DEFENSE!! Kittens Defense Claws Its Way to 16th Region Title

DEFENSE!!

Kittens Defense Claws Its Way to 16^th Region Title

 JAMES COLLIER

FOR THE ASHLAND BEACON

MOREHEAD Ashland’s title defense was anything but boring when they met up with Russell Friday night for the Girl’s 16^th Region Championship.

Ashland has not lost to a region opponent in over two years, with Russell knocking off Ashland in the 2024 semifinals. Despite notching wins over Russell by 15 and 20 points in the regular season, the Kittens found themselves in a peculiar situation with just over seven minutes to play in regulation.

Down by double digits.

However, securing back-to-back region titles takes a wealth of skill and sometimes, a bit of luck and Ashland may have gotten both in the game’s final seven minutes as they rolled off a 20-4 run for a come from behind, 53-49 victory. Ashland cut the deficit to six in a little over one minute of play that forced a Russell timeout and Stacy Davis had one final message for her team to follow to earn a return trip to Rupp Arena.

“Just keep battling and do it on the defensive side of the ball,” Davis said. “You have to get every loose ball, every rebound and jam them up on defense. If you want to win this game, you have to buckle down now.”

With the game tied at 47-47 with 2:33 to play, Zoey Smith tossed in a pair of free throws to put the Kittens in front for good and Gabby Karle’s final points of the night push the lead to three for good measure.

“Our defense is so big because it helps us transition to offense so well,” Karle said. “Our defense really picked up our offense.”

Ashland forced 11 Russell turnovers in the second half including eight in the final stanza. The biggest difference in the final eight minutes for the Kittens was buckets started falling unlike their shooting woes over most of the contest.

“To set up our defense the way we like, we have to score the basketball,” Davis said. “We couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half. Some of them were forced shots and some of them weren’t. We were worried after the way we shot the ball so well from three in the first two games and I told my staff that we might not be able to throw it in the ocean and that was the first half. But my girls didn’t quit and once we were able to put some [shots] in, we were able to get some pressure and it was a much different ballgame.”

After trading buckets in the first frame, Russell held a 12-10 lead through one. But the second quarter belonged to Russell as Ashland shot 14% from the field while Russell pushed the lead to 26-16 at the half.

Davis was forced with a tough decision to open the fourth after Aryanna Gulley picked up her fourth personal foul. Davis elected to roll the dice with the 2025 tournament MVP and the decision paid off. But it was not Gulley’s production in the stat sheet that Davis was concerned about, rather her veteran senior leadership to guide her team to a third title in four years.

“It was huge because we needed her just for her presence in the post and her rebounding ability,” Davis said. “Just her leadership to go along with it as well. She’s our vocal leader out there and she made it through the whole fourth quarter with four [fouls].”

Gulley has limited to no points and a pair of rebounds in the final quarter, but she said there was one more thing that she could bring to the table to lift her team to a win, her energy.

“I honestly thought my energy kept us in this game,” Gulley said. “We didn’t come out with a lot of energy and came out kind of slow. Picking it up and encouraging everyone, that was a really big step, especially in situations like were in being down late.”

Gulley finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Smith added 10 points off the bench and Jenna DeLaney tossed in eight points while going four for five from the field.

Brookelyn Duckwyler paced the Kittens with 12 points while grabbing eight rebounds and seven steals—three coming in the closing minutes.

“There’s been several games where she has stepped up in the fourth quarter and made big plays,” Davis said of Duckwyler. “Portsmouth, she hit the game winner. She hit a game winning shot at Montgomery County. I’ve always said, elite players and champions make plays like that when it matters.”

  Ashland advances to the Girls’ Sweet 16 against Region 8 champion Simon Kenton in the opening round as Davis’ squad did something that she was not able to experience back-to-back as a player when she played for the Kittens.

“Back-to-back is sweet because I didn’t do that when I was in high school,” Davis said. “We won my sophomore year, then lost my junior and won my senior. It's sweet and good to get back and I’m excited my seniors get to finish their career at Rupp Arena. They deserve it.”

 16^th Region Results

Opening Round

Boyd County 50 Morgan 45

Russell 60 Rowan County 47

Raceland 40 Menifee County 44

Ashland 66 East Carter 37

Semi-Finals

Russell 63 Boyd County 46

Ashland 76 Menifee County 33