Author: Mark Maynard

Managing editor of Kentucky Today, the digital newspaper of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, since July 2017. Worked 42 years for The Daily Independent in Ashland, Kentucky, the last 12 as managing editor and editor and the previous 30 in the sports department, including 17 years as sports editor. President of Amy For Africa, a faith-based Christian ministry serving Uganda. I'm a husband to Beth and father to Stephen and Sally, grandfather to Brooks and Addy.

Inside over outside leads to sweep for 80-84 Tomcats

ASHLAND, Ky. – For the second night in a row, Ashland’s 1980-84 team’s 1-2 punch of Jeff Tipton and Chuck Cantrell was devastating.

They combined for 47 points and the 80-84 Tomcats became the first team in the Tomcat Shootout to sweep a decade rival in two games, swamping the 85-89 Tomcats 114-93 Saturday night.

They built a 24-point lead in the first half because the 85-89 Tomcats’ strategy of shooting from behind the 3-point line backfired. They were a woeful 4-for-31 behind the arc and it led to a lopsided loss.

Jeff Tipton (above) and Chuck Cantrell shared the MVP award.

“We thought eventually something was going to start falling,” said 85-89 coach Craynor Slone. “But they never did. We’re better shooters than we showed.”

Cantrell struggled from the field too but he made 15 of 21 free throws on the way to a game-high 25 points with 12 rebounds. Tipton collected 22 points and 13 rebounds.

“Glad those guys are on my team,” said 80-84 coach Ernie Simpson. “But we had a lot of good performances. When you score 114 points, how can you not be pleased?”

Tipton and Cantrell shared the MVP award.

Charlie Scott, who dressed up like Grandma in the opening game, played it straight this time and scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Doug Smith lit it up for 21 points and Jon Webb added 10 points and six assists.

Like in the first game, the 80-84 Tomcats built a big first quarter lead. They were up 31-20 and then outscored the 85-89 Tomcats 28-19 in the second quarter for a 59-39 lead.

“We shot ourselves out of it,” said Rece Ryan, who scored 16 but missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. Jason Williams, who had 17 points, was also 0-for-8 behind the arc.

“I could have sworn those shots were right on target,” Ryan said. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve never missed that many shots.”

Meanwhile, with the 3-point game floundering, the big 80-84 team was pulling down rebound after rebound.

The third quarter featured both teams on target and the fans loved it. They both scored 31 points.

“The defense was missing to start the third quarter for both of us,” Simpson said. “Did either one of us miss a shot? It looked like we were on the AAU circuit.”

Brothers Greg and Shawn Conley got into a minor altercation after colliding under the basket. The referees called a charge on Shawn and Greg began clapping in his face. The brothers each got in a shove before their father Herb was stepping between them on the floor. He was out there faster than Usian Bolt.

Let’s just say order was restored rather quickly.

It was reminiscent of when the boys were younger going at each other, in uniform, on the sidelines at Putnam Stadium as Herb coached the Tomcats to another football victory.

Greg scored nine points and Shawn had seven while guarding each other most of the game.

For the second game in a row, Dew Foley led the 85-89 Tomcats. He scored 22 and Mark Salyers added 12 points. The 85-89 Tomcats were able to launch 98 shots but they made only 35.

“They didn’t want to have anything to do with coming inside,” Tipton said.

And when they shot outside, it didn’t work.

“You know, I wasn’t disappointed with those shots we took,” Slone said. “Rece hits from there at least half the time in practice and Jason is a pure shooter. Those guys were 0-for-16? I would never have believed it.”

