Ashland, this will likely bode well for the future. Gregg, Whetsel, Bush and Withrow will get to play together for three years. There are other Sophs that play well on the roster too, including Hunter.

This has to be one of the best posts on this thread. Leaviing all the hope so's and cheerleading out , which is why I also appreciate the posts that RAM and his associates make, I must say you make a pretty good argument. As far as all this strength of schedule talk goes, Ashland's schedule was certainly not weak. Go ahead and give the EDGE to Dixie Heights, on strength of sched. but, to hang your hat this to support an argument that DH has the upper hand in this game is a little weak IMO.

Good point RAM68 Without getting into each specific game that Ashland has played this season there is an aside to the 10.7 ppg stat. That percentage would certainly be down in the single digit range if Ashland had left its starters in the game. At NEAR the start of an awful lot of the 4th quarters this year Coach Hart subbed freely to allow next years' players to get the experience they will need to make the transition as smooth as possible for next season. As a matter of fact some of the TD's oppenents logged against this team were put up on the board while the JV or the freshman team was playing. Not all the time but SOME of the time it was against the other teams' starters or their starting backfield that these occurred. In at least 3 games there was a goose egg on the board when Ashland subbed.

Boyd was still fighting hard until late in the game, for sure they gave their all in the 3rd quarter and starting off the 4th quarter. If your a coach you don't want to start subbing too much until the heat is off if, for no other reason, than to keep players of equal strength out there to meet the challenge. To my knowledge Ashland starters were off the field and being subbed for while coach Evans was making his changes. So Ashland and Boyd subbed at exactly the same time.

I was thinking that he and two other present Ashland players actually did compete in the 8th grade state campionship finals though.

Ashland had 4 linemen go down this year with season/career ending knee injuries. It really makes you sick to your stomach when you see it happen. Knowing the kids it has happened to so well causes it to be so much the worse! Now any time I see a player down no matter who he is I just pray that he isn't injured, what a relief it is to realize that its' just leg cramps or something of the like. I would think knee braces would almost be standard equipment for interior linemen. I have seen some teams D take the knees out from under players as a way to get them out of the play.

Glad to hear you are so enthusiastic about the IONS. We are going to try some on our team. What are the some of the things you like most about them specifically if you don't mind saying. Thanks

Good point. I thought about the same thing, always did hate an open date for that reason. Coach Hart knew exactly how to avoid a let down when Ashland played a good Waverly team, they were motivated in spite of very emotional win over Ironton. Having come from the college ranks I think that Coach will know how to use this open date to his advantage since college teams very often have open dates built into their schedule. One thing is for sure, the flu bug was running through the team last week and this week they look to be much healthier come game day.:thumb: