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.

‘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

 

70-74 Tomcats flex shooting muscles in blowout second quarter

ASHLAND, Ky. – In a game that was shaping up as a shootout in the opening quarter went south in a hurry Tuesday night during the Tomcat Shootout best-of-3 series between the 1970s all-star teams.

The 1970-74 Tomcats exploded in the second quarter and went on to a surprising 105-97 victory over the 1975-79 Tomcat All-Stars at Anderson gym.

The game was tight until the pivotal second quarter when the 70-74 Tomcats outscored the 75-79 Tomcats decisively 28-8 for a 60-33 halftime lead. It was a stunning margin that nobody saw coming, especially the coaches of the two teams.

“They overwhelmed us in the second quarter,” said 75-79 coach Paul Patterson. “I’ve never had a team give up 60 points in a half and certainly not 105 in a game. These All-Star games are hard to figure. Where is the defense?”

It didn’t show up much, but the offense was especially lacking in the second quarter for the 75-79 Tomcats, made up largely of players from the 1977 final four team.

“Eight points,” lamented Patterson. “That’s it. Eight points.”

Coach Steve Gilmore was pleased with his 70-74 All-Stars.

Defense was the difference for the 70-74 Tomcats, said coach Steve Gilmore.

“These guys like to shoot but they can get down and dirty on defense when they want to,” he said. “We did that in the second quarter.”

The 70-74 Tomcats zoomed ahead 82-53 with two minutes to play in the third quarter, expanding on the big halftime advantage and essentially putting the game out of reach.

Five players scored in double figures led by Johnny Mullins with 21 points and four assists. Rough-and-tumble Jeff Cooksey battled Jeff Kovach inside and came away with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ronnie Griffith had 15 points, six assists and seven rebounds while Dale Lynch added 14 points and Danny Evans 13.

“We just outplayed these guys badly tonight,” Evans said. “I don’t know how else you can paint it. That second quarter took them out of the game.”

A huge fourth quarter from the 75-79 Tomcats showed some promise. They scored 42 points in that quarter alone and hope it catapults them in game 2 of the best-of-3 series.

“Like Coach Patterson said, it was an embarrassing night,” said forward Mark Swift, who scored a dozen points. “It won’t be this way in Game 2. I guarantee it.”

Kovach had 24 points and six rebounds, Greg Swift collected seven points and 11 assists and Jim Harkins had 15 point and nine rebounds.

“Kovach is a handful,” Gilmore said. “They did a good job of isolating him in the second half. That’s something we’re going to have to watch going forward.”

What pleased Gilmore the most was the 26 assists that were accumulated on the 43 baskets.

“These guys are so unselfish,” he said. “No matter who we had in the game, they were looking for the open shooter. We had five in double figures and another with nine (Steve Dodd, who also had five rebounds). You get that kind of balance from good passing.”

The 70-74 Tomcats shot 54 percent from the field and held a 39-36 rebound advantage. Neither team had much luck from the 3-point line. The 75-79 Tomcats were 4-of-13 and the 70-74 Tomcats were 0-for-3.

“We’re not used to taking shots from behind the arc,” Gilmore said. “We’ll come around with that in future games.”

1975-79 ASHLAND (97) – Collins 4-9 3-3 11, M.Swift 5-11 0-0 12, Harkins 6-13 2-2 15, G.Swift 3-6 1-1 7, Kovach 11-21 2-4 24, Welch 3-6 2-2 8, Smith 2-4 0-0 5, Dummit 3-6 1-2 7, Allen 1-3 0-0 2, Mann 2-5 0-0 4. FG: 41-87. FT: 11-14. 3FG: 4-13 (Collins 0-1, M.Swift 2-5, Harkins 1-2, Kovach 0-1, Smith 1-3). Rebounds: 36 (Collins 3, M.Swift 2, Harkins 9, G.Swift 3, Kovach 6, Welch 2, Smith 3, Dummit 2, Mann 4, Allen 2). Assists: 23 (Collins 1, M.Swift 3, Harkins 4, G.Swift 11, Kovach 1, Smith 2, Allen 1). PF: 22. Turnovers: 14.

1970-74 ASHLAND (105) – Lynch 6-9 2-2 14, Mullins 9-13 3-4 21, Cooksey 7-16 3-4 17, Griffith 6-9 3-4 15, Dodd 3-7 3-3 9, Evans 6-7 1-2 13, Farrow 1-5 0-0 2, Williams 1-7 2-2 4, Hixson 2-3 2-2 6, Smith 2-3 0-0 4. FG: 43-80. FT: 19-23. 3FG: 0-3 (Lynch 0-1, Farrow 0-2). Rebounds: 39 (Lynch 1, Mullins 4, Cooksey 10, Griffith 7, Dodd 5, Evans 2, Farrow 1, Williams 4, Hixson 3, Smith 2). Assists: 26 (Lynch 1, Mullins 4, Cooksey 3, Griffith 6, Dodd 2, Evans 6, Farrow 3, Williams 1). PF: 18. Turnovers: 12.

1975-79 ASHLAND        25         8          22       42       –          97

1970-74 ASHLAND        32         28       22        23        –        105

 

Larry Legend does it again for 1960-64 Tomcats

ASHLAND, Ky. – Larry Conley’s encore performance was enough to drop the curtain on the 1965-69 Tomcat All-Stars in Friday night’s Tomcat Shootout.