1985-89 ASHLAND (93) – Ryan 5-16 6-8 16, Johnson 3-11 0-0 8, Williams 6-22 5-6 17, Foley 8-10 5-6 22, Avila 2-4 0-0 4, Salyers 5-13 2-3 12, Conley 3-8 0-0 6, Gifford 2-3 0-0 4, McCallister 0-3 0-0 0, McKenzie 1-8 1-1 3. FG: 35-98. FT: 9-25. 3FG: 4-31 (Ryan 0-8, Johnson 2-7, Williams 0-8, Foley 1-1, Avila 0-2, Salyers 0-1, Conley 1-2, Gifford 0-1, McKenzie 0-1). Rebounds: 43 (Ryan 5, Johnson 5, Williams 5, Foley 8, Avila 9, Salyers 4, Conley 1, Gifford 3, McCallister 3). Assists: 22 (Ryan 5, Johnson 1, Williams 3, Foley 2, Avila 2, Salyers 3, Conley 5, McKenzie 1). PF: 29. Turnovers: 18.

1980-84 ASHLAND (114) – Webb 5-11 0-0 10, Smith 7-13 5-5 21, Tipton 10-16 2-5 22, McCauley 4-10 1-5 9, Cantrell 5-15 15-21 25, Crank 3-4 0-0 6, Scott 6-7 0-0 12, Stewart 1-2 0-0 2, Conley 3-3 1-1 7, Farrow 0-2 0-2 0, Daniels 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 44-83. FT: 24-39. 3FG: 2-5 (Smith 2-3, Cantrell 0-2). Rebounds: 53 (Webb 4, Smith 4, Tipton 13, McCauley 9, Cantrell 12, Crank 5, Scott 5, Conley 1). Assists: 20 (Webb 6, Smith 3, Tipton 2, McCauley 2, Cantrell 1, Crank 1, Scott 2, Stewart 2, Farrow 1). PF: 16. Turnovers: 21.

1985-89 ASHLAND         20         19         30         24      –       93

1980-84 ASHLAND         31         28         31         24      –      114

 

Big, balanced and too much Grandma in 1980s battle

ASHLAND, Ky. – Too big, too balanced and … Great Scott!!!

The 1980-84 Tomcats put six players in double figures and dominated inside for a 92-76 victory over the 1985-89 Tomcats in the first of a best-of-3 series Friday afternoon at Anderson gym.

Jeff Tipton and Chuck Cantrell both had double-doubles and the 80-84 Tomcats broke free from a tight game in the first quarter to build a 29-19 lead.

Tipton had 13 points and 14 rebounds and Cantrell 13 points and 10 rebounds. Greg McCauley had 15 points, Doug Smith 14, Jon Webb 12 and Jerry Farrow 10 for a team that didn’t have to look far for scoring.

Charlie Scott sparked the 1980-84 Tomcats win with a gimmick.

“Tip and Cantrell are hard to handle,” said 80-84 coach Ernie Simpson. “Those guys are bangers. Greg did his thing too. Fifteen points and seven assists? He’s a freak out there.”

The 85-89 team was formidable and took a 36-35 lead when Mark Salyers went on a personal 6-0 run, including a pair of free throws. Those Tomcats were 10 for 10 at the foul line for the game. The game remained tight and the 1985-89 Tomcats trailed 42-41 after Jerry Johnson laid in a basket among the trees. They trailed 45-41 at the half.

“I thought we were in good shape,” said 85-89 coach Craynor Slone. “They jumped out on us in the third quarter but we toughened up on them. Everybody was feeling good at the half.”

But something, uh, strange happened to start the second half.

Charlie Scott, who played sparingly in the first half for the 80-84 team, came out dressed in his Grandma costume and put on a show while warming up much to the delight of the 2,500 who had come to Anderson gym. It was learned later that Scott took a dare from Bill Bradley about wearing the Grandma Gear. Bradley now has to give him unlimited hamburgers and hot dogs at all future CLEM events.

Bradley was awed that he met the dare. “I bow down to my man,” he said. “He can eat all he wants at our CLEM this year and every year.” The 39th annual CLEM – an Ashland tradition – will be played in August (virus or not).

“I didn’t know what Charlie was doing,” Simpson said. “He said he had to go to the bathroom and then, the next thing I know, he’s out here warming up in that Grandma outfit. I thought, if he’ll do that, I’ll play him!”

Scott scored all five of his points in the first two minutes before coming out and exiting to the bench. He never got back in the game.

