ASHLAND – Momentum appears to have grown to the size of a mountain for the Ashland girls basketball team.
Riding the wave of a resounding 20-6, district championship-winning season a year ago, the Arrows have blasted out of the gates this winter with a perfect 8-0 record.
The latest chapter came Monday night in a clash of unbeatens at Clear Fork, where Ashland outscored the Colts 21-3 in the second quarter of an eventual 63-42 win, receiving a career-best night from guard Madison Hoffman.
The senior set a new AHS record by hitting eight 3-pointers in the contest, finishing with a career-high 29 points to help the Arrows to their seventh consecutive victory by at least 20.
“Against Clear Fork, I just kind of wanted to see where we were as a team,” said sixth-year Ashland head coach Renee Holt, the reigning Division III Coach of the Year.
“With two undefeated teams going back and forth, it was cool for my girls to rise up to the challenge. It’s been a neat opportunity for not only this program, but for girls basketball in this community.”
Also off to a 5-0 start in the Ohio Cardinal Conference – where they have yet to beat a team by fewer than 24 points – the Arrows seem to have entered a new stage in their dominance.
As of Monday night, they were responsible for the only losses this season for Dalton, Willard and Clear Fork.
Ashland’s season-opening, 61-56 win over the Bulldogs came without the aid of then-injured point guard Cici Steury.
Fully healthy since then, the Arrows have plowed through the opposition like a freight train through a flower garden.
“I didn’t expect the start we would have (in terms of) how much we have been beating teams by … so it’s a good position to be in,” Holt said. “But I keep telling the girls we have a lot to work on still and we’re not satisfied.”
Reigning OCC Player of the Year Kennedy Lacey has elevated her game to a new level. The junior All-Ohioan averaged 22.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.3 assists through the first seven games.
Against Clear Fork, she dropped in 24 points, reaching exactly 900 for her career – a total that ranks her sixth in Ashland history. She’s also surpassed 400 rebounds as an Arrow.
Lacey’s one-two offensive punch alongside Hoffman – who needs just 16 more points to become the 15th Arrow to clear 700 in her career – was a knee-buckling blow to the Colts.
Clear Fork was off to its own 7-0 start after a run to the Division V Sweet 16 a season ago. Its 21-point margin of defeat to Ashland was its biggest in almost two years.
“I told them at our shootaround, ‘Big-time players show up for these big-time games,’” Holt said. “They were in the gym early and they were ready to play.”
That seems to be the trend with this entire group of Arrows, who returned four starters from a year ago.
Following a modest 4-3 start in 2024-25, they now are 24-3 over their last 27 games, a stretch that includes their first district title since 1979 and their first league championship since 1995.
Last year, Ashland put together a nine-game win streak at one point – likely the longest for the program since the 1970s.
Now, they’re just a pair of wins from eclipsing that to start this season.
I didn’t expect the start we would have (in terms of) how much we have been beating teams by … so it’s a good position to be in.
Ashland high school basketball coach Renee holt
The Arrows have scored between 56 and 64 points in all eight of their games thus far. Since the start of last season, they now are 24-0 when scoring at least 45 points.
Through seven games, Hoffman averaged 13.7 points per outing, followed by senior post Camryn Cox (7.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals per game). Steury, a junior, also chips in 4.8 points a night.
With that said, Holt still believes it’s the defense her squad brings to the floor that opens up everything else.
“I think our defensive mindset (has improved since last year),” she said. “I preach about our effort and attitude, and they’re showing up at practice everyday wanting to get better.
“I think they’ve made that realization that, ‘Hey, if we play tough defense, it will transition right into our fast-paced offense.”
Over its last seven games, Ashland has allowed just 31.7 points per contest. Those are numbers that should serve the squad well in its attempt to defend its OCC crown.
Dating back to two seasons ago, the Arrows are 19-2 over their last 21 league games. Their lone conference loss last year came at home to New Philadelphia, 45-43, and the Quakers (8-1, 5-1) look to be the biggest OCC hurdle again.
Ashland will travel to New Philly on Jan. 14 before hosting the Quakers on Jan. 24, but there’s a long way before the finish line.
Next up is a non-conference home game Tuesday against Sandusky, and then the Arrows will break in the 2026 portion of their schedule Jan. 3 at West Holmes.
On MaxPreps, Ashland currently is ranked the 25th-best girls basketball team in Ohio, regardless of division, and sixth in Division III.
Holt knows the chatter around those types of things is only going to build.
“There are a lot of expectations for us out there,” she said, “but I keep telling the girls to take one game at a time and just enjoy each game and the position we are in.”