64th boys final: Lions 'Spur' Tomcats in overtime, take 64th District title
Feb. 29—SUMMIT — It seemed inevitable that the ball would find the hands of Jacob Spurlock in the final seconds.
The Boyd County sophomore did not disappoint in the late stages of the 64th District championship on Thursday.
After a subpar, by his standards, shooting night through three quarters, Spurlock lit up the scoreboard in the final 12 minutes against rival Ashland.
Spurlock scored all 16 of the Lions' points in the fourth quarter and overtime. He flashed open in the corner with six seconds remaining and the Lions trailing by two. The guard squared up, rose and fired in front of the Boyd County bench. The long-range basket found nothing but net to give Boyd County a 56-55 win over the Tomcats.
"I started out hot and got seven straight points," Spurlock said. "And then I went 0 for 10. I couldn't buy one. I know I work on these shots all the time. I'm in the gym 24/7 shooting and I knew that if I kept shooting, it would come back to me. Every time I got the ball I wanted to make sure I made the right play for my team and if I shot the ball, it was the right shot."
Nate Freize scored an and-1 early in the fourth frame to give Ashland its first lead at 41-40. Asher Adkins gave the Tomcats another brief one-point advantage with a layup but Spurlock had an answer every time to keep the Lions close.
"It's incredibly tough (to guard him) because he's so good at finding space," Ashland coach Ryan Bonner said. "He doesn't need a lot of it. He's a shot maker. It's what he does. He hit that big shot. Credit to Boyd County."
Freize and Spurlock each connected on 3s to start overtime. Zander Carter gave Ashland the lead back with a three-point play but the Tomcats hit only one of the two free throws in the final seconds.
"I was extremely proud of our defensive effort," Bonner said after the Tomcats held the state's third-best scoring offense to nearly 30 points under their average. "We had no issue at all with our defense. We had trouble finding our flow offensively. We didn't shoot the ball great tonight."
It gave Boyd County one last opportunity to tie. Spurlock did one better with the game-winner.
"We run a lot of stuff for Jacob and Cole (Hicks)," Anderson said. "We have wrinkles off of it, depending on who is setting the screens and things like that. I don't know if it was because we haven't played since last Friday, but in the third quarter we went up eleven and they went to that zone. We missed three open looks. Jacob has done a better job of not standing and waiting but looking and picking his spots. He hit two big ones late."
Boyd County held its biggest lead at 38-27 in the third quarter but Ashland would rally. Tyson Lalonde hit from beyond the arc and Carter ended the frame with a personal 6-0 spurt.
The final frame featured a pair of lead changes and two ties. After a Lions turnover with 2:00 remaining, the Tomcats took their time and appeared to find the go-ahead basket. Jason Ellis made a key block around the rim and the ball bounced off an Ashland player. Spurlock carried the Lions through the fourth quarter with eight points but his final try in regulation came up just short.
Anderson marveled at his team's resilience as both teams proved they can win a grind game in the postseason.
"I believe this bunch is 8-1 in overtime games," Anderson said. "We all know how it is in Morehead. Last year, we had to grind and pray that someone would miss a free throw. We had two back-to-back grinds. We tell the guys to be us. Get out and run and make them have to really guard. But in the postseason, it comes down to possession by possession."
Spurlock came out firing to open the game. The sophomore recorded the Lions' first seven points, including a 25-foot long-range jumper to stake Boyd County to a 7-2 lead.
Spurlock warms up from long distance before each game and during his preparation. It gives him a stronger foundation for all his jump shots.
"I practice those deep shots a lot," Spurlock said. "When I come in and shoot around, I am shooting from the (halfcourt) logo to get my range farther. You have to get out there and get more comfortable. You need your strength to come up from your legs. I just want to be confident."
Griffin Taylor, Hicks and Ellis each scored on consecutive trips to push the Lions' advantage to 14-5. Ashland's Braxton Jennings started to heat up by the end of the opening stanza. The guard hit a jumper, scored a layup after a steal and splashed a triple to pull the Tomcats within three points.
Ashland (20-10) closed within a point twice during the second quarter. Lalonde opened the stanza with a basket and Adkins followed with a pair of free throws. Ellis answered with a layup, followed by a steal and flush.
Carter's second chance bucket trimmed the Tomcats' deficit to 22-21 midway through the second quarter but Boyd County (25-6) ended the first half on a 9-4 run to take a 31-25 lead at intermission.
Carter recorded 25 points. Jennings and Freize each tallied 10 points for the Tomcats. Carter and Freize both grabbed 10 rebounds.
Spurlock collected a game-high 26 points for the Lions and he added a double-double with 13 rebounds. Ellis netted 12 and Taylor added six while guiding the Lions offense.
"Over the last 10 games, he has done a great job leading our team," Anderson said of Taylor. "He's got great ball skills and a great I.Q. When we set our screens, he does a really good job of getting in gaps. He makes sure we get in the offense and makes sure it gets called and entered. That's huge. On the other side, he has been really good defensively."
Both teams advance to the 16th Region Tournament at Morehead State University next week. The boys event starts on Wednesday.
"The win means a lot," Spurlock said. "It will give us some momentum going into Morehead. It's the one that really matters. We can't look too far ahead. We have Morehead and that's the big one."
"We went overtime against (Ashland) in the last game," he added. "We knew it would be a dog fight. They are a great team and they play hard. But we knew that we had to come play harder, hit the glass and get offensive rebounds, dive for loose balls and make winning hustle plays."
ASHLAND FG FT REB TP
Carter 11-22 3-5 10 25
Adkins 1-4 2-2 6 4
Jennings 4-11 0-1 2 10
Davis 0-2 1-2 1 1
Freize 4-9 1-1 10 10
Lalonde 2-7 0-0 1 5
Team 1
TOTAL 22-55 7-11 31 55
FG Pct: 40.0. FT Pct: 63.6. 3-point Fgs: 4-23 (Carter 0-5, Adkins 0-2, Jennings 2-5, Davis 0-2, Freize 1-4, Lalonde 1-5) PF: 9. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 6.
BOYD CO. FG FT REB TP
Hicks 2-8 0-0 1 5
Spurlock 11-24 1-2 13 26
Ellis 6-8 0-0 4 12
Taylor 3-8 0-0 4 6
Holbrook 0-3 0-0 5 0
Smith 2-2 0-0 0 5
Martin 1-1 0-0 0 2
Team 3
TOTAL 25-54 1-2 30 56
FG Pct: 46.3. FT Pct: 50.0. 3-point Fgs: 5-17 (Hicks 1-3, Spurlock 3-12, Holbrook 0-1, Smith 1-1) PF: 11. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 10.
ASHLAND 13 12 11 12 7 — 55
BOYD CO. 18 13 9 8 8 — 56
Officials: Kenny Kegley, PD Harris, Paige Hurst
(606) 326-2671
