LEXINGTON — Scott Hamilton said Lexington knew high-flying Maurice Ware was the trigger to Mansfield Senior’s offense.
The trick, according to the veteran coach, was to ensure the Tygers never got a chance to pull it.
The Minutemen did just that Friday night at home, throwing a blanket of defenses on the 6-foot-2 senior wing en route to a convincing 46-32 Ohio Cardinal Conference win.
Ware finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting. Just as importantly, Hamilton said, the Tygers were never in a position to feed off the emotional wave generated by a patented Ware monster dunk or a lightning-quick scoring run.
“We knew we wanted to focus on (Ware) and then play solid defense on the other guys,” Hamilton said. “They play with a lot of emotion when he gets going. He gets a dunk and that kind of amps everyone else up.
“You saw a couple of my guys step up and challenge him on those dunks. Yeah, we got a couple of fouls called on those, but we wanted to do our best at taking him out of his game and limiting the emotion.”
The victory moved Lexington back into a tie with Ashland atop the league standings after the Arrows fell to Wooster on Friday.
Lexington, which snapped a four-game losing streak, is 11-6 overall and 6-3 in the OCC, the exact same overall and league records as Ashland. It was the seventh straight loss for Mansfield Senior, now 4-12 overall, 2-7 in the league.
SINGLE DIGITS: The Tygers trailed just 12-11 after the first quarter. It looked like another nail-biter for Mansfield Senior, who had experienced four single-digit losses in January.
But coach Marquis Sykes’ team scored just two points in the second quarter and six in the fourth, shooting just 14 of 43 from the field while also being outrebounded, 35-14.
“What do you say?” Sykes said afterward. “We had a hard time. A credit to them. They sat down and locked us up. They took us out of everything we wanted to do.
“Maurice had a hard time getting himself loose, getting himself into his scoring areas. Just a difficult time for us tonight offensively.
“They pretty much dominated us in every facet of the game. They were quicker to all the loose balls. They got most of the 50/50 balls. All the hustle plays went their way. They beat us up on the glass. They shot it better than us. Points-in-the-paint was to their advantage,” Sykes said.
Lexington-Mansfield Senior box score
“Every statistic that you can look at that means something to the outcome of they game … they beat us in. It was a good, old-fashioned butt-kicking,” Sykes said.
BALANCED ATTACK: Lexington shot 59 percent from the field (22-of-37) had a considerable 32-18 edge in the aforementioned points in the paint.
Fittingly, the Minutemen were led on Senior Night by 6-3 senior wing Caden Eichler, who scored 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting, had eight rebounds and also carried the defensive load on Ware.
He was joined in the defensive effort against Ware by 6-3 junior wing Hudson Moore.
“Caden and Hudson have really developed into my defensive go-to guys the last few games,” Hamilton said. “With their size and length, they can defend the perimeter and they can also go inside and defend a little bit.”
Baden Forup, a 6-6, 220-pound junior post, had 12 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 5-of-9 shots. 6-3 senior Jack Depperschmidt added 10 points, hitting 5-of-6 field goals.
Forup’s willingness to demand the ball down on the low block has continued to develop, according to Hamilton.
“Baden is such a super nice kid. He is the kind of kid you call and ask if he can babysit your grandchildren. (But) we have told him when you step between the lines, you’ve gotta have that mentality that you’re a fighter, that you’re gonna compete.”
Hamilton said assistant coach Dr. Jay Guth, himself a former post in his playing days, has worked with Forup on fighting for position.
“Jay has told him you have to do your work inside early … that when the ball is coming around, you gotta be there early and be set (for the pass),” Hamilton said. “And every time a shot goes up, that’s a potential play for you. Go get the offensive board and put it back up.”
Nathan Haney, a 5-8 junior, led Mansfield Senior with 15 points, including a trio of treys. He was the only Tyger in double figures as just four Mansfield Senior players scored.
Sykes was asked to identify a way to maintain the great spurts the Tygers have had at different times this season.
“If I only knew that recipe, I assure you we’ll be serving that food,” he said. “It’s just consistency. Consistency in practice and consistency in film study.
“We are hoping at some point the light bulb will click on for everybody and we’ll start to see those things carry over into the game. I know as a (coaching) staff, we’re gonna stay together. We’re gonna continue to push and fight and scrap and try to put these guys into the best position to win games.
“Hopefully, before it’s all said and done, we’ll figure it out,” Sykes said.
UP NEXT: Mansfield Senior travels to West Holmes (7-7, 4-4) in another OCC game on Tuesday. Lexington is at Galion on Saturday night in a non-league game against the 3-11 Tigers from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
OHIO CARDINAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Lexington 11-6, 6-3
Ashland 11-6, 6-3
Wooster 7-8, 5-5
Mount Vernon 9-10, 5-5
West Holmes 7-7, 4-4
Madison 11-6, 4-5
Mansfield Senior 4-12, 2-7
