ashland shoots past clark
WINCHESTER | Shooting turned out to be the big difference in the Tuesday match up between two of the top teams in the state.
One team hit most of its shots — Ashland. And one team did not — George Rogers Clark.
The visiting Tomcats trailed for most of the night from the second quarter until late in the fourth, but gradually wore down the Cardinals’ offensive attack before finishing the game by converting 19-of-21 free throws to claim a 71-66 overtime win.
“We won because we held them to 39 percent (shooting) for the game,” Ashland coach Jason Mays said. “That’s the end all be all.”
The Tomcats took a lead late in the opening quarter and led 12-9 after the first break. But, the post play of George Rogers Clark’s 6-foot-7 center Lincoln Bush eventually allowed the hosts to take a 27-25 halftime lead.
“Lincoln Bush, we couldn’t do anything with him tonight,” Mays said. “We tried six different strategies and bottom line is that we just had to grind it out with him.”
Bush had 14 points and six rebounds at the half helping the hosts to shoot 52.4 percent from the field.
Mays made some adjustments in the locker room and the momentum started to shift after halftime.
“The way we play wasn’t really working in the first half. We’re an offensive oriented team and I couldn’t find any rhythm for them, and I felt frustrated about that,” he said. “So, what we decided to do is to ball-screen for Colin (Porter) at the top of the key and put big Lincoln Bush in some ball screen situations. That created some space and some help (defense) issues on their end and we just stared moving the ball and we were fortunate to hit some shots.”
The strategy shift forced the Cardinals into taking more difficult shots and led to a 31.3 second-half shooting percentage. Conversely, Ashland created more opportunities for itself and converted 14 of its 28 shots over the final two quarters and the overtime period.
Still George Rogers Clark (5-1) led 42-36 with 2:21 to play in the third quarter and took a 42-40 advantage into the final period.
The Cardinals kept the Tomcats at bay until Porter blocked a 3-point attempt, got the rebound, drove the length of the floor and made a layup to knot the score at 47 with 3:37 remaining.
Ashland (7-0) held onto the lead until Jared Wellman sank a pair of free throws with 1:54 remaining. The two teams traded leads from that point until the end of regulation when GRC’s Reed Johnson sank a baseline 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 56-56.
Porter came up big in the extra period. He made a pair of layups and then made all four of his free throws in the final 19.2 seconds to secure the win.
“I was trying to just help out my teammates and get the win. I came here this year and they’ve welcomed me,” Porter said. “I just got to prove to them that I can play on this team.”
“They’re really good. They have great decision makers on the team. The point guard, Porter, he’s really good. He’s a special player,” George Rogers Clark coach Josh Cook said. “The next four years it’s going to be really fun to watch him play and see what kind of a point guard he becomes, because he’s really good right now.”
Porter topped the Tomcats with 23 points and four assists. Ethan Hudson added 20 points including 15 off 3-pointers. Cole Villers added 19 points, six rebounds and five steals. Justin Bradley led the squad with nine rebounds and also scored seven points.
Bush finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Wellman chipped in 12 points and four rebounds. KJ Rucker contributed 11 points and four rebounds. Jerone Morton added 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Ashland shot 43.1 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 90.5 percent from the foul line. GRC finished shooting 39.6 percent from the floor, 30.4 percent behind the arc and 68 percent from the free-throw stripe.
The Cardinals won the battle of the boards 37-26. The Tomcats committed 11 turnovers to 15 for the hosts.
“It was two great teams going at it and we just ended up having the ball in the end and that’s what it came down to, the last play,” Porter summarized.
One team hit most of its shots — Ashland. And one team did not — George Rogers Clark.
The visiting Tomcats trailed for most of the night from the second quarter until late in the fourth, but gradually wore down the Cardinals’ offensive attack before finishing the game by converting 19-of-21 free throws to claim a 71-66 overtime win.
“We won because we held them to 39 percent (shooting) for the game,” Ashland coach Jason Mays said. “That’s the end all be all.”
The Tomcats took a lead late in the opening quarter and led 12-9 after the first break. But, the post play of George Rogers Clark’s 6-foot-7 center Lincoln Bush eventually allowed the hosts to take a 27-25 halftime lead.
“Lincoln Bush, we couldn’t do anything with him tonight,” Mays said. “We tried six different strategies and bottom line is that we just had to grind it out with him.”
Bush had 14 points and six rebounds at the half helping the hosts to shoot 52.4 percent from the field.
Mays made some adjustments in the locker room and the momentum started to shift after halftime.
“The way we play wasn’t really working in the first half. We’re an offensive oriented team and I couldn’t find any rhythm for them, and I felt frustrated about that,” he said. “So, what we decided to do is to ball-screen for Colin (Porter) at the top of the key and put big Lincoln Bush in some ball screen situations. That created some space and some help (defense) issues on their end and we just stared moving the ball and we were fortunate to hit some shots.”
The strategy shift forced the Cardinals into taking more difficult shots and led to a 31.3 second-half shooting percentage. Conversely, Ashland created more opportunities for itself and converted 14 of its 28 shots over the final two quarters and the overtime period.
Still George Rogers Clark (5-1) led 42-36 with 2:21 to play in the third quarter and took a 42-40 advantage into the final period.
The Cardinals kept the Tomcats at bay until Porter blocked a 3-point attempt, got the rebound, drove the length of the floor and made a layup to knot the score at 47 with 3:37 remaining.
Ashland (7-0) held onto the lead until Jared Wellman sank a pair of free throws with 1:54 remaining. The two teams traded leads from that point until the end of regulation when GRC’s Reed Johnson sank a baseline 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 56-56.
Porter came up big in the extra period. He made a pair of layups and then made all four of his free throws in the final 19.2 seconds to secure the win.
“I was trying to just help out my teammates and get the win. I came here this year and they’ve welcomed me,” Porter said. “I just got to prove to them that I can play on this team.”
“They’re really good. They have great decision makers on the team. The point guard, Porter, he’s really good. He’s a special player,” George Rogers Clark coach Josh Cook said. “The next four years it’s going to be really fun to watch him play and see what kind of a point guard he becomes, because he’s really good right now.”
Porter topped the Tomcats with 23 points and four assists. Ethan Hudson added 20 points including 15 off 3-pointers. Cole Villers added 19 points, six rebounds and five steals. Justin Bradley led the squad with nine rebounds and also scored seven points.
Bush finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Wellman chipped in 12 points and four rebounds. KJ Rucker contributed 11 points and four rebounds. Jerone Morton added 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Ashland shot 43.1 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 90.5 percent from the foul line. GRC finished shooting 39.6 percent from the floor, 30.4 percent behind the arc and 68 percent from the free-throw stripe.
The Cardinals won the battle of the boards 37-26. The Tomcats committed 11 turnovers to 15 for the hosts.
“It was two great teams going at it and we just ended up having the ball in the end and that’s what it came down to, the last play,” Porter summarized.
Scoring |
1Q |
2Q |
3Q |
4Q |
OT |
OT |
Final |
Ashland Blazer |
12 |
13 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
= |
71 |
George Rogers Clark |
9 |
18 |
15 |
14 |
10 |
= |
66 |
ashland blazer
|
george rogers clark
|