LEXINGTON — You know it’s a wild season in the Ohio Cardinal Conference when Mansfield Senior roots for Lexington.
But that will be the case next Friday when the Minutemen host Mount Vernon. A Lexington win, coupled with a Mansfield Senior win on Saturday against Madison, would mean a three-way atop the final conference standings.
The stage for the big final weekend was set Friday night when Lexington knocked off Wooster, 60-55, and Mansfield Senior wiped out Ashland, 70-47.
Mount Vernon leads the OCC with a 9-2 record (14-5 overall). Lexington and Mansfield Senior are both 8-3 in the OCC with the Minutemen at 15-5 overall and the Tygers at 12-6.
The loss knocked Wooster from contention. The Generals are now 7-4 in the league, 10-6 overall.
UNSUNG HERO: Throughout most of the season, junior post Cade Stover has been the straw that stirred the Lexington drink.
But with the Generals focused on stopping Stover, Lexington senior point guard Mason Kearn stepped up in a big way. Kearns led the Minutemen with 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter as Lexington rallied from a 45-41 deficit entering the period.
Kearns started the period with a triple, a lay-up at the 3:55 mark that handed Lex a 53-47 lead and then closed with another triple at the 1:48 mark that put the Minutemen up 58-50.
“They got some open shots. You tip your hat to someone like Mason Kearns,” Wooster coach Michael Snowbarger said. “He hit some big shots in the fourth quarter. We have to help on Cade Stover inside, they found (Kearns) in rotation and he hit a big one. We closed out on him well and kept a hand up.
“We told the guys, you have to tip your hat and say that’s what we’re giving up, you guys exploited it and you did well,” Snowbarger said.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton saw it coming from Kearns, an All-Ohio soccer player and a state track champion who is used to the biggest of stages.
“Early in the game, he was diving on the floor. He was giving that kind of effort all night tonight. That’s what you you need from your senior leaders and that’s what he has done for us,” Hamilton said.
“A lot of people take a look at him and get on the scouting report (that) he can’t do this, he can’t do this, he can’t do this. But for us, he’s the guy. He brings the ball up the floor … he gives me everything he has got,” Hamilton said.
“We tell the guys that if you are open, you have to be a threat. If you never take that shot, they will stop guarding you all together,” Hamilton said.
The soft-spoken Kearns was fairly matter-of-fact about his performance.
“I was just shooting open shots. My teammates were getting me open. It was a great team effort. I didn’t even know I had any points in the fourth quarter,” Kearns said.
BIG DISTRIBUTOR: Stover was limited to 12 points on five-of-14 shooting, but he pulled down 15 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end.
Wooster used 6-3 Calvin Blair to front the Lexington post while keeping another defender nearby to help behind.
“(Stover’s) mentality tonight is, ‘I have to be a bit more of a distributor and I have to get the boards. I am not the scorer. I just have to do a little bit of whatever it takes to win,'” Hamilton said.
“If a team is going to focus on Cade, then someone else is open. Tonight it was Mason,” Hamilton said.
Snowbarger said the Wooster plan almost worked, but Lexington connected on eight of 12 FG tries in the final period.
“If you can hold Cade Stover in check like that, you’re in a position to win. I thought we were in a position to win at the end. They just hit some big shots,” Snowbarger said.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: In addition to Kearns and Stover, Lexington got 12 points from junior forward Josh Aiello and 10 from junior guard Ben Vore.
Blair led Wooster with 17 points of six-of-16 shooting. Kedric Corbin added 15.
Lexington shot 43 percent from the field (22/51), including eight of 16 triples. The Minutemen were eight of 16 at the foul line. Wooster was 22 of 59 (37 percent) from the floor, though just six of 20 from behind the arc. The Generals were five of seven from the line.
The Generals had a 36-35 rebounding edge, though Lexington had a 20-13 advantage in the second half. Blair led Wooster with nine.
Wooster committed 12 turnovers, compared to 14 for Lexington.
UP NEXT: Lexington hosts unbeaten Ottawa-Glandorf tonight in a non-league game. The Titans were ranked second among in the state’s Division III teams this week and ripped Kenton, 101-57, on Friday night. Wooster plays in a non-league game tonight at rival Orrville.
