SMITHVILLE – Coming off a 20-6 campaign that saw them win their first district title since 1979, the Ashland Arrows opened a promising new girls basketball season Friday with a 61-56 victory over Dalton.
Competing in Smithville’s Barn Ball Classic, the Arrows exploded to an 18-4 lead through one quarter, then held off the Bulldogs’ charge from there.
Ashland carried a 47-43 edge into the fourth quarter and Kennedy Lacey — the reigning Ohio Cardinal Conference Player of the Year — helped get the Arrows over the finish line.
The junior guard netted seven of her game-high 25 points in the final period on her way to earning MVP honors for the contest.
Both teams hit five 3-pointers and finished nearly identical from the free-throw line, with Dalton going 15-of-21 and Ashland hitting 14-of-21 at the stripe.
But Lacey and AHS senior post Camryn Cox combined for all of the Arrows’ 18 points in the opening quarter and the Bulldogs couldn’t quite recover.
Cox ended her night with 12 points while senior Ashland guard Madison Hoffman tossed in 13.
Also scoring for the Arrows were junior guard Josie Vantilburg (eight points) and junior forward Bailey Hartman (three).
Starting junior guard Cici Steury did not play in the game due to injury.
After an offseason focused on improving her perimeter shooting, Lacey hit a pair of 3-pointers, knocked down six shots inside the arc and was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. She’s now tied for 11th in AHS history with 743 career points.
Ashland and sixth-year head coach Renee Holt, who returned four of five starters from last year’s OCC-champion squad, are off until their home-opening game Monday, Dec. 1, against Willard.