MOREHEAD — Elliott County wasted no time in proving that, while Ashland may be the traditional power, the Lions presently rule the roost in the 16th Region.
Elliott County reached its fourth straight regional final and will vie for the three-peat Tuesday night after dominating Ashland, 92-59, on Monday night at Ellis T. Johnson Arena.
The Lions (29-2) have now beaten Ashland in the last five meetings between the two schools, including three victories in region tournament play.
Elliott County eased out to a 20-6 lead in the first four minutes of the game after hitting 7 of 10 shots, including four 3-pointers.
“If we start out early, we can do a lot more things that we do well,” said Elliott County coach Rick Mays. “The games that we’ve had problems are the games that we start out a little slow. This team handles a lead well and feeds off of it.”
Lions guard Jonathan Ferguson poured in 12 of his game-high 28 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter to help Elliott County to a 28-10 advantage. During the period, the Lions turned a 4-2 deficit into a 17-4 lead within three minutes.
Ferguson nailed five 3-pointers and hit 10 of 21 field goal attempts.
“When (Ferguson) gets going like that, he’s tough to stop,” said Lions senior Ethan Faulkner. “When he gets in a rhythm, he’s going to make shots that most players aren’t even going to take.”
Ethan Faulkner tallied five points in the 15-0 run and finished with a triple-double, accumulating 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
“Individual accomplishments are irrelevant,” Faulkner said, shrugging off the personal feat. “Ultimately, it’s about winning. We had great continuity on offense, and got some easy looks in transition.”
Evan Faulkner scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and he dished out seven assists.
The closest to which Ashland (17-14) cut the lead was 12, after Connor Swift, Dylan Delaney and Chris Johnson supplied all eight of the Tomcats’ points in an 8-2 run to open the second quarter.
Ashland managed to cool the Lions’ hot hands a bit, but the Tomcats struggled to score, going 24-of-71 for just better than 33 percent.
“I thought we had easier looks (in the first half) than they did, but we didn’t knock them down,” said Ashland coach Buddy Biggs. “I thought we did a good job of contesting shots, but they still hit them.”
Much of the Tomcats’ success came on second-chance buckets and inside opportunities by Ryan Bonner and Johnson. Bonner, a senior, reached exactly 1,200 career points with 22 points. He also had nine boards.
“Ryan’s had a great career for us,” Biggs said. “He’s been a dedicated player and a pleasure to coach.”
Bonner is the only player that Ashland will return without next season. Biggs hopes that a fourth consecutive regional semifinal might be on the horizon.
“We’re knocking on the door,” Biggs said. “We’ve done a great job getting here—now we just have to kick that door in instead of knocking on it.”
Elliott County brings its championship game experience up against Lewis County in its first appearance in the regional final tonight.
“Nobody expected them to be here,” Faulkner said. “They’re the kind of team that will play with nothing to lose.”
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