LEXINGTON — Scott Hamilton admitted a 46-45 loss at home to Norwalk stung a little Friday night.
But the Minutemen have scant little time to lament about the ending of their nine-game winning streak in the non-conference defeat.
Business is about to pick up in a February gauntlet of eight games against some of the best and/or hottest teams Lexington could face.
The Minutemen (13-4) travel tonight to play Division III state-ranked Ottawa Glandorf (15-2) before hosting Wooster (8-7 and winners of four of its last five games) on Tuesday in a crucial Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
Lexington then plays at Mansfield Senior (14-3) in another OCC game on Feb. 15, hosts Colonel Crawford (14-3) pm Feb. 16 and then travels to Wooster on Feb. 19.
Hamilton knows no one is feeling sorry for his Minutemen, a state Final Four team last year that will find out Sunday where it’s seeded in one of the toughest Division II districts in the state.
RALLY FALLS SHORT: Odds are Norwalk, 15-2 and winners of 13 straight games, will now be seeded higher than Lexington.
“This stings a little,” Hamilton said. “The guys battled back. We were down six quite a bit of the second half. They worked their butts off. We just fell apart a couple of times in execution.”
Norwalk, led by 23 points and seven rebounds from Ashland University-recruit Brandon Haraway, led 44-38 with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter.
The Minutemen closed the door defensively and tied the game at 45-45 on two foul shots by senior forward Cade Stover (21 points, 11 rebounds) with 18 seconds remaining.
The Truckers, led by veteran (former Lexington) coach Steve Grey, worked the clock and drew a foul on Haraway with eight seconds left. The 6-2 guard missed the first and made the second, putting Norwalk up by one.
When Lexington in-bounded the ball after a timeout, Haraway immediately pressured guard Jacob Depperschmidt. By the time Lexington got the ball across half-court, the final horn was about to sound and Stover had to launch a contested, desperation 35-foot shot that missed.
The finish made the long ride north home pleasurable for Grey.
“We didn’t play our best game. On every scouting report, we put ‘find a way to win.’ We didn’t shoot free throws well (13/21) . We didn’t handle the ball in the second half (eight turnovers). But we found a way to win. That’s what this team is all about,” Grey said.
Hamilton pointed to a lack of offensive efficiency and the fact his team was out-rebounded, 38-33.
“We took a couple of shots, we weren’t as efficient as we should have been or would like to have been,” Hamilton said.
“It came down to the last play and we had an opportunity and we just didn’t finish the job. I still like our matchup with those guys. I think if we play them again, I would still take us on any given night. We let one slip away,” Hamilton said.
COLD SHOOTING: Neither team shot the ball well, which speaks to the defense both play. Coming into the game, Lexington had held five of its last seven opponents to under 40 points. Norwalk has now held its last six foes to under 50.
Lexington shot 33 percent from the field (16/49), including three of 22 behind the three-point line. Norwalk was only 30 percent from the field, but canned 50 percent of its triples (7/14).
In an odd stat line, Haraway, who came in averaging 24 ppg, was 0-for-10 on two-point shots, but nailed five of seven triples. He and Stover were the only players on the court who finished in double figures.
Garrett Chapin had eight points for Norwalk and Josh Aiello had eight for Lexington.
“Three for 22 from behind the 3-point line is not a good stat for us,” Hamilton said. “22 three-pointers (attempted) is probably not what we want to be either.”
Stover, who came in averaging almost 19 points and 11 rebounds a game, faced double- and triple-teams inside all night, connecting on seven of 20 from the field, including one of eight triples. He also committed five of Lexington’s nine turnovers.
Grey, whose team faces a big challenge tonight at West Salem against Northwestern (14-4), came away impressed with the OSU football recruit.
“Stover is better than I thought in terms of going and getting the ball. He does that as good as any kid I’ve seen in a long, long time. I don’t think he watches the shot go up. He just runs toward the rim and every ball is his,” Grey said.
“Our goal was we were going run two people at him all night. He’s a beast,” Grey said.
