Girl’s Midseason Report
Ashland, Boyd, Russell
Set to Make Run at 6th Region Title

James Collier
The Ashland Beacon
Ashland was the clear-cut favorite coming into the season. Then the injury bug took a chunk out of the Kittens, thus closing the gap to the rest of the region. But the Kittens are getting healthy while developing more depth early in the season while the rest of the region hopes they have made enough progress to stay within shouting distance in March.
Unlike the boy’s region, the girls have far fewer contenders after a large graduating class last season flipped many rosters upside down. However, with new faces come new opportunities and several are ready to write their own chapter to their careers.
Ashland has been without the services of two of their main playmakers most of this season. Kenleigh Woods returned to the court for the first time this season on Jan. 3 after a broken leg during soccer season sidelined the Kittens’ catalyst. What Woods did in limited action was nothing unexpected by anyone who knows what she brings to the table. Woods finished with 14 points which included the game-winner in a 70-68 win over Corbin in around 14 minutes of play. Her return adds another element to the Kittens powerful lineup on both ends of the floor. Soon to return as well is Gabby Karle who returned Saturday after suffering a broken hand before the season began.
Although the Kittens are only 7-6, Stacy Davis’ group has gotten a wealth of game experience in meaningful play. Emilee Neese leads the Kittens with 11.1 points a game and Brookelyn Duckwyler has made the next step forward in her game by coming a starter who the Kittens can play through as needed. Duckwyler is averaging nine points a game. Aryanna Gulley and Jenna Delaney add 8.6 and 7.1, respectively and Alexis Troxler leads the team in rebounding with 5.3 a game. Duckwyler tossed in 14 points in the Kittens win over Raceland Saturday and was named Ashland’s Player of the Game in the Larry Conley Classic.
Ashland’s remaining schedule will certainly prepare the Kittens for what they hope is a deep run in the postseason. Ashland heads to No. 1 ranked Sacred Heart next Friday, welcomes West Jessamine (RV) next Saturday, Portsmouth Feb. 8 and No. 4 GRC in Winchester on Feb. 20. Add in contests with Boyd, Russell and Pikeville along the way as well.
Boyd County was one of the biggest unknowns this season after Pete Fraley called it a career after spending nearly 30 years at the helm of the Lions. Taking control of the team is first-time head coach Kim Groves who spent several years on the bench with Mandy Layne at Russell. Boyd opened the season with a pair of wins before falling in back-to-back affairs, but has rolled off six straight while punching their ticket to the Kentucky 2A Section 6 championship against Rowan Monday night.
Boyd has three players averaging double figures each night out led by seventh grader Kollyn Groves’ 15.1 a game. Groves shoots 45% from the field and 42% from downtown while playing well above her age. Sophia Stevens adds 13.4 a game and Jada Ray kicks in 15.7 a night while missing three games. Bella Opell nets 9.9 a game while anchoring the Lions defensively. Boyd closes the season with a pair of games with Russell, welcomes Menifee County and still has a pair of district contests to play with Ashland.
Russell is living life after Steele after Shaelyn Steele departed for Penn State after graduation. While many expected the Devils to show vulnerability with their lack of experience, Mandy Layne’s process continues to roll out new faces with the same product, win. Russell’s three losses come to No. 8 Covington Holy Cross, West Jessamine (RV) and Montgomery County.
Kennedy Darnell has taken the reins as the offensive leader for the Devils with 14.5 points a game. Gabby Oborne has taken over as the point guard and adds 13.5 point a night. Seventh grader Kenley Kouns and lone senior Bethany Allen kicks in 9.2 a game, but that is where Russell shows its biggest weakness as their scoring production rapidly falls off. Russell has combatted that with a 79.9% free throw shooting mark as a team with Oborne, Darnell and Allen all shooting north of 83% on the season.
Russell’s toughest part of its schedule is still yet to play with a pair of games with Ashland and Boyd along with single games with Menifee County, Lawrence County and Rowan County.
Three teams still in the second tier of making a run at an upset in the girl’s region are Menifee County, Rowan County and Raceland. Menifee had the most upside coming into the season with high hopes of something special coming out of Frenchburg. After rolling off five straight to start the season, Menifee dropped three in a row, losing to Boyd, Rowan and Lawrence. They have bounced back with wins in four of their last five with the lone loss coming to Corbin, 72-71. Menifee’s strong suit is they have four players who average double figures each contest. The downside is outside of one other player, there is no one else on the roster who averages at least one point a game. Jaycee Gevedon leads the way with 16.7, Shaylynn Baker has 15.4, Payton Burgess kicks in 16 and McKenna Smith nets 12.4.
Rowan County sits at 8-5 with two of their losses to teams ranked in the AP Top 15. Rowan still has games remaining with Boyd, Russell, Lex Cath, Johnson Central and a return trip from Menifee. Diamond Wills and Kelbie Ford pace the Vikings offense, netting 17.2 and 11.3, respectively. Kassi Perkins pours in 6.9, Lauryn Eastham adds 6.1 and Josie Furnish tosses in 5.2. A sharp falloff follows Furnish with two points a game or less coming off the bench.
Raceland has been more cold than hot lately with losses to Pikeville, Boyd and Ashland. Nim Maynard has been the primary scoring threat for the Rams with 19.2 a game. Allayson Rigsby nets 11.2 and grabs nearly eight rebounds a night. Senior Emma Broughton averages 9.2 a game after playing herself into the starting rotation before the Christmas break. Brooke Campbell has been a presence in the post for the Rams, averaging 7.6 points a game while grabbing 8.1 rebounds. Broughton scored 12 points on three 3-pointers against Ashland Saturday in the Larry Conley Classic and was named the Lady Rams’ Player of the Game.
As Ashland continues to get healthy, they also begin to pull away from the field as the region favorite. Still yet, the Kittens have a lot of basketball to play between now and the regional tournament and we have seen too many times that anything is possible in Morehead in March.
If I had to pick today my 16th Region Tournament field, it would look like this:
61st: Rowan and Menifee
62nd: East Carter and Morgan
63rd: Russell and Raceland
64th: Ashland and Boyd
The question remains, will anyone be able to slow down Kenleigh Woods and Ashland. With just over a month to play in the regular season, time will soon tell by the time we get to Johnson Arena in Morehead for the regional tournament.
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