“What in the world was that all about?” asked Shawn Conley. “And how did he jump so high with that dress on?’

The stunned 85-89 Tomcats never recovered from Scott’s spark. The 80-84 team outscored them 29-14 and built a lead of as much as 21 points in the third quarter. It was all but over.

Dew Foley, who scored 16, tried to rally the 85-89 Tomcats with some dazzling inside moves against the giant frontline. Jason Williams scored 14 but was only 7-of-22 shooting while Rece Ryan scored 13 and Johnson had 10.

Slone said besides Scott’s “sideshow,” the difference in the game may have come at the foul line. While the 85-89 Tomcats were 10 of 10 the 80-84 Tomcats made 19 of 27.

“They got to the line a few more times than us,” he said. “It happens. They were the aggressor tonight and if we don’t become that tomorrow, we’ll be going home early.”

Simpson said Scott wasn’t the most unusual thing that happened in the game.

“Tip and Jamie Stewart hit 3-pointers,” he said. “That’s like Haley’s Comet coming twice in the same day.”

The 80-84 team was deadly from behind the arc, hitting 7 of 15 triples.

“Practice makes perfect,” Simpson said. “I need to go find Charlie. Has anybody seen him?”

Scott was in the lobby buying hot dogs for about two dozen kids he had gathered up who circled around him.

“Listen to me! Listen to me!” he said. “Grandma said you all need to be in church on Sunday. Am I going to see you there?”

“YESSSSSSS!!!!!!” they screamed back.

With that Charlie nodded his head in the direction of Cal Bradley, who nodded back and applauded his friend.

Game 2 will be Saturday night.

1985-89 ASHLAND (76) – Foley 5-10 5-5 16, Salyers 2-6 2-2 6, Conley 3-6 0-0 6, Johnson 4-9 2-2 10, Williams 7-22 0-0 14, Ryan 5-9 1-1 13, Gifford 1-2 0-0 2, McKenzie 2-5 909 5, McCallister 0-4 0-0 0, Avila 2-4 0-0 4. FG: 31-77. FT: 10-10. 3FG: 4-12 (Foley 1-2, Salyers 0-2, Conley 0-1, Ryan 2-4, McKenzie 1-2, McCallister 0-1). Rebounds: 37 (Foley 3, Salyers 3, Conley 5, Johnson 10, Ryan 3, Gifford 2, McKenzie 2, McCallister 1, Avila 6). Assists: 20 (Foley 3, Salyers 4, Conley 8, Johnson 1, Williams 2, McCallister 2). PF: 23. Turnovers: 14.

1980-84 ASHLAND (92) – McCauley 3-6 3-4 15, Smith 5-9 2-2 14, Webb 5-12 1-1 12, Cantrell 5-7 3-4 13, Tipton 4-13 5-8 13, Stewart 1-2 0-0 3, Farrow 3-7 2-2 10, Conley 2-6 0-0 5, Daniel 1-2 0-0 2, Crank 0-4 0-0 0, Scott 1-1 3-6 5. FG: 33-72. FT: 19-27. 3FG: 7-15 (Smith 2-3, Webb 1-5, Tipton 1-1, Stewart 2-3, Farrow 1-3). Rebounds: 44 (Smith 3, Webb 2, Cantrell 10, Tipton 14, Stewart 5, Daniel 6, Crank 2, Scott 2). PF: 16. Turnovers: 16.

1985-89 ASHLAND       19         22         14         21       –         76

1980-84 ASHLAND       29         16         29         18       –         92

 

‘That ‘70’s Show’ starts with ejections, ends with bang

ASHLAND, Ky. – Elimination games always leave players on edge.

The 1970-74 and 1975-79 Ashland Tomcat All-Star teams, knowing the stakes were high in Game 3 of the best-of-3 series, were both determined to set the tone with a fast start.

But referee Foster “Sid” Meade did it for them when he tossed Donnie Allen and Jeff Cooksey two minutes into the game. They were scuffling under the basket after Allen had fought through two hard screens from Johnny Mullins and Dale Lynch.

