ASHLAND Ƶ For Ƶhland head coach Jason Mays, there are two words that are crucial to his program.
Those words?
ƵOne more,Ƶ Mays said after the TomcatsƵ 94-41 win over Spring Valley.
From the beginning of the contest, Ƶhland (10-4) consistently made the extra pass, turning down good shots for better looks en route to a 20-of-35 performance from 3-point range.
Mays said his teamƵs execution of its Ƶone moreƵ philosophy is one that shows the growth of his team.
ƵIt makes me very proud,Ƶ Mays said. ƵWe try not to talk about pride a lot in our program, but it does, to be honest.Ƶ
That started from the gameƵs first possession as point guard Colin Porter passed up an open 3-pointer for a drive and kick to Ethan Sellars for a better look from 3-point range. Even though Sellars missed the look, Mays praised his team after Spring Valley coach Rick Chaffin took a quick timeout following the play.
ƵI said, ƵGuys, we passed up a good shot for a great shot,ƵƵ Mays said. ƵThatƵs what I said in the timeout and sent them back on the floor. ThatƵs just who we are.Ƶ
Ƶ for Sellars, there would not be many more missed looks in the contest.
Sellars finished 11 of 14 from the floor while knocking down a team-best five 3-pointers en route to a 27-point performance. The senior added seven assists with zero turnovers in the win.
ƵI honestly feel like we shoot better off of those one-more pass opportunities,Ƶ Sellars said. ƵThatƵs one thing Coach Mays has preached to us since day one Ƶ ƵOne moreƵ and playing with pace and space. We just know that we can get good looks, but we know that if weƵre making ball reversals and making one more pass, weƵll get great looks.Ƶ
Chaffin had seen Ƶhland earlier this season and knew that his young team would find it difficult to stick with ƵhlandƵs back-door cuts and extra looks off of penetration.
Instead of looking at the game in terms of a win or loss, Chaffin wanted his young team Ƶ made up mostly of underclassmen Ƶ to see exactly what a top-notch team looks like.
ƵThe good thing is, youƵre going to see a good team and how they execute,Ƶ Chaffin said. ƵTheyƵre going to do their back-door cuts when theyƵre not open. ThatƵs the team that we want to be one day. The only way youƵre going to do that is with effort. We donƵt look at this as a loss. We looked at it as a learning experience.Ƶ
In addition to SellarsƵ 27 points, Zander Carter finished with 14 Ƶ all in the first half Ƶ while Porter added 13 points and six assists in the win.
Spring Valley (1-4) was led by Luke LarsenƵs nine points.
SPRING VALLEY 4 11 14 12 Ƶ 41: Adkins 3, Grayson 4, Hazelett 4, Smith 8, Larsen 9, Parsons 5, Mosser 6, Caldwell 2
ASHLAND 27 19 29 19 Ƶ 94: Sellars 27, Conway 6, Villers 7, Carter 14, Porter 13, C. Davis 2, Adkins 8, T. Davis 5, Strader 8, Thacker 4
