When Lexington won the district championship on Saturday afternoon I scurried to the Ohio High School Athletic Association website to see who was on deck for the Minutemen at the Bowling Green regional.
It was not a pleasant find.
Ottawa-Glandorf. I don’t know a single person from that school district, and have no personal animosity toward anyone in that community. But that name left a bad taste for anyone with a 20-year-old memory who followed a superb Lexington team in 1995-96.
That winter coach Steve Gray, who won a state championship in 2014 at Norwalk, had his best team at Lexington. Junior Jon Sanderson was a budding 6-foot-7 forward with a high-level Division I game who would eventually play at Ohio State. Today Jon heads up the strength and conditioning program for the University of Michigan basketball team.
At that time he was joined on the Minutmen frontline by Mark Simmons, another superb athlete. The 6-8 Simmons wound up at SMU on a track scholarship. Lexington also featured junior point guard Adam Kreischer, Mick Roberts, Drew Miller, not to mention a cast of notable contributors.
Running the show from a leadership, poise, and shotmaking standpoint was senior guard Marc Kreischer, who went on to coach South Webster to a state championship in 2006. He was really a coach on the floor in high school, too.
Marc Kreischer was 2nd-team All-Ohio and Sanderson was 3rd-team All-Ohio that winter. Those accolades were earned with brilliant play, and the following year Sanderson would be a first-team all-state choice.
Their team was an absolute juggernaut, ranked all season long and one of the best I’ve seen in the area over the past 25 years.
Unfortunately, as is too often the case for players, coaches and fans, what I remember most were two of their four losses. One was to No. 1-ranked Orrville on a last-second shot at Ashland University in a made-for-the-holiday event that included a full house at Kates Gymnasium. While leaving the gym that night, thoroughly spent after watching a taut but spectacular game, I overheard an Orrville fan telling his friend, “We’ll see them again in the state finals.”
I was convinced he was right. But it didn’t play out that way because of a fine Ottawa-Glandorf team.
The Minutemen avoided a scare in the district tournament, nipping Bellevue 70-68 on Simmon’s tip-in with three seconds left, then challenged a Titans’ squad led by its own All-Ohioan, Ryan Maag. O-G was equal to the challenge that night at Savage Hall in Toledo, and matched Lexington basket for basket in a tense encounter that was close from the opening tip.
At one point, Gray’s team seemed poised to take control, opening a seven-point lead in the second half. But just as quickly, Marc Kreischer picked up his third foul and prudence dictated a seat on the bench. The Titans took immediate advantage and stormed back to tie it.
The game was a nailbiter the rest of the way.
It went to two overtimes before Ottawa-Glandorf forged a 68-66 lead on T.J. Buddlemeyer’s driving basket in the final moments. Lexington got off three shots in the final five seconds, the first was a trey that would’ve won the game, then a pair of point-blank put-backs, either of which would’ve sent the tilt to a third overtime. Both just rolled off the rim.
It was a frustrating, heartbreaking end to a fine season that included Ohio Heartland Conference, Sectional and District championships.
Ottawa-Glandorf went all the way to the state finals, where the Titans played and lost to Orrville, coached by Shelby native Steve Smith.
I covered Lexington winning a state championship in 1991, with junior Jamie Feick erupting in the tournament as a springboard to what proved to be an NBA career. But those 1995-96 Minutemen were so much fun to watch, too.
I thought for sure they had a similar ending in their future. But Ottawa-Glandorf ruined that dream. It’s a tough memory still, even after 20 years.
