MANSFIELD — Sandusky senior Jayrese Williams was voted the Northwest District Player of the Year earlier this week.
On Saturday afternoon in Pete Henry Gym, he showed exactly why that decision was justified. Williams scored 16 of Sandusky’s 18 points in a key second-half stretch and the Blue Streaks ended Lexington’s season 42-33 in the Division II district championship game.
“We knew we weren’t going to stop him, but we were trying to contain him,” Lexington coach Scott Hamilton said.
The Minutemen (17-8) did precisely that in the first half, particularly when Williams picked up his second foul midway through the opening period. The 6-foot senior, who averages 23.1 points per game, went directly to the bench and Lex capitalized almost immediately.
Hamilton’s squad ripped off 13 unanswered points and cruised into halftime with a 30-25 margin. To that point Williams had just five points in 9:33 of action.
But the tables turned after intermission.
“They got the hustle points in the first half and we got the hustle points in the second half,” Sandusky coach Colin Irish said. “We kept telling the kids it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“Defensively, our active hands and help-side wears on an offense.”
The Minutemen didn’t shoot the ball well all day, but they struggled to even hold on to it in the second half.
Lexington finished with 18 turnovers, 12 in the final two quarters, and wound up an ugly 1-of-18 from behind the arc. Lex managed just 12 points in the second half in the face of withering defensive intensity.
“In the second half their pressure rattled us and our body language changed,” Hamilton said. “We just couldn’t find a rhythm. You’re not going to score 12 points in the second half and win too many games.”
Meanwhile, Williams, a four-year starter and the school’s career scoring leader, took care of the Blue Streaks’ offense.
The sharpshooter drained four treys overall and had 16 of Sandusky’s 24 second-half points.
“Reese stepped up and hit some big shots,” Irish said. “I’m just over the moon right now … so proud of these kids.”
Irish credited the interior defense of 6-3 senior Brent Hanson in particular for the Blue Streaks’ suffocating second-half performance.
“It was defensive effort, defensive heart,” Irish said. “The kids kept saying ‘we gotta get stops, we gotta get stops, all the way to the end.”
Offensively, Williams led everyone with 21 points, while Keith Williams chipped in 11 points and five rebounds and Cavon Croom had eight points and six rebounds.
Lexington got 16 points and 10 boards from sophomore Cade Stover, but no one else scored more than four points. Senior point guard Traevin Harrison notched seven rebounds and three assists.
Sandusky (21-4) moves into Thursday’s 6:15 p.m. regional semifinal against Wauseon at the University of Toledo.
