[Stardust]

ASHLAND — Ashland senior Julia Heaberlin has never missed a day of school, going all the way back to her kindergarten days.

The Kittens’ starting post player is more than happy to make an exception this week, however.

Heaberlin and her teammates climb on a bus this morning for Bowling Green, where the 16th Region champs will meet Magoffin County on Thursday night in a first-round game of the Girls’ Sweet Sixteen.

“It’s going to be weird,” Heaberlin said of missing classes. “Like I told all my teachers, I will be gone three days. It’s exciting.”

Ashland (29-6) is making its first State Tournament appearance since 1997 after completing a perfect run through the 16th Region.

The Kittens bounced Boyd County 55-44 for the regional crown last Saturday at Morehead State University. Junior guard Kaylyn Gambill tossed in 23 points and freshman floor leader Alexis Robinson earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

Robinson has come into her own in her first season as a starter after contributing off the bench as an eighth-grader.

“Last year she helped us, but you could tell she didn’t really know us,” Gambill said. “Over the summer she progressed so much. Alexis can handle the ball, get up the floor, find other people or get her own shots. She gets better and better.”

Heaberlin and starting forward Mykal Farris are the only seniors on Ashland’s roster. Both got into early foul trouble in the regional final, but the Kittens’ balance and depth carried them to the title.

“It was emotional,” Gambill said. “We told each other we were not going to lose. We didn’t want the seniors’ season to end, or our season to end. There’s nothing we wanted to do more than win that game.”

Now the team’s focus is making a run in the State Tournament. Ashland is No. 6 in Dave Cantrall’s Sweet Sixteen rankings.

“We know we have a shot to do something,” head coach Bill Bradley said. “We played a strong schedule to prepare. Our girls, like everybody else, would like to win the championship. But they are just concerned about who they play next.”

Ashland’s 22.7 average scoring margin ranks among the best in the state. The Kittens’ pressure defense is adept at creating turnovers, leading to high-percentage scoring opportunities.

“We feel we have a lot of weapons,” Bradley said. “I think that makes it harder for other teams to prepare for us. We’ve had four different people get 18 points or more in a game, and three others that had 15 or more.”

Gambill leads the team with an 11.7 scoring average, while Heaberlin, Farris and Robinson are hovering around 10 points per game. Sydney Cullop, Haley Sue Foutch are Allie Slone are in the 6-7 point range, followed by Madison Jones and Alicia Gunter.

“With this team, everybody is ready to help out,” Heaberlin said. “We have confidence in each other.”

Gambill went 5-of-7 from 3-point territory in the regional championship game, giving her 86 on the season. She also moved into sixth place on Ashland’s scoring list (since 1975) with 1,460 points.

That type success, Gambill said, wouldn’t be possible without teammates setting screens to get her open or feeding her the ball when she has a hot hand. In the regional final, Gambill also showed an ability to take the ball into the lane and score.

“I haven’t done it a lot before that happened,” she said. “I know I can’t live by the 3-point shot. Sometimes I have to go up strong and draw the contact.”

Taking the floor at Diddle Arena will be a new experience for Ashland’s players, except Gambill. As a fifth- and sixth-grader, she was a member of Rose Hill Christian’s 2006 and ‘07 Sweet Sixteen teams. Rose Hill finished runner-up in 2006.

“That was a great memory,” Gambill said. “It meant something then, but I only played for about a minute. I’m excited about going back and playing the whole game. As a team, we just have to come out and focus.”

Magoffin County (28-4) represents the 15th Region after beating Paintsville 49-40 on Monday at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville.

The Lady Hornets have won 15 in a row since falling to Owensboro Catholic on Jan. 27 in the second round of the state All “A” Classic. Sophomore guard Jamie Castle leads Magoffin County in scoring with 15.3 points per game.

Bradley has a working knowledge of Ashland’s next opponent because both teams played in a summer league at Raceland.

“They play hard and they are not afraid,” Bradley said. “I think (Castle) has played a since the eighth grade. We know we have to show up ready to play.”

Bradley said the Kittens are scheduled to practice today at Greenwood High School from 3:30-5 p.m. and then attend the State Tournament’s night session to get a feel for the surroundings. Ashland will have a shootaround Thursday from 10-11 a.m. at Warren Central High School.

Listen/watch

WLGC 105.7-FM will carry all Kittens games from Bowling Green. Each broadcast begins with a pre-game show a half hour before tip-off.

Kittens games can be seen on Ashland’s school website through iHigh.com. The address is http://school21.ihigh.com. Official KHSAA photos will also be available on the website.

The entire tournament will be streaming live at http://www.ihigh.com/KY.

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