MADISON TOWNSHIP — The Rams are trending in the right direction.
Jayden Jeffries scored a game-high 16 points as Madison rallied for a 42-37 overtime victory over Lexington on Monday.
After dropping their first 11 games, the Rams (2-12, 1-6 Ohio Cardinal Conference) have won two of their last three. Madison has been in and out of quarantine and was without starters John Stokes and Luke Pruitt for multiple games this season.
“With the hand we’ve been dealt it’s hard to get in any kind of rhythm,” Madison coach Tim Mergel said. “We’ve got a full squad back. I’m not saying we’d be undefeated but I think we’d be better than what we are now.
“You see a guy like Jayden Jeffries. He’s getting better as the year goes on.”
Lexington (4-8, 0-7) led 23-12 early in the third quarter and 30-22 going to the fourth before the Rams came to life. Madison outscored Lexington 13-5 in the final period, pulling even at 35-35 on a Jeffries 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining in regulation. It would remain that way into overtime.
Caden Eichler gave the Minutemen a 37-35 lead early in the overtime period but Madison would score seven unanswered points, all from the free throw line. The Rams were 7-for-13 from the stripe in OT and 8 of 15 for the game.
“I can’t say we made them when we had to, but we split them when we had to,” Mergel said.
Lexington, which has dealt with quarantine issues of its own, built a 22-12 halftime lead, but came unglued in the second half. The Minutemen turned the ball over nine times in the second half, resulting in 12 Madison points.
“We had a terrible night with the turnovers. We had 18 turnovers for the game and Madison scored 17 points off those turnovers,” Lex coach Scott Hamilton said. “When it comes right down to it, we just didn’t make plays when we needed to. We didn’t hold on to the ball. When you give away 18 possessions, it’s tough.
“We got a couple of stops, but they hit a couple of big 3s in key moments. They rallied and we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket in the second half.”
Hudson Moore led Lexington with 10 points and eight rebounds. A.J. Young added eight points.
Pruitt and Isaac Brooks backed Jeffries with nine points apiece for the Rams.
Lexington has been in and out of quarantine three times this season.
“The biggest thing for us is not just having the opportunity to play, but working on the stuff the next day in practice,” Hamilton said. “Tonight was our 12th game of the season. It’s really liked we started the season over a couple times after being off for so long.”