Ronnie Griffith, left, was series MVP and Steve Gilmore the winning coach.

Nearly knocked off his feet by the double-punch from Mullins and Lynch, Allen fell backwards into Cooksey, who retaliated by pushing him the rest of the way to the floor.

Meade blew his whistle and gave each player an emphatic technical foul and proceeded to give them the ol heave-ho, too.

“We’re not tolerating any of this nonsense tonight,” said Meade, who made the call that 70-74 Tomcat Danny Evans’ toe was on the 3-point line in a last-second buzzer-beater the previous night.

The boos were coming down so hard that coaches Paul Patterson and Steve Gilmore had to settle their fans down.

The score was 4-4 when play was stopped but the 70-74 Tomcats scored seven in a row for an 11-4 advantage. They stretched it to 25-15 when Paul Hixson did a head fake and drove in for a basket.

The 10-point margin turned out to be decisive as the 1970-74 Tomcats defeated the 1975-79 Tomcats, 85-78.

Much like in the first game of the series, the 70-74 Tomcats built a huge lead in the first half. It swelled to 42-22 with 4:19 remaining in the half. They led 48-35 at intermission.

“Our guys were ready,” Gilmore said. “I think Sid made the right call there to settle things down even though we hated losing Jeff. He’s such a fierce rebounder and garbage man.”

David Smith took up the scoring slack with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Series MVP Ronnie Griffith had 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in another solid game. Mullins had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Smith, though, was the difference after being fairly quiet in the first two games.

“David isn’t afraid to shoot, that’s for sure,” Gilmore said. “When he got it going though, he became tough to defend.”

While Allen wasn’t much of an offensive threat, the 75-79 Tomcats missed him on defense. Patterson said ejecting Allen for getting banged around like a pinball was not right.

“They were targeting him and he’s the one who gets ejected,” Patterson said. “I know what Sid was trying to do, to defuse a situation before it happened, but Donnie didn’t do anything wrong. If anything he was fouled three times himself.”

It seemed to take the life out of the 75-79 Tomcats although they did get within 72-67 with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter when Dale Dummit hit from 15 feet. However, they never got any closer as Smith scored half of his 16 points the rest of the way.

Jim Harkins scored 20 points with five rebounds, Jeff Kovach collected 18 points and seven rebounds and Jimmy Mann pulled down 14 rebounds.

“When didn’t get enough offensive production from our guards,” Patterson said. “Our defense was better but still bad.”

Mark Swift scored 11 and Mark Collins added 11.

Evans, still stunned from the loss in Game 2, was only 3-for-11 shooting for four points. “I kept looking down at the floor before shooting and it got in my head,” he said. “That shot just kept coming back to me.”

Gilmore said he was looking forward to taking the 70-74 Tomcats to the quarterfinal round.

“I think these guys have a shot to win it all,” he said. “We beat a good team in this series. There aren’t many duos better than Harkins and Kovach.”

1975-79 ASHLAND (78) – Harkins 9-19 2-4 20, Kovach 7-11 4-5 18, M.Swift 3-11 5-6 11, Mann 2-2 0-0 4 4, Collins 5-9 0-0 10, Welch 0-5 1-2 1, G.Swift 1-4 3-6 5, Dummit 3-3 1-2 7, Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Smith 0-4 0-2 0. FG: 31-70. FT: 16-27. 3FG: 0-4 (Harkins 0-2, Collins 0-1, Welch 0-1). Rebounds: 45 (Harkins 4, Kovach 7, M.Swift 4, Mann 14, Collins 8, Welch 1, G.Swift 2, Dummit 2, Allen 1). Assists: 13 (G.Swift 5, Kovach 2, M.Swift 1, Mann 1, Collins 1, Welch 2, Dummit 1). PF: 21. Turnovers: 24.