Coming off a 40-point performance in a Game 2 loss, the star of the 1960-64 Tomcat All-Stars put up 43 points in a 111-106 victory at the old Ashland High School.

The game belonged to the 1960-64 Tomcats from opening tip to final buzzer. They held a lead of 19 points and were never seriously threatened despite the game coming down to a five-point margin.

The 1961 Tomcats, one of the greatest in state history.

“That’s a load of talent on our roster,” said 60-64 coach Bob Wright. “When you have Larry, you have enough, but we had a lot more than just him. His teammates also saw he was still hot, so they fed him the ball. They did that well. At times, he was just unstoppable.”

Ditto Sparks scored 22 and Harold Sergent collected 19 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in a complete effort.

“Sarge is a floor leader,” Wright said. “Best in the business.”

Conley was remarkable for the third consecutive game in the series, this time making 18 of 23 attempts from the floor and 7 of 10 free throws. His performance upstaged 65-69 big man Clint Wheeler, who collected 27 points and 16 rebounds.

Bobby Lynch, coming off a 50-point outburst in Game 2, scored 19 and never got back in the groove, making only 8-of-26 attempts.

Harold Cole, coach of the 65-69 Tomcats, said he was proud of how his team hung with the ultra-talented 1960-64 Tomcats.

“I tell you what, I’m not sure who is going to beat them two out of three,” he said. “I think our Game 2 took a lot out of us. We had dead legs and they were all over Bobby. They weren’t going to let him go off for 50 again.”

But Ashland’s own “Larry Legend” wrote another chapter in his championship book. When the 60-64 Tomcats needed a basket, they looked to Conley. He scored from inside and outside, using his long arms to great advantage. No defensive matchup seemed to work against him.

“I didn’t do anything special, my teammates put me in good position to be successful,” Conley said. “I love getting the chance to play with these guys again. Those guys are tremendous and this 65-69 team is fabulous. Bobby Lynch is one of the most pure shooters I’ve ever been around and what a game for Clint Wheeler.”

A fast start by the 60-64 Tomcats put the 65-69 team in a big hole from which they could never recover. Conley scored eight during a 22-14 start to the game. They had piled up a 36-23 lead at the end of a high-scoring first quarter.

It looked like they were going to coast in for the victory, leading 85-66 after three quarters. A late burst from the 65-69 Tomcats cut the deficit under double figures with four minutes to play. Wheeler’s hook shot over Gene Smith made it 109-106 with seven seconds remaining but they never got the ball back. Sergent sank a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds to play to set the final margin.

“We ran out of time,” Cole said. “I’d love to have had about 45 seconds more to play. But we didn’t get the job done earlier. Good luck to those guys moving forward.”

Five players scored in double figures for the 60-64 Tomcats, including 11 apiece from Parkie Beam and Smith.

Benny Spears scored 17 with 10 rebounds and Tim Jackson had 16 points.

“We were fortunate to come away with the win and look forward to representing the 1960s,” Wright said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind that the 1960s is the best era of Ashland Tomcat basketball. I realize I’m a little biased, but it’s hard to imagine anybody being much better or having anyone quite like Larry. How great was it to have Larry going against Bobby? This could have easily been the championship round.”

1965-69 TOMCAT ALL-STARS (106) – Lynch 8-26 2-2 19, Spears 8-16 0-0 17, Baldridge 1-3 4-4 6, Wheeler 13-15 1-2 27, Jackson 6-10 4-4 16, M.Griffith 2-6 0-0 4, Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Kleykamp 3-4 1-1 7, Owens 2-3 0-0 4, Conley 0-2 0-0 0. FG: 46-89. FT: 11-12. 3FGs: 3-10 (Lynch 1-4, Spears 1-4, Jackson 0-1, Kleykamp 1-1). Rebounds: 43 (Lynch 2, Spears 10, Baldridge 7, Wheeler 16, Jackson 1, M.Griffith 1, Williams 3, Owens 2, Conley 1). Assists: 24 (Lynch 4, Spears 2, Baldridge 4, Wheeler 2, Jackson 2, M.Griffith 5, Williams 1, Kleykamp 1, Owens 2, Conley 1). PF: 20. Turnovers: 22.

1960-64 TOMCAT ALL-STARS (111) – Sergent 5-11 7-7 18, Smith 5-11 1-2 11, Sparks 1-19 9-9 22, Beam 5-7 1-4 11, Conley 18-23 7-10 43, Cram 2-3 0-0 4, Wright 0-4 0-0 0, McKenzie 0-1 0-0 0, Branham 0-1 0-0 0, Hilton 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 47-82. FT: 16-23. 3FGs: 1-8 (Sergent 1-4, Sparks 0-3, Wright 0-1). Rebounds: 28 (Sergent 6, Spears 5, Beam 6, Conley 4, Cram 4, Branham 1, Hilton 2). Assists: 28 (Sergent 11, Smith 5, Spears 2, Conley 3, Cram 1,  McKenzie 4, Branham 1, Hilton 1). PF: 18. Turnovers: 22.

1965-69 TOMCATS       23       29       14         40          –        106

1960-64 TOMCATS       36       24       25        26          –         111