Girls 64th District final: Reigning supreme: LIons best Kittens to claim district crown

Feb. 22—SUMMIT — Boyd County kept Ashland at bay Wednesday night, winning the 64th District championship, 62-54.

"We had a little lead there and then got a little comfortable," Boyd County coach Pete Fraley said. "We turned it over several times late, and Ashland isn't going to quit. (Coach) Stacy (Davis) has them playing hard, and they're not about to roll over. We knew it'd be a 32-minute game, and we're fortunate to hold on."

Boyd County had to hold off a late-game rally from the Kittens in a game where the Lions never trailed and led by 23 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lions were cooking early from 3-point land, knocking down four early treys, including a trio from sophomore Emilee Neese.

Boyd County was also boosted by its ability on the boards, snagging 14 rebounds in the first quarter.

The Lions would end the night with a whopping 40 rebounds, 15 of which came from junior Jasmine Jordan, who had another double-double this season at 18 points and 15 rebounds.

"Emilee was on fire early, knocking down a couple of big 3s," Fraley said. "Then we went inside to Jas a couple of times. Jas is getting tougher. She's very skilled. She needs to get tougher. We beat on her every day in practice, but we tell her it's going to happen in the game. She did a nice job tonight. Sophie (Stevens) did a nice job tonight hitting three big 3s. It's a great thing."

Facing a 25-15 deficit in the second quarter, the Kittens were immediately faced with adversity at the 6:25 mark when standout sophomore Kenleigh Woods went down with an apparent injury following a foul underneath the basket.

Woods would not return until the third quarter.

While Ashland tightened up on defense, allowing just 11 points from the Lions in the second frame, offensively, it was a desert for the Kittens.

Ashland went 0-13 from the field in the second quarter. The Kittens' only points in the frame came from two made free throws from freshman Aryanaa Gulley, who was at the line in place of the injured Woods.

"We scored two points in the second quarter," Davis said of the difference maker in the game. "Jaidyn Gulley was looking to score, but the rest of our girls weren't even looking to score during that second quarter. You can't come into a district game, playing Boyd County, and just score two points in the second quarter."

With a 36-17 Lions advantage at the break, the leading scorer was Neese with 15 points.

Ashland had two players with five points, Aryanna Gulley and junior Jaidyn Gulley.

With Woods back in the lineup, the Kittens' offense looked a lot more in sync.

Unfortunately for Ashland, they couldn't gain any ground as Boyd County played even with the Kittens for all eight minutes.

At the end of the 15-15 quarter, the Lions led 51-32 heading into the final frame.

Despite the gap, the Kittens weren't ready to pack it in just yet.

After giving up four quick points to start the quarter, Ashland went on an 18-5 run that took the margin from a 23-point Lions lead to just 10 points as the Kittens called timeout at the 3:46 mark.

Ashland's defense really bothered Boyd County during that run. The Kittens forced eight turnovers during that time and shut down the Lions' ability to score.

"When they want to play defense and get after somebody, that's when our game flows," Davis said. "It leads to our transition points. It was just a matter that we decided too late that they wanted to put that pressure on them."

During the timeout, Fraley had a simple message for his squad.

"Just be solid," he said. "Be solid, take care of the ball, and make them foul us. (We didn't want to) necessarily hold it. If we get an open look, take it. We just need to learn to close out games. It'll come."

Boyd County (19-9) successfully played keep away for the remainder of the game. They were aided by the fact that Ashland had committed just three fouls in the second half, and it took a while to send the Lions to the line to salvage time.

With the clock on their side, the Lions escaped with the victory while scoring just two points in the game's final four minutes.

Two players had the high-point mark of 18 points for the Lions: Neese and Jasmine Jordan.

Woods also had 18 points for Ashland (22-7), despite missing all but 30 seconds of the second quarter.

"Kenleigh is a warrior," Davis said of Woods's performance. "I don't know how else to describe her. She's the engine that makes our team go. When she went out in the second quarter, we froze. It's a day in and day out with her. It doesn't matter if it's practice or a game, she goes hard every day. Most girls wouldn't have come back like she did in the second half. She came back and battled, and I can't say enough good things about her."

Both teams advance to the 16th Region Tournament next week in Morehead.

For Boyd County, the team is happy to ride the momentum of this title win into the region tournament, but they're not looking too far ahead.

"It's one game at a time," Fraley said. "That's all that matters. The next game is the most important game of the year. Our goal is to win the region. That's the bottom line. It's still the luck of the draw though. I've been the runner-up and had a good draw and been champion and get a bad draw. You never know. We'll just take tomorrow off and get back to work on Friday."

Davis hopes her team can put this loss behind them and start anew in the region tournament.

"We already talked before about how strong our district is with us and Boyd," Davis said. "It's competitive and can go either way. We told them this wasn't the end of the road, win or lose. You want to come out as a winner because of the draw, but it's three games in Morehead to get to Rupp. It's anybody's game. That's why we play."

ASHLAND FG FT REB TP

Woods 5-8 7-8 5 18

J. Gulley 6-22 0-3 6 14

Sellars 4-14 2-2 2 10

A. Gulley 1-3 4-4 5 7

Karle 2-8 0-0 2 4

Delaney 0-5 1-2 5 1

Rogers 0-0 0-0 1 0

Duckwyler 0-0 0-0 0 0

TEAM 4

TOTAL 18-60 14-19 30 54

FG Pct.: 30. FT Pct.: 73.7. 3-pointers: 4-20 (J. Gulley 2-6, A. Gulley 1-2, Woods 1-2, Delaney 0-1, Karle 0-3, Sellars 0-6). PF: 14. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 11.

BOYD CO. FG FT REB TP

Jordan 7-16 3-4 15 18

Neese 7-12 0-0 1 18

Biggs 3-11 5-7 6 11

Stevens 4-6 0-0 6 11

Bartrum 2-4 0-2 2 4

Opell 0-1 0-0 2 0

Ray 0-1 0-0 0 0

TEAM 8

TOTAL 23-51 8-13 40 62

FG Pct.: 45.1. FT Pct.: 61.5. 3-pointers: 8-15 (Neese 4-8, Stevens 3-4, Jordan 1-2, Biggs 0-1, Ray 0-1). PF: 15. Fouled out: Opell. Turnovers: 18.

ASHLAND 15 2 15 22 — 54

BOYD CO. 25 11 15 11 — 62

Officials: Mikey Whisman, Vandale McKissIck, Kenny Huddleston.

(606) 326-2658 — wadams@dailyindependent.com