MADISON TOWNSHIP — Scott Hamilton still remembers crafting scouting reports to prepare for playing Davey Hipp.
The winningest coach in Lexington boys basketball program history, Hamilton has been at the helm of the program for 13 seasons — long enough to have coached against Hipp during his playing days at Shelby.
The pair met as coaches for the second time this season Friday night. A 63-49 victory for Lexington gave the Minutemen a season sweep of the Rams.
But Hamilton and Hipp’s relationship goes beyond wins and losses.
“We talked at the beginning of the game and I asked him how things were going,” Hamilton said. “He (Hipp) started talking about his guys and buying-in, I said, ‘No. How are you doing?'”
The veteran coach knows a lot of things take place behind the scenes when taking over a program, much of which doesn’t deal with the game or even practice.
A consistent staff is one of the luxuries Hamilton said he cherishes as a tenured coach — something Hipp is starting from scratch.
“That was one of the things I was talking to him about because you can get really burnt out quick,” Hamilton said. “I always tell these new guys, it happened to me when I was first head coach.
“I told him if he needs anything that I can help him with, don’t hesitate to call, and that goes for anything.”
New standard
A 2017 Shelby graduate, Hipp was selected in July 2024 from a pool of eight applicants to succeed Chris Armstrong at Madison. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, helping the Whippets reach the Division II Final Four in March.
A four-year letterman at Shelby, Hipp ranked sixth on the school’s career scoring list with 1,047 points. He played collegiately at Heidelberg and Muskingum.
Now 19 games into his first season at the helm of the Rams’ program, Hipp is still adjusting to donning the green and white.
Despite the differences between Madison and Shelby, the first-year head coach has been making ground on establishing a new program culture.
“The kids play hard, even tonight,” he said following Friday’s loss. “The standard here is now 100 percent effort all the time and they played up until the last buzzer.
“That’s something we preach as a coaching staff, is that right now it might not equate to wins, but I think our fans and teams that come play us see that and eventually the wins will start coming.”
The Rams fell to 4-15 and 1-9 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference after Friday’s loss.
Lexington (16-2) remains in the driver’s seat of the conference with a 10-1 OCC record and one conference game left this season against Ashland.
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Getting familiar
Hipp has not shied away from receiving advice from coaching colleagues.
“He (Hamilton) was super cool with me when I was a player and now me and him exchange film and talk regularly,” he said. “I’ve got a good coaching tree of guys kind of spread all over.”
The Whippet alum keeps in contact almost daily with Shelby coach Greg Gallaway, who Hipp spent three seasons coaching alongside.
As he continues settling into the driver’s seat, Hipp is pleased with the buy-in displayed by his team this season.
“They’re new to me and I’m new to them and they’re kind of buying into me and I can’t appreciate them enough,” Hipp said. “You saw it tonight, how hard they play.
“I’m just thankful those guys bought in. Now those younger guys have to follow their steps and keep laying that brick of the new Madison Ram culture.”
(Below is the box score from Friday’s Ohio Cardinal Conference basketball game between the Lexington Minutemen and Madison Rams.)