1970-74 ASHLAND (85) – Farrow 2-8 1-2 5, Evans 2-11 0-0 4, Smith 6-14 4-5 16, Griffith 9-20 3-5 21, Mullins 5-10 2-3 12, Lynch 4-6 0-0 8, Dodd 2-7 3-6 7, Cooksey 2-2 0-0 4, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Hixson 3-4 0-0 6. FG: 36-86. FT: 13-21. 3FG: 0-3 (Evans 0-1, Smith 0-1, Lynch 0-1). Rebounds: 43 (Evans 4, Smith 4, Griffith 11, Mullins 10, Lynch 5, Dodd 3, Williams 5, Hixson 1). Assists: 21 (Farrow 4, Evans 2, Smith 1, Griffith 5, Mullins 3, Lynch 3, Dodd 4). PF: 19. Turnovers: 17.

1975-79 ASHLAND 15       20       21       22            –           78

1970-74 ASHLAND 25       23       19       18            –           85

 

“That ‘70s Show” has wild one with controversial finish

ASHLAND, Ky. – Where do we start?

Game 2 of the best-of-3 in “That ‘70s Show” was a humdinger. It was filled with drama, near fights, a war of (radio) words and a controversial finish.

Dick Martin Sr. and his son, Dicky, were the broadcasters on two different stations – WCMI representing the 1970-74 Tomcats with Dick Sr. and Pete Wonn and WAMX representing the 1975-79 Tomcats with Dicky and David Payne. They set up beside each other – maybe not the best of ideas – and it was said this game produced more “homer calls” than happened during the home run chase between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998. More on the Martins’ calls later.

“Homer” calls dominated the radio airwaves.

Here’s the easy part: The 1975-79 Tomcat All-Stars prevailed 100-99 over the 1970-74 Tomcats in packed Anderson gym when the referees ruled that Danny Evans’ toe was on the 3-point line when he swished a shot at the top of the key that would have tied the game at the buzzer.

The officials said no, pointing to the stripe at the top of the key, and things got crazy as they headed off the floor somehow being escorted by Mark Swift, a future athletic director for the Tomcats who, as a player, made a “guarantee” after the Game 1 loss that his 1975-79 Tomcats would win Game 2.

1970-74 Coach Steve Gilmore was running after them and Dick Martin Sr. was crying foul on the radio while, right next to him, young Dicky was describing the pandemonium on the floor to his listeners and calling it one of the greatest wins he’d ever witnessed. Father and son just kept getting louder and louder expressing their opinions on what just happened.

“They took that one from us!” said Dick Sr.

“It was the right call, his toe was touching the line, by gawd!” said Dicky.

And on and on it went in one of the most confusing endings anybody had ever witnessed.

But let’s start from the beginning.

1975-79 Coach Paul Patterson’s message to his players after giving up 105 points in the first game got through loud and clear. He told them to be more aggressive, to stop being pushed around and never be intimidated.

As part of his strategy, he started Donnie Allen to give the defense an edge. It may have been too sharp of an edge.

Allen was like a bowling ball on defense, getting up in the face of Johnny Mullins and then Dale Lynch. Neither of those guys took it very well. A hard foul by Allen when Mullins went up for a layup led to the two players squaring off. Order was restored, but the fight was on. Those three all fouled out eventually.

The 75-79 Tomcats, maybe fueled by Allen’s hard-nosed defense, jumped out to a 34-23 lead after the first quarter. But the momentum began to swing. Trailing 37-30, the 70-74 Tomcats scored eight in a row to take the lead for the first time at 38-37.

The game remained physical, but the 75-79 Tomcats got the upper hand again behind dominating play from Jeff Kovach and Jim Harkins, who combined for 21 points in the first half. The 75-79 Tomcats led 54-46 at the half.

“We gave up a lot of points, but our defense was so much better,” Patterson said. “We played with some heart.”

The game remained tight throughout the second half and it was 77-73 going into the fourth quarter.

It got tense in the last three minutes. Back-to-back baskets from Jeff Cooksey pulled the 70-74 Tomcats within 94-93. Harkins scored on a nice inside move and Mullins banked in a 12-footer that made it 96-95. Jimmy Mann and Ronnie Griffith exchanged baskets and it was 98-97 with 1:58 remaining.

