(This is a computer simulation of the 2020 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Sweet Sixteen that is not officially cancelled but not likely to happen. All game results are from the computer but the quotes are on me.)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Move over 1928 Ashland Tomcats, you’ve got some company.

Ashland completed an improbable perfect season by defeating Covington Catholic 78-70 Tuesday in Rupp Area for the Sweet Sixteen championship in front of 17,644 fans.

The Tomcats became the first team in 72 years to finish as undefeated state champion. Brewers last accomplished the feat in 1948.

Not only that but Ashland matched its own school record of 37-0 from 92 years ago when Ellis Johnson led the Tomcats not only to the state championship but the national high school championship in 1928.

This one is the end of the road for these history-making Tomcats, but what a journey it has been for them and their fans who rushed the Rupp Arena floor after the victory.

Freshman point guard Colin Porter scored 27, including the last eight points of the game, and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. This was Porter’s first year in the Ashland system after playing at Elliott County.

“I’m so proud to be a Tomcat, proud of my brothers and our coaches,” Porter said. “I’ll never forget these last four days as long as I live.”

His playmaking skills helped bring together one of the best passing teams in Ashland history. The Tomcats also had shooters from all five positions, using the 3-point shot to great advantage throughout the perfect season.

“This is a storybook team, a real storybook team,” said Tomcats coach Jason Mays. “Nobody could have written this script, but they did. I’m so proud of them. Proud of the players they made themselves into and the people they’ve become. They have great parents and that made a difference, a big difference, in everything we did. I’ll never forget them and Ashland will never forget them either.”

Neither will the rest of the state.

The Tomcats came into the Sweet Sixteen undefeated but not many were giving them a realistic chance of running the table.

Well, not everybody thought that way.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m not that surprised,” Mays said. “The way these guys played in the last three weeks was remarkable. What a joy to coach too. I wasn’t going to tell you guys this before the tournament, but I’d have been a little surprised if we hadn’t won it.”

Covington Catholic and Ashland waged a terrific battle in the championship game.

The Tomcats led for much of the game and built a lead of as much as nine points. But the Colonels rallied and tied the game at 62 and again at 64 with 4:05 remaining. Porter and Ethan Sellars drilled consecutive 3-pointers for a 70-64 lead and the Tomcats kept them at arm’s length.

Porter scored on a pair of drives and drilled four free throws in the last 90 seconds to clinch the victory.

Senior Ethan Hudson closed his career with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists and Cole Villers finished with 12 points. Justin Bradley added eight points and Sellars, who was limited by foul trouble, may have hit the biggest 3 of the season late in the fourth quarter. Senior Nolan Phillips contributed five points and two rebounds.

“It’s so fitting that every one of those guys contributed to this victory,” Mays said. “That’s the way it has been all year, so why not tonight?”

Dicky Martin, the longtime Voice of the Tomcats, said he could now die happy. “I told you we were going to do it! I told you! I love this team. They have so much heart. Nobody will ever match this dream season. No way, no how.”

Villers and Hudson joined Porter on the All-State Tournament team and Ashland’s cheerleaders won the award for best sideline cheer to complete the sweep.

“Undefeated!” yelled Hudson between hugs of teammates, family members and friends on the Rupp Arena floor’s sea of maroon. “The work that went into 37-0 cannot be described but it was worth it.”

Justin Bradley, a senior sharpshooter and top defender, was often called the “glue” of the Tomcats.

“You know, everybody did their part,” he said. “We all had roles, but our No. 1 objective was always to win. Somehow, we were going to figure out how to win. I don’t think there was a single game where we went into it hoping we could win. It was always knowing we would win. Even this week, when we played some great teams every night, there was never a doubt. In started in the summer camps. It was the same attitude. Losing never entered our thought process.”

Party time

Donna Suttle promised the celebration of all celebrations for the state champions once they get back to Ashland.

“We’re going to put on the shindig of all shindigs,” she said. “Nothing can top this team and nothing will top this party. They are heroes in Ashland.”

Another streak?

Ashland has a chance to break its own record for consecutive wins. The 1927-28 Tomcats went 37-0 and the 1928-29 Tomcats won its first seven games to make it 44 in a row before losing.

So the Tomcats already have something to achieve next season.

“Oh come on guys,” Mays said to reporters. “Let me enjoy this one.”

ASHLAND (78) – Porter 7-15 10-10 27, Hudson 5-8 0-0 13, Sellars 1-5 0-0 3, Villers 4-7 1-1 12, Bradley 4-5 0-0 8, Gillum 2-3 0-0 4, Phillips 1-3 3-3 5, Atkins 0-0 0-0 0, Adkins 0-0 2-2 2, Conway 1-2 0-1 3, Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Ashby 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 25-49. FT: 17-19. 3-pointers: 11-25 (Porter 3-8, Hudson 3-6, Sellars 1-5, Villers 3-5, Conway 1-1). Assists: 13 (Porter 4, Hudson 3, Villers 2, Bradley 1, Adkins 2, Conway 1). PF: 20. Turnovers: 17.

