[EKY Sportster]

Ashland is not above average and really didn't play that bad. The just are quite simply not a very good team.

It was probably the best that Russell has played and they are a very young team that is improving. Russell can play with some teams and even beat them as long as they are shooting well. The problem is they are not physical enough and do not rebound well enough to overcome an off night shooting the ball.

I'd have to disagree with you FBALL, at least in terms of how I define "above average team". What I mean by an above-average team is a team that is in the (let's say) top 30% of their region. I know that Ashland can't compete statewide with this team and wouldn't be above average compared with them. But Ashland is certainly above-average in the 16th Region. They have a solid record, have played good against the lesser teams in the 16th and had only lost to Fairview (a very good team) prior to the Russell game. They then beat Fairview, so they look good to me, at least among the 16th Region teams, with only Elliott County, East and West Carter as definite better teams. Rose Hill, Fairview and Greenup Co. are competitive as well. Russell on the other hand has had nothing to brag about all season with the exception of beating a very down Boyd County team. So I stand by my posted opinion.

However, this game maybe shows that Russell is finally improving or that Ashland just can't get the Russell jinx off their back even in a Russell down year.