Covington Catholic Goes Inside to Knock Off Ashland in Sweet 16

Covington Catholic used a second-half rally to knock off Ashland in a battle of top 10 teams in the UK Healthcare KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16. Ashland came out blazing hot from deep, but the Colonels seemed content to trade 2s for 3s, figuring the Tomcats would cool off eventually. They eventually did.

Covington Catholic trailed 40-33 at the half, despite shooting 16-of-23 from the field. In the second half, the Colonels exploited their size advantage by going inside — over, and over, and over again. Big man Chandler Starks muscled his way to 21 points and 12 boards for Covington Catholic. He was an efficient 9-for-13 from the field. Colonels’ point guard Evan Ipsaro stuffed the stat sheet with 26 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.  He also went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. 

The Colonels shot a blistering 67% from the field for the night.

2 of Cole Villers 16 first half points. He has 4 3s. Porter is 3-for-3 with 4 assists. Cov Cath is 16-for-23 but Ashland leads 40-33 half. pic.twitter.com/uE7EIMTnfO

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 18, 2022

James Wilson, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, along with Ipsaro both played great perimeter defense in the second half, giving the Tomcats nothing easy.

Cole Villers, who started out 4-for-5 from deep, led No. 7 Ashland (26-6) with 25 points. He finished 7-for-13 from deep as the Tomcats shot 48% from 3-point range and 52% from the field as a team. They just couldn’t slow down the Colonels inside game. The Tomcats’ senior class caps off a run of four-straight region tournaments, including a 2020 team that finished undefeated before COVID-19 canceled the tournament.  

No. 3 Covington Catholic (28-4) will play No. 22 Lyon County at 6:00 P.M. EST on Friday at Rupp Arena. The Colonels are seeking their third state title since 2014.