SUB-STATE RUNNER UP
By Adrian Dominguez
Four returning starters along with height, speed, and athleticism are a driving force in this years’ AHS boy’s basketball team. Disappointment came early with the December 4 season opener against Spearville, which proved to be an uphill battle. Turnovers and missed free throws plagued the Jays who ended up losing by 22 points.
Traveling next to Fowler for the Black and Gold tournament, the AHS ballers faired better capturing first place in the 4-team contest. Their first win came against Fowler with the squad ending up on top by one point. The second game of the contest was against Ingalls. The jays fell short to the bulldogs coming down from a 15 point deficit to only losing by 2, the final scoreboard showing 46-48. The last game of the tourney was against cross-town rival Minneola. The Bluejays came out with confidence to beat the wildcats handily 51-31.
AHS boys next hosted Attica. While the start was slow, the squad gained the upper hand nabbing another win 51-42. On December 18 the jays hosted the South Central Timberwolves. SC led the entire game with AHS finally getting an edge late in the fourth quarter. Ashland eked out a win 65-61.
The first game in 2010 found the Jays on the road to Jetmore. The boys ran the longhorns out of the gym with a 73-50 win. Ashland went to home and played Ingalls who outscored the other team 46-38. On the road again to Fowler, AHS walked away with an easier win than their earlier match-up with the final score 65 - 48. Their record at this point is 7-2. The next enemy for the bluejays list was Bucklin. Bucklin has had a sluggish start, but has a very well rounded player. The white team came out of the locker white headbands, for one of their own players. Ervin Swonger, a 5'10 junior got a season long injury one day in practice. The result of that game was in favor of Ashland who won 76-58. The team then had a whole week of preparation for their county rival against Minneola.The Ashland squad was in a hostile environment that not only made the players sweat, but also the fans. The varsity boys game ended in a W, but it took a double overtime to settle the decision with a 68-62 score. The bluejays record coming into the civic center play is 9-2. The second round in the SPIAA league tournament found the bluejays facing the goldbugs. The outcome of the game was 66-57 favoring the jays. Entering the semi-finals Ashland faced the number one seed Spearville Lancers. The game looked like Ashland was going to pull off a upset, but Spearville ended up getting a win by one point. That sent Ashland into the third place game where the Jays faced Meade. Ashland took control and ended up getting a 65-49 victory.
The next game put a loss in the column when the Ashland team went to South Gray. From there the team went on a hot streak and won four straight games by at least twenty points against Greensburg, South Central, Haviland, and Pawnee Heights. That took their record to 15-4. On senior night, Meade came to Ashland with revenge on their minds and walked out with the W. The final score of the evening was 69-86.
The Ashland Bluejays entered the regional tournament with the number one seed. In the first round of regional play the jays hosted the longhorns coming out on top with a final score of 62-32. The championship round was between Ashland and Minneola.The game was rough all four quarters but the jays kept their cool and came out on top with the final score being 58-43.The win over Minneola put Ashland as Regional Champs which the bluejays had not won since 2003.
The boys traveled to Larned to play in the first round of Sub-State. Ashland faced South Barber who only had six players but were a very well coached team. The Chieftans and The Jays battled the whole game. The final score was 53-49 keeping Ashland on the road to State.
Battling South Gray in the Sub-State Championship Game came next. At the end of the first quarter the jays were up 12-8. In the second quarter the rebels fought back and took advantage of the mistakes Ashland made, nabbing a 28-20 lead at halftime.But the boys never gave up - they kept fighting. South Gray hit a half court shot to end the third period putting them up by 12. In the fourth quarter the jays started chipping at the lead. With about 2 minutes left in the game AHS trailed only 3 points. But it was the little mistakes made that decided the game. With a final score of 58-50, South Gray would continue to Hays.
As Sub-State Runner Up, the Ashland Bluejays finished the season with a 19-6 overall record.
