MANSFIELD — Alex Depperschmidt made the most of his 14 minutes of floor time.

A reserve point guard, Depperschmidt bounced off the bench to score seven fourth-quarter points as Lexington knocked off Mansfield Senior 60-53 in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Friday at Pete Henry Gym.

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  • Mansfield Senior’s Maurice Ware shoots over a Lexington defender during a regular season game at Mansfield Senior’s Pete Henry Gym on Dec. 17. The Tygers and Minutemen will meet for a third time in the Division II district semifinals Thursday at Ashland’s Arrow Arena.

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Depperschmidt scored all seven of his points from the free throw line in the final 3:57 of the fourth quarter as the Minutemen (6-1, 3-0) thwarted Senior High’s furious comeback bid. What’s more, the 6-foot Depperschmidt committed only one turnover while facing relentless pressure from the Tygers (2-3, 1-2).

“We knew they were going to come at us. We expected pressure,” Depperschmidt said. “Once we got past it … we tried to stay as calm as possible.”

The Minutemen led 47-36 early in the fourth quarter before the Tygers went on an 8-0 run to cut Lex’s advantage to 47-44 on Nathan Haney’s conventional three-point play with 4:02 remaining. Depperschmidt hit a pair of free throws to make it 49-44 with 3:57 to play before Senior High’s Ja’ontay O’Bryant connected on a 3-pointer to make it 49-47 with 3:39 left.

Mansfield Senior would get no closer, however, as Depperschmidt connected on 5 of 8 freebies the rest of the way. He was 7-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“When he played JV last year I think he shot something like 38 percent on the season and then he shoots 70 percent tonight,” Lexington coach Scott Hamilton said. “When he was going to the line I was thinking, ‘What are we going to do when it comes off the rim?’ And he was 7-for-10 tonight, so we were really tickled for him.”

Senior High led 25-24 at the half, but came unhinged in the third. Lex outscored the Tygers 18-11 in the period to take a 42-36 advantage to the fourth.

“Our third quarter was just bad,” an exasperated Senior High coach Marquis Sykes said. “Our shot selection was poor. We didn’t get any of the 50-50 balls. They beat us up on the boards. They scored inside. They scored and-ones.

“In spots we showed the right urgency. But in the third quarter, we didn’t come out with the right energy. We’ve got to get better.”

Hudson Moore led Lexington with 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Baden Forup added 15 points, while Elijah Hudson had nine.

O’Bryant led the Tygers with 14 points. Maurice Ware had 13, including nine in a spectacular first quarter when he connected on 4 of 5 field goal attempts and threw down a highlight-reel dunk.

“We knew what he was capable of,” Hamilton said. “Then when he came out it was like, ‘What are we in for?’ ”

With the win, Lexington kept pace with Mount Vernon in the chase for the OCC title. The Yellow Jackets beat Madison 56-50 to improve to 3-0 in league play.

“Coming off a loss to a good Shelby team … it builds our confidence a lot,” Depperschmidt said.

Senior High, meanwhile, is two games back in the OCC standings. The Tygers have lost three in a row.

“We’ve just got to stay together,” Sykes said. “We’ve got to work on getting a little better each day. This group has a lot of potential.”