LEXINGTON — Lady Lex was virtually flawless for the final eight minutes Thursday night.
Lexington outscored Madison 13-4 in the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 38-26 Ohio Cardinal Conference win at Lexington High School.
Lexington opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run. Madison didn’t score its first points of the period until Addyson Cox connected on a long jumper with 54 seconds remaining. By then, Lex led 36-24.
“I was really pleased with the way the girls executed in that particular section of the game,” Lexington coach Grant Weaver said. “I was proud of them.”
An offensive rebound and putback by Lexington’s Lexi Blasberg early in the quarter gave Lady Lex 27-25 advantage. Cora Palmer hit both ends of a one-and-one with 5:43 showing on the fourth quarter clock gave, pushing the lead to 29-22 and allowing Lexington to spread the floor at the offensive end. Lady Lex shot only free throws or uncontested layups the rest of the way.
“That’s a little bit earlier than I like to spread it out,” Weaver said. “We weren’t trying to stall. I was telling the girls to still attack and they did.”
Blasberg scored five of her seven points in the fourth quarter, while Kaleigh Leadbetter scored four of her team-high 14 points in the closing period. Leadbetter added a team-best nine rebounds while guarding Madison’s Faith Kuhn, a 6-foot-1 post.
“I know I can guard (Kuhn). My mentality is just to go in and contain her,” Leadbetter said. “I love defense. My main goal is to do well on defense.”
The Rams jumped out to an 11-8 lead after the first quarter, but were outscored 8-4 in the second and trailed 16-15 at the break. Lady Lex led 19-18 midway through the third but scored six straight points to open a 25-18 advantage. Madi Basilone had a conventional three-point play with 3:47 remaining before Cora Palmer connected on a 3-pointer with 2:30 to go.
Madison closed the third on a 4-0 run to make it 25-22. Kuhn scored all four points for the Rams on a pair of offensive rebounds and putbacks.
Kuhn led Madison with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Addyson Cox added six points.
Lexington forced 23 turnovers and limited Madison to 11-of-40 shooting from the field. Lady Lex scored 13 points off turnovers.
“I like the defensive intensity,” Weaver said. “Defense creates offense when the opportunities are there.”