COVINGTON CATHOLIC (70) – Disken 4-17 5-6 15, Green 5-10 2-2 13, Stocks 4-12 5-6 15, Starks 5-8 0-0 11, Hupmann 1-1 0-0 2, Moser 2-4 0-0 4, McHale 3-3 0-0 6, Sommerkamp 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson 1-3 1-2 4, Horn 0-1 0-0 0, Hrycak 0-0 0-0 0, Skinner 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 25-61. FT: 13-16. 3-pointers: 7-24 (Disken 2-8, Green 1-4, Stocks 2-7, Starks 1-2, Sommerkamp 0-2, Jackson 1-1). Assists: 16 (Disken 7, Green 3, Starks 4, Skinner 2). PF: 16. Turnovers: 17.

ASHLAND                  22       18       16       22            –           78

COV. CATHOLIC      17       17       19       17            –           70

(This is a computer simulation of the 2020 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Sweet Sixteen that is not officially cancelled but not likely to happen. All game results are from the computer but the quotes are on me.)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ashland moved one step closer to finishing the perfect script.

The undefeated Tomcats mowed down Scott County, 78-52, in the Sweet Sixteen semifinals on Monday for their 36^th consecutive victory.

Ashland plays Covington Catholic on Tuesday and will try to win its fifth state championship and first since 1961.

Covington Catholic defeated Owensboro Catholic 75-70 in the other semifinal.

“This is where we wanted to be,” said Ashland coach Jason Mays. “One more game, one more win. These guys have taken it one day and one game at a time since we played here last year. Now there’s only one more to get.”

The Tomcats had a little two-man game going against Scott County as freshman Colin Porter and sophomore Cole Villers combined for 53 points. Porter was turned loose on the Cardinals, driving for baskets, pulling up for short jumpers and drilling 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 31 points.

Villers added to his outstanding tournament with 22 points, 14 in the second half, on 6-for-10 shooting.

Those two combined to make 7 of 14 from behind the arc while the rest of the Tomcats were a collective 1-for-8.

“It was one of those nights, I can’t explain it,” said Porter, who took a season-high 19 shots. “They were overplaying me and it gave me some lanes to drive. When they started picking me up, I was able to kick some out to Cole. He was money tonight.”

“Not without your dimes, I wasn’t,” Villers said, referring to Porter’s five assists, all that went to him.

Most of the difference came in the second half when Ashland outscored Scott County, 41-19. The Tomcats went ahead for good at 23-20 on Justin Bradley’s corner three, but the Cardinals trailed only 37-33 at halftime.

Porter and Viller’s combined scoring total was more than Scott County had as a team.

“We knew Porter was capable of these kind of (scoring) games,” Mays said. “He does what the team needs to win and tonight that was scoring the ball.”

Ashland led 54-44 going into the fourth quarter but Scott County was out of gas. The Tomcats poured it on, outscoring the Cardinals 24-8 in the last eight minutes to win by a lopsided margin.

“It was a much closer game than the final score showed,” Mays said. “With have so much respect for Scott County’s program and what they’ve accomplished year after year.”

Covington Catholic, the Ninth Region champion, pulled away in the fourth quarter from Owensboro Catholic in the other semifinal.

Ticket information

It could be a record-setting night in Rupp Arena if Monday’s semifinals were any indication.

Ashland fans were lined up outside the arena three hours before the opening tip and were about 8,000 strong inside Rupp. The Tomcats are in the championship game for the first time since 1996 when Paintsville beat Ashland for the title.

Covington Catholic’s student section was in full throat and the fans easily filled their end zone. The Colonels won state titles in 2014 and 2018.

Announced attendance was 19,561.

Can Tomcats match 1928 record?

Ashland will be in the championship game for the ninth time and will be trying to match the Tomcats’ 37-0 record of 1928.

The state’s last undefeated state champion was Brewers in 1948.

That voice sounds familiar

Tomcat public address specialist Chuck Rist came to the game with wife Lynn as fans but when the regular Rupp Arena PA man Patrick Whitmer had to leave for an emergency 10 minutes before tipoff of the Ashland-Scott County game, he became a wanted man.

Rist was able to admirably fill in for both semifinal games.

The Tomcats felt right at home with Rist’s voicing booming through Rupp Arena.

Picture perfect

Kimberly Phillips, who has followed the Tomcats’ season with her trusty camera, has made a big impression.

