ASHLAND – Lexington needed a big night from super sophomore Cade Stover if it hoped to take over sole possession of second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
The 6-foot-5 Stover responded with 26 points and 19 rebounds to propel the Minutemen to a 59-45 road win over an Ashland team that had won seven of its last eight games.
“There’s no doubt about it. Cade is a special athlete,” said Lexington coach Scott Hamilton. “And he’s got that switch that I try to flip in warm-ups. But he’s definitely got that competitive switch and when it gets flipped, some good things can happen.”
Lexington (14-3, 8-2) took the lead 6-3 with 4:35 left in the first on a Ben Vore 3-pointer and led the rest of the game.
“We really built these guys up, as far as making sure we had confidence to step on the floor with these guys. This is a good win for us,” Hamilton said. “Ashland is always a competitive game and we’ve not always been very successful up here. This is a nice win. We’ll definitely celebrate this one tonight.”
Two Stover free throws put Lexington on top 28-17 late in the first half, but Ashland baskets by Griffin Gerwig and Garrett Denbow cut the lead to 28-21 at intermission. Ashland went on an 8-2 run to start the second half but Lexington responded with a 6-0 burst of its own.
Ashland (12-4, 7-3) cut the lead to 39-38 late in the third quarter, but Stover hit a jumper in the lane and then knocked down a 3-pointer to give Lexington a 44-38 margin heading into the fourth.
“We thought if they got on a roll we would really be in trouble. So we tried to slow them down when we could and keep the momentum going,” Hamilton said.
Another Stover 3-pointer was sandwiched between two buckets by Dana Shoulders to start the fourth quarter, expanding the Minutemen lead to 51-38.
Ashland could only manage two Gerwig baskets and three free throws by John Wolfe down the stretch as Lexington pulled away for the win.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for but I thought our kids competed for the most part. We did some good things defensively. Just a couple of possessions we didn’t close them out,” said Ashland coach Jason Hess.
Lexington outrebounded Ashland 42-28, including 10 offensive rebounds.
Gerwig scored 17 and grabbed 12 boards to lead Ashland. Grant Denbow added 12 points and Wolfe chipped in with 7.
“Grant’s been playing really consistent the last few games. He’s done a really nice job for us. It was nice to see Griffin get back to a double-double,” Hess said.
Traevin Harrison added nine points and five assists for the Minutemen. Harrison Benedict hit two 3-pointers and totaled 7 points and Shoulders scored six points and grabbed six boards.
“This was another team win. We’ve got everybody involved right now and that’s what we’ve been working for all season long with the chemistry,” Hamilton said.
Ashland travels to Mansfield Senior next Friday and Lexington will travel to Wooster to take on the undefeated OCC leaders. When Lexington and Wooster played in Lexington last month, a fight erupted after the game which resulted in eight people facing charges.
“Wooster’s just on another level,” Hamilton said. “We’re going to try and give them everything we’ve got next Friday night.”
