Malachi Ashford of will miss the reminder of basketball season after an injury to the knee area in Thursday night’s district championship game vs. Bourbon County. Per his father, Malachi had surgery Friday morning to repair a tibial tubercle fracture.

Ashford, a sophomore point guard for George Rogers Clark, was averaging 12.3 points per game. His freshman season at Paris he averaged 20.8 points and scored his 1,000th career point. He already holds two Division I offers from Eastern Kentucky and East Tennessee State.

George Rogers Clark went on to win the 40th District Championship over Bourbon County 74-48. The Cardinals are looking to be the first team in 10th Region history to win five straight region championships.

Coach Josh Cook said, “First, I just want to say my thoughts and prayers are with Malachi and his family. He is such a great kid with the best heart. He is a tough kid and I believe he will come back stronger than ever. I will do everything I can to be there for him as he begins his road to recovery. I know his teammates will do the same. He is family. Malachi has had a phenomenal season leading his team and making a statement as the best true point guard in the 10th Region in my opinion. I’ve enjoyed ever minute of being his coach.”

Now, the Cardinals will have to rely on some of the bench players to step up in the absence of Ashford. Abrahm Howard and Chace Pace helped fill in for the district championship.

“You can’t replace a player of Malachi’s ability, but we can lean on each other to help do the job. We will be making some adjustments, of course, as far as rotations & positions but I believe in our guys and most importantly in our team. Our bench has stepped up in big moments as they did last night and our leaders understand the importance of playing for each other. That will need to continue over the next few weeks as we get our emotions in check.”

The 10th Region draw takes place on Saturday morning.