MANSFIELD — Lexington played its best game of the season in its biggest game of the season.
The Minutemen shot a jaw-dropping 72.5 percent from the field and never trailed in a resounding 84-64 win over Mansfield Senior in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game Tuesday at Pete Henry Gym.
Lex (15-2, 9-1) moved a step closer to claiming its third straight OCC title. Senior High (10-5, 7-2) slipped a game back in the loss column.
Lexington took 51 shots from the floor — and made 37 of them. The Minutemen even hit eight of 12 three-point attempts.
“We know that we can shoot the ball and obviously it has to happen on any given night,” Lexington coach Scott Hamilton said. “Tonight was something special. … Once you get one to go in, things start to go your way.
“Credit to the guys. They went out there and performed.”
The Minutemen opened the game on an 8-0 run and led 15-6 after a Brayden Fogle break-away dunk with 3:30 to play in the first quarter. Fogle and fellow forward Joe Caudill combined for 14 of Lex’s 24 first-quarter points.
Lexington extended the lead to 42-30 at the half as senior guard Gavin Husty scored seven of his 16 points in the second quarter. Lexington connected on 18-of-24 field goal attempts in the first half and knocked down 4-of-6 3-pointers.
“‘Hammy’ told us that everybody needs to step up,” Husty said. “It doesn’t matter who starts. It doesn’t matter who is playing the most minutes. When you’re out there, you give it 100 percent and I think that’s what everybody did.”
Video highlights
Senior High cut Lex’s lead to 46-35 on a Kyevi Roane trey midway through the third quarter, but the Minutemen responded with a quick 6-0 run to open a 52-35 advantage and were never seriously threatened again. Lex led 61-43 after three.
“We allowed them to do whatever they wanted to,” Senior High coach Marquis Sykes said. “We didn’t play like ourselves. We were a step late to everything.
“They played really well tonight and, on top of them playing really well, we played really bad.”
Joe Caudill led a balanced Lex attack with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Fogle matched Husty with 16 points, while Jakob Legron had 11 and Seven Allen chipped in with 10. Latrell Hughes had six points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Kaylen Brooks led Senior High with 18 points. Andrew Brooks had 16, while Roane added 13 points and six boards.
The Minutemen can clinch at least a share of the OCC title with a win Friday at Madison. It would be Lexington’s ninth crown in the conference’s 22-year history.
“We will celebrate this one, but we’ve got to take it day-by-day,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got Madison on Friday … it’s one day at a time.”
(Below is the complete box score from the Lexington-Mansfield Senior game on Tuesday night at Pete Henry Gym.)