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio likes her work and has offered her a job as a photographer for KSR. Phillips said she was flattered but turned him down on the offer.

“The Tomcats are the only team for me,” she said.

‘You’re both outta here!’

Two loyal Tomcat fans, Dave Kouns and Scott Walter, were ejected even before the Tomcats took the floor in Rupp Arena for the semifinal game.

They were at the concession stand when Kouns got into an argument with the concession’s counter worker about a lack of butter on his popcorn. When the altercation began to escalate, Walter stepped in and dropped the delicious Rupp Arena ice cream he’d waited 25 minutes in line to purchase. That sent him into a rage.

Security was called and both the Ashland fans were shown the door. They were told it would be OK to come back the next day if the Tomcats advanced. However, they were both banned from any more trips to the concession stand, which will obviously hurt sales drastically.

Kouns hadn’t missed a game all season.

SEMIFNALS

Ashland 78, Scott County 52

Covington Catholic 75, Owensboro Catholic 70

ASHLAND (78) – Porter 12-19 3-3 31, Bradley 2-7 0-0 5, Hudson 1-6 2-2 4, Villers 6-10 7-8 22, Sellars 3-4 0-0 6, Adkins 1-2 0-0 2, Conway 0-3 0-0 0, Gillum 3-5 0-0 6, Phillips 1-1 0-0 2, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Atkins 0-2 0-0 0. Ashby 0-0 0-0 0, Freize 0-0 0-0 0, Ingram 0-0 0-0 0. Zach 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 29-59. FT: 12-13. 3-pointers: 8-22 (Porter 4-7, Bradley 1-3, Hudson 0-2, Villers 3-7, Conway 0-3). Rebounds: 27 (Porter 3 Bradley 4, Hudson 2, Phillips 2, Adkins 1, Villers 9, Sellars 9, Conway 2, Gillum 1, Atkins 1). Assists: 16 (Porter 5, Bradley 1, Hudson 1, Phillips 3, Adkins 1, Sellars 2, Davis 3). PF: 14. Turnovers: 7.

SCOTT COUNTY (52) – Grigsby 0-3 0-0 0, Coffey 1-4 0-0 3, Hamilton 3-10 4-4 12, Leake 4-15 3-4 11, Richardson 5-7 0-0 12, Bredwood 3-5 2-4 8, J.Hamilton 1-2 0-0 2, Glenn 0-1 2-2 2, Haynes 0-0 0-0 0, Emongo 0-2 0-0 0, Middleton 0-1 1-2 1, Mosby 0-1 1-2 1, Mudekereza 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 17-52. FT: 13-18. 3-pointers: 5-20 (). Assists: 10 (). PF: 14. Turnovers: 18.

ASHLAND                  16       21       17       24            –           78

SCOTT COUNTY      18       15       11       8            –           52

(This is a computer simulation of the 2020 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Sweet Sixteen that is not officially cancelled but not likely to happen. All game results are from the computer but the quotes are on me.)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ashland’s trip to the Sweet Sixteen quarterfinals last year ended with a thud – a 30-point loss to eventual champion Trinity.

Last year, the Tomcats were just happy to be there, but that wasn’t the case this time.

Facing a formidable foe in Madisonville-North Hopkins, the undefeated Tomcats raced out to a 17-point halftime lead and held on for an 81-73 victory that catapulted them to the semifinals for the first time in 24 years.

The 35-0 Tomcats play Scott County, which defeated Georges Rogers Clark 82-78, in the semifinals.

Sophomore Ethan Sellars scored 24 to lead a trio in double figures for Ashland, which shot an efficient 55 percent from the floor.

“We talked about it,” said Ashland coach Jason Mays of last year’s game. “Everybody agreed. We weren’t just happy to be here this year. To a man, they wanted more.”

Mays said he went down the line to every player in the locker room and asked them up close and personal if they were happy to be here. The answer was a resounding “No sir!” with every player. With that, they came back to the Rupp Arena floor a team with a purpose.

The strategy worked. Ashland played like a team with its hair on fire in the first half, especially during an 18-2 run that all but decided the game. Nolan Phillips hit a putback to put the Tomcats into a double-figure lead for the first time at 35-24. Phillips, a senior, came off the bench to score all five of his points during the critical five-minute spurt that put the Tomcats ahead 44-26.

“Nolan gave us the spark we needed,” Mays said. “That up-and-under move was a thing of beauty and he powered that putback in like we’ve been telling him to do all year. When he came to the bench, (assistant) coach (Jim) Conway about knocked him to the floor with a chest bump.”

Sellars was the hot hand, hitting an assortment of medium-range jumpers with Madisonville-North Hopkins intent on taking the drive and the 3-pointers away from Ashland, which was 8-of-19 from 3-point range.

