‘It can be heartbreaking:’ Lexington falls to Sandusky in district title game

ASHLAND — Lexington had Sandusky in their sights on Saturday afternoon, trailing by just one point against a team that hasn’t lost a game in nearly three months.

But even a gallant effort in a District II district title game couldn’t overcome 31 Lexington turnovers and a cold night at the foul line as the Blue Streaks (24-1) broke their school record for wins in a season with a 75-67 victory before a sellout crowd Saturday at Ashland High School.

“This is the most exciting time of the year, but it can also be heartbreaking when you experience this,” Lexington coach Scott Hamilton. “I thought the guys did a nice job. They battled.”

The Blue Streaks lived up to their top-seed in the district, using a full-court press the entire game, hounding the Minutemen from one baseline to the other.

Sandusky scored 29 points off of turnovers from a Lexington team (20-5) that averaged just 11.5 turnovers per game this season.

The Blue Streaks, who knocked off Mansfield Senior in the district semifinals, advance to the regional tournament at Bowling Green State University next week.

The Minutemen also missed eight of 14 foul shots, including five in the fourth quarter. Lexington shot 65 percent from the line on the season, making the misses even more painful.

Lexington-Sandusky box score

It was all according to plan, according to Sandusky coach DeMar Moore, whose team has won 20 in a row since losing 58-53 at Tiffin Columbian on Dec. 15.

“We like to put pressure on teams,” he said. “That’s the way we like to play. We like to make teams as uncomfortable as we can. Hopefully that leads to turnovers and things like that. We did a good job with that tonight.

“We were able to speed them up and, and force them to do some things they were uncomfortable doing.”

Hamilton, whose team won a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference crown this season, admitted preparing for Sandusky’s aggressive press was difficult less than 48 hours after a thrilling district semifinal win against Shelby.

The Blue Streaks collected 26 steals — 20 in the first half. Senior guard Daylen Green led Sandusky with 34 points and six steals.

“They came out (with) two days to prepare for a team like this. I thought the guys did a nice job with the plan. (Sandusky) is probably a little bit better than what film lets you see.

“They get after it and they’re hungry. They’re hungry for that ball. They’re so relentless. You watch the game and you say, ‘boy, that was lucky that the ball fell into his hands.’ But they make their luck. They just work their tails off and they make it happen,” Hamilton said.

Moore returned the compliment to the Minutemen, who shot 56 percent from the field (29-52).

“They’re tough. That’s a good team. They had the opportunity to beat us. They played their butts off. They played hard, they battled. We just happened to be the better team today,” he said.

Despite its mistakes, Lexington trailed just 38-37 at halftime and led 51-48 with 2:58 left in the third quarter.

“At the half, we had registered 20 turnovers and they’ve banked in a three and they had a 35-footer to be up by one. So we’re telling the guys, ‘When they come to trap, there’s a lot of openings. Look to attack. We don’t need hero passes. Just make the right pass and then keep moving it. They’re out of position.’

“I think in the second half we got a little timid trying to make those lazy passes or lofting passes, and they picked off a couple,” Hamilton said.

“(Sandusky) is a very good team. They’re the No. 1-seed and there’s a reason for that. They are a very good team and I think we had them nervous. We had it right down to the wire. I thought we had opportunities, but we just let it get away,” he said.

“We had the No. 1 team in the district and the No. 4 team in the state shaken a little bit. My guys played their hearts out and I am proud of them,” Hamilton said.

Freshman Brayden Fogle played perhaps his best game of the season as the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard/forward scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds. He had 22 points in the district semifinal and 15 in the sectional championship game.

For the season, the heralded newcomer averaged 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, shooting 55 percent from the field and 62 percent at the line.

“I think his comfort level has really grown as the season’s gone on,” Hamilton said. “Some of it has just been blending in with the guys, if that’s the right word.

“They’ve have always accepted him. It’s just understanding how each other played. It’s a team he’s never been on before. I think as the season went on that we as coaches felt like giving him a little bit more freedom with the understanding of what he can do.

“He really started focusing on his strengths. As freshman, 6-4, 6-5, 200 pounds, there’s a lot of things that he’s learned and he can do with himself. I think he definitely grew up in the last five or six games of the season,” Hamilton said.

Lexington will lose five seniors from this team — Baden Forup, Hudson Moore, Alex Depperschmidt, A.J. Young and Jaxx Lamp. The 6-7 Forup averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. The 6-3 Moore averaged 11 and six.

Forup, who played just four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 13 points and nine rebounds against Sandusky.

“I told the guys in the locker room (after the game) that I can give you all the cliches, but at the end, it’s not going make you feel any better. But you have got to remember, there’s five guys in this room that will never put on this Lexington uniform again.

“Those are the guys that you really have to comfort right now. You young guys, you got to work carrying on the tradition that they’ve helped establish. But those five guys are the ones that were really hurting right now,” Hamilton said.