Kovach, who finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, powered one in to make it 100-97 with 1:15 remaining. The teams traded two turnovers apiece and only 12 seconds remained when Steve Dodd stole a pass and started a fastbreak. Evans had the ball in the middle with Lynch going down one side and Dwayne Farrow streaking down the other. Evans stopped at the top of the key when the defense backed up and let it fly … Swish! The horn sounded, and the 70-74 Tomcats started celebrating the basket that tied the game when the referees began blowing whistles.

The trailing ref ran over to the top of the key and pointed to the spot where he said the tip of Evans’ Converse at touched the 3-point stripe as he let it go.

That’s when the place went crazy.

It took about 20 minutes for order to be restored. Gilmore came out after 30 minutes, still mad as a hornet, but offered a smile. “I just wanted to have a conversation with those guys,” he said. “Great shot by Danny and he was clearly behind that line. We should have played an overtime.”

Evans said he wasn’t sure. “I didn’t look down to see,” he said. “But I knew we needed three to tie.”

Harkins finished with 27 points and five rebounds and Mann collected 17 pints and 10 rebounds. Mark Collins scored 13 and Allen collected nine points, six assists and five rebounds for the 75-79 Tomcats.

“Donnie set the tone for us,” Patterson said. “When you need toughness, that’s who you go to.”

Griffith had a fabulous game with 28 points and 17 rebounds while Cooksey had 18 points and five rebounds. Mullins scored 12 and Lynch 11 although they were a combined 8-for-29 shooting, at least partially due to Allen’s defense.

“We didn’t get the shots like we did the first time we played them,” Gilmore said. “Allen should have had 10 fouls called on him. Those guys in our locker room weren’t happy at all with how this turned out. I wish we could have played again tonight”

And what about Mark Swift taking the refs off the floor?

“Hey, boys, I was just hurrying to the bathroom,” he said. “I had some bad chili last night. Those guys were just running alongside me. I didn’t know until I got through the door. I guarantee that’s the truth.”

1975-79 ASHLAND (100) – Collins 3-7 6-9 13, Allen 3-6 3-6 9, Mann 8-16 1-1 17, Kovach 6-14 5-6 17, Harkins 9-16 9-9 27, G.Swift 1-4 0-0 2, M.Swift 4-14 0-0 8, Dummit 0-2 0-0 0, Welch 3-7 1-2 7, Smith 0-6 0-0 0. FG: 37-92 FT: 25-33. 3FG: 1-4 (Collins 1-3, Dummit 0-1). Rebounds: 58 (Collins 7, Allen 5, Mann 10, Kovach 14, Harkins 5, G.Swift 3 M.Swift 6, Dummit 2, Welch 4, Smith 2). Assists: 23 (Collins 2, Allen 6, Mann 1, Kovach 1, Harkins 1, G.Swift 9, Dummit 1, Smith 2). PF: 20. Turnovers: 19.

1970-74 ASHLAND (99) – Farrow 1-4 2-2 4, Dodd 4-7 0-0 7, Cooksey 6-11 5-7 18, Mullins 6-19 0-0 12, Griffith 11-18 6-8 28, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Lynch 2-10 6-6 11, Evans 3-3 1-2 7, Smith 2-9 0-0 4, Hixson 1-3 2-2 4. FG: 37-88. FT: 22-27. 3FG: 3-4 (Dodd 1-1, Cooksey 1-2, Lynch 1-1). Rebounds: 62 (Farrow 3, Dodd 4, Cooksey 5, Mullins 8, Griffith 17, Williams 10, Lynch 4, Evans 2, Smith 2, Hixson 7). Assists: 19 (Farrow 5, Dodd 1, Cooksey 2, Williams 4, Lynch 3, Evans 3, Smith 1). PF: 26. Turnovers: 27.

1975-79 TOMCATS         34       20       23         23       –         100

1970-74 TOMCATS         23       23       27         26       –          99