2022-23 boys basketball preview cover story -- Up for grabs: Deep region field unabashedly coming for 'Cats

Nov. 28—The Ashland community is accustomed to the target.

The Tomcats, after all, have won four 16th Region Tournament titles in a row. They went just two weeks shy of three calendar years between losses to region opponents.

Between Boyd County's 55-53 victory over Ashland in the 2019 64th District Tournament final and Russell's 64-60 toppling of the Tomcats on Feb. 7, Ashland played 43 games against region foes. The Tomcats won all of them. They looked unbeatable for most of the game, or early in the game, in many of those contests.

What set them apart, though, was that during that stretch, even when they suddenly looked human, they couldn't be tamed in the big moments.

"The biggest part is to go into every game, no matter the (opponent), with the same mindset, like it's a state championship," Ashland sophomore Zander Carter said. "It could be your last game, so don't take anything for granted."

The last game, at least at the high school level, has indeed come for the core of that group.

Graduation took its toll. Three Tomcats who'd played critical roles in one of the most special periods in the history of a program littered with them have gone on to college rosters.

Colin Porter and Ethan Sellars became immediate contributors at Liberty and Cedarville, respectively. Cole Villers is redshirting at Morehead State as he continues to work through the persistent knee trouble that dogged him at Ashland.

Controversy played a part, too. The coach who engineered that dominance, Jason Mays, was fired less than three weeks before the Tomcats' opener in the midst of KHSAA trouble swirling around recruiting allegations.

Ashland still figures to be squarely in the mix to represent the region at Rupp Arena. But it isn't the open-and-shut case it appeared to be for much of the last three winters.

"It's a tight region, I think," Tomcats interim coach Ryan Bonner said. "I think there could be an argument that Boyd should be right there."

Boyd County was, in fact, second to Ashland in coaches' preseason polling published by both The Daily Independent and The Cats' Pause. Three 61st District teams rounded out the top five in each set of rankings — Bath County, Fleming County and Rowan County.

And don't forget Morgan County, which after changing coaches picked up a trio of dynamic players by transfer to, even coming off a 2-22 season, enter the chat, or Russell, the team that ended the Tomcats' reverie over the region, even if it was in the regular season.

"We know what it feels like to lose," Bath County's Zack Otis said, referring to a hard-fought 59-55 loss to Ashland in the region tournament semifinals, concluding the Wildcats' winningest season ever. "We know what it feels like to cry for a week, when you were right on the cusp of doing something that everybody would've remembered forever. We just gotta keep that in our mind, work hard every day and do our best."

Boyd County perhaps paid most painful witness to Ashland's recent ownership of the region. The Lions were the region titleholder when that stretch started, and to boot had enjoyed six straight years of stewardship of the 64th District Tournament crown.

But the Tomcats wrested control of the region away from the Lions just a week and a half after the last of district titles in 2019, knocking off Boyd County in the region title game at Johnson Arena. Ashland also topped the Lions in the 2022 region final.

Watching its archrival next door thrive has gotten the attention of Boyd County.

"I think it was honestly good for us, because now we've got a lot of motivation," Lions junior Jason Ellis said. "We've got a lot of young players that want to step in that role and win."

A couple of Boyd County players slipped out via transfer, including star point guard Rheyce Deboard, who is now at Ashland. But six Lions who played in double-digit games last year are back, including a talented group of underclassmen that introduced itself in a big way as freshmen and eighth-graders with a trip to the region tournament championship game.

"They've got a lot of talent," Ellis said of the young Lions. "They like to play fast, they like to shoot, and this year, the whole team's worked on their shot, getting bigger and stronger, and the defensive end."

In looking for a follow-up to a 27-win campaign, Bath County tabbed Steve Wright as coach. Wright's resume includes more than 700 wins and the 2005 Sweet Sixteen championship at South Laurel.

Talk has swirled about possible prominent additions to the Wildcats roster via transfer, which The Daily Independent has not been able to verify.

Bath County indeed remains something of an enigma. It did not submit a roster for this publication. The roster listed on the KHSAA website as of press time for this preview included six players, all returnees. and attempts to reach Wright and Wildcats athletic director Michael Melton for comment were unsuccessful.

Whomever Bath County fields, they will join Otis, voted northeastern Kentucky's top player in coaches' preseason polling after averaging 21.8 points per game last year in a storybook campaign.

"It was a dream come true for a small-town kid," Otis said. "Everything you want, just make your community proud, and to be able to do that and leave a memorable season behind it was just a blessing."

One distinction Bath County couldn't claim last year was district champion. Rowan County took that home for the eighth consecutive season, knocking off the Wildcats for the first time in their fourth meeting of the year in the 61st District Tournament final.

The Vikings, who lost 10 of 12 games at one point in midseason to drop to 6-14, went on to reach the region tournament semifinals.

Rowan County is still riding the momentum from that run, junior Colby Wilburn said. and a year after graduating eight seniors, the Vikings sent just three across the stage this past summer.

"I feel like it's put us in a lot better position," Wilburn said, "having everyone with some experience and not having those first-of-the-season fears like we did last year."

Rowan County, which came up two points shy in double overtime in the 2011 state tournament final and followed up with a first-round Sweet Sixteen victory the next season, hasn't been back to State since. The Vikings hunger to add on to that tradition.

"Right now, it's all we're dreaming of," Wilburn said. "That's everything we want for our season right now."

Fleming County enters the season with its highest expectations since a breathtaking run of back-to-back region championships in 2013 and '14.

Junior guard Adam Hargett was about 10, he estimated, when those Panthers were bringing championship glory to Flemingsburg.

"It was really fun watching them succeed and making the run to region," he said. "It's really nice to have a good visual on what they've done."

These Panthers, of course, hope to replicate it. They have a tall task to do so — those Panthers went 40-2 against region opposition, capped by an 82-59 victory over Ashland in the 2014 region final.

The Tomcats' coach that night was Buddy Biggs. He now leads Fleming County and piloted the Panthers to a 14-win improvement last season over the one before that.

"People are starting to recognize what we are truly bringing to the table," Hargett said. "We're starting to get more eyes on us, which I like personally. Having bigger expectations, I think, will raise our true competitiveness."

Ashland is counting on it — from Fleming County, and everyone else.

"We just know we're gonna get everybody's best, and that's what we want," Carter said. "We want to be the best version of our team and our identity."

The Tomcats don't mind not being the big, unquestioned on-paper favorite they have been, Bonner said.

"I think they've embraced it," he said. "And I think they love it, I really do."

And Ashland may have found a little fuel of its own from the drama it's encountered.

"The way things have fallen together from summer to now," Bonner said, sitting with a reporter in the office he'd inherited just one day earlier, "I think they're even more motivated to get out and show everybody across the state what they're capable of doing. It's also a great opportunity to show their resilience as young men."