“They were taking away our ability to drive and kick it outside,” Sellars said. “But we have a lot of ways to beat people.”

The sophomore also led Ashland with seven rebounds, including several that came from pure hustle and effort.

“I’ve got some floor burns,” Sellars said, holding an ice bag on his thigh.

“Badges of courage,” added Mays, sitting beside the sophomore on the press podium.

Fellow sophomore Cole Villers scored 17 in a second consecutive strong performance while point guard Colin Porter scored 14 points with three assists. Justin Bradley scored only two, but dished out six assists and played lockdown defense.

“We don’t win without Justin,” Villers said. “It’s that simple.”

Porter, who was in foul trouble for much of the opening game, took five shots and all of them were triples. He made three of those and also hit 5 of 8 free throws for 14 points.

“It was good to have Colin back out there,” Mays said. “He makes everybody better and he did that again today. I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Ethan Hudson scored eight points and had three rebounds. Hunter Gillum added four points and four rebounds for the Tomcats.

Madisonville-North Hopkins rallied big in the second half as the Tomcats began to tire. However, Ashland’s lead was never less than six points.

In other action, Scott County used a late flurry to defeat George Rogers Clark, 82-78. The Cardinals made it to the finals last year.

Both Louisville schools, top-ranked Male and Fern Creek, suffered losses in the quarters. Covington Catholic defeated Male 67-60 and Owensboro Catholic surprised Fern Creek 87-82 in what most were saying was the best game of the tournament so far.

The Catholic schools meet in the other semifinal game.

Oh brother!

Cameron Davis, younger brother of Tomcat freshman Tristen Davis, swished a halfcourt shot to win a $1,000 scholarship. His heave landed perfectly, barely moving the net, as Tomcat fans – and the rest of the arena – screamed their approval.

Can somebody fix that clog?

Lori Beth Mays, wife of Tomcat coach Jason Mays, was seen clogging in the aisle during the Tomcats’ first game after a nice run. A tournament official saw it and asked her to perform at halftime of the first night session in the quarterfinals.

Ashland fans, including most of the faculty from Ashland Middle School, showed up in mass to cheer her on as she clogged to “Cotton Eyed Joe.” Her husband caught the performance too, hugged her and then went back to the hotel room where the rest of the coaching staff was breaking down film of Scott County.

What did he say?

If you were listening to Tomcat radio voice Dicky Martin and wondered why he seemed to be whispering over the air during the quarterfinal game, it’s because he has a case of laryngitis. It seems he lost his voice from yelling “How ‘bout them Tomcats?” to everyone leaving and entering Rupp Arena after Ashland’s win over Elizabethtown.

QUARTERFINAL SCORES

Ashland 81, Madisonville-North Hopkins 73

Scott County 82, George Rogers Clark 78

Owensboro Catholic 87, Fern Creek 82

Covington Catholic 67, Male 60

ASHLAND (81) – Bradley 0-1 2-2 2, Porter 3-3 5-8 14, Villers 6-11 4-5 17, Sellars 8-13 6-6 24, Hudson 3-6 0-0 8, Adkins 1-3 1-2 3, Gillum 2-3 0-0 4, Phillips 2-2 1-2 5, Conway 0-1 2-2 2, Davis 0-0 2-2 2, Ashby 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 25-45. FT: 23-29. 3-pointers: 8-19 (Bradley 0-1, Porter 3-5, Villers 1-4, Sellars 2-2, Hudson 2-5, Adkins 0-2). Rebounds: 27 (Bradley 3, Porter 2, Villers 2, Sellars 7, Hudson 3, Adkins 1, Gillum 4, Phillips 2, Davis 3). PF: 14. Assists: 14 (Bradley 6, Porter 3, Hudson 1, Sellars 1, Adkins 2, Gillum 1). Turnovers: 12.

MADISONVILLE-NORTH HOPKINS (73) – White 4-5 4-6 13, Casey 4-8 1-2 12, Johnson 4-12 0-0 11, Stone 6-11 0-0 14, Parker 4-6 1-4 10, Tow 4-6 0-0 8, Vaughn 0-6 0-0 0, Frazier 1-4 0-0 2, Gaines 1-1 1-2 3, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 28-59. FT: 7-14. 3-pointers: 10-27 (White 1-2, Casey 3-4, Johnson 3-7, Stone 2-6, Parker 1-2, Vaughn 0-4, Frazier 0-2). PF: 21. Assists: 14 (White 3, Casey 1, Johnson 2, Stone 3, Parker 3, Tow 1, Hill 1). Turnovers: 10.

ASHLAND         24         22     19              16         –            81

MAD.-NH          18         11         26              18         –         73