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Lexington Working to Get Better

          Lexington, two games back in the “OCC” race, plays on the road at West Holmes on Tuesday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          They dropped two games last week as Ashland beat them (65-63) in a league game last Tuesday and Ontario handled them (70-56) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they didn’t make the plays down the stretch against the Arrows and they tried to play Ontario’s game.  “That's our schedule, we know that we've got good competition on our schedule.  Went over to Ashland and faced a veteran squad, a lot of senior leadership over there, and I thought my guys played pretty well.  They gave me 32 minutes.  We had some really nice looks, had a nice lead and then just couldn't really hold on to it, couldn't make enough plays down the stretch to really come away with the win.  We had a lot to build on.  A lot of things we were happy about,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We had Ontario come into town undefeated.  I thought we got away from a little bit of our game plan.  We got into just a game that they were more comfortable with than what we were and that was advantage to them.  It ended up being a 14 point loss for us, but it was much worse than that during the game.  I thought my guys kept battling, but we just got a little too far away from our game plan to be able to come away with the competitive win in that one.”

          Hamilton says now is a good time for them to get better.  “We say it all the time, all the coaches say it, you don't want to peak in December, so as long as you can recognize those things that you can correct and improve on and keep doing it to get better.  Sometimes experience can be the best teacher.  As a coach you can say everything right in practice, but until you actually go through a game and have something go wrong and all that. Sometimes that experience is the best teacher.  So, we have got a couple of games of late we thought we had a good game plan, played well at times, but we just didn't get some things done.  We didn't make the right decisions when we needed to, things like that.  So, we can grow off of that.  With it being before January 1 that's an exciting time for us to be in right now knowing that we can still correct some of those mistakes,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (4-3,2-2) is at West Holmes (3-5,1-4) on Tuesday.  The Knights beat Loudonville (59-36) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Hamilton says they have some kids that can play.  “They've got the three wins on the season and they're all at home and of course our first game is at their place, so that's something that we've got to give value to and respect.  When you start breaking them down before you get to their team concepts.  Individual players they've got some nice players on their roster over there.  We have got to make sure that we're in good defensive position and the way that we could handle them.  Then when they start running their stuff and executing their offensive system we've got to make sure that we can handle that and everything. So, they’re a solid team.  They haven't gotten the wins, it's not showing up on their record, but they definitely got something with a lot of young guys that are in system as well just like us,” he said.

Published 12/30/25

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Lexington Will Try to Slow Down Ashland

          Lexington will be at Ashland to battle the Arrows in a key game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night.

          Both of the teams trail conference leader Dover by a game in the conference standings.

          Last Tuesday, the Minutemen trimmed Mansfield Senior (63-61) in conference play.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a solid performance in an electric atmosphere.  “I was really pleased with the leadership that I got from the seniors and my younger guys the way they stepped up and handled the environment.  Very good atmosphere, good crowd, so all around I was pleased with the output being this early in the season,” he said.

          The Minutemen (4-1,2-1) had the lead for most of the game, but had to make some plays late.  Hamilton says they were up to the task.  “We made a couple of plays as the game was going on I think it maybe built a little confidence.  When it came right down to it, we put the ball in anybody's hands and we were just going to kind of go with it a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We knew that it was a tight ball game right at the end.  We ran some quick action and kind of disrupted the defense a little bit and Jayden Perkins, one of my freshmen, just saw an opportunity and drove into the lane and made the finish and we were able to hold on and get the win.”

          Ashland (3-3,3-1) also beat Mansfield Senior (70-65) in their last conference game on Friday night.

          Paxon Ediger scored a school record 44 points in the game for the Arrows.

          Hamilton says they are going to have to know where he is at all times, but the Arrows have other solid players too.  “He's been a scorer since day one.  I mean it's just his time right now.  You've seen him progress last year and the year before you knew that it was coming to this and ability that he had as a scorer.  He's got a nice supporting cast and on any given night a lot of those guys can throw some points in the net.  So, we're going to have to be aware of everybody on the floor, but especially it starts with him.  It's one of those deals where they can really light it up if you let them get going on their home floor,” said Hamilton.

Published 12/23/25

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Lexington With Important Game Versus Tygers

          Lexington hosts rival Mansfield Senior in an Ohio Cardinal Conference basketball game on Tuesday night.

          The Minutemen (3-1,1-1), the defending “OCC” champ, won its first conference game of the year in smoking Wooster (65-47) last Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they played well from start to finish.  “I thought we got off to a pretty good start.  We were able to build on some things and we hit a couple of shots, played pretty well in the first half and established a pretty solid lead.  Then came out in the second half and really finished it off.  So, always nice when you can get a group of young guys on the floor and play very, very well this early in the season,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (4-0,2-0) is coming off a (62-52) win last Friday over a talented New Philadelphia in league play.

          Hamilton says they have very good depth.  “They're roster loaded.  I mean they've just got a good starting five.  They've got support coming off the bench. They have a couple of guys that were, I would consider them to be Mansfield guys, but they weren't playing for Mansfield last year and now they've moved back in.  I would consider them to be Mansfield kids.  Just a very good roster for Marquis (Sykes) over at that place.  They can score from about anywhere on the floor and they're playing that typical Mansfield defense that everybody likes to talk about,” said Hamilton.

          When it comes to tempo, quick or slower?  Hamilton says that depends on the situation.  “Well, I think for us it's always about matchups and that's what we're looking to do.  I'd like to say that if things are going in our favor, we would like to play a little bit of a pace, there's no doubt about it, but we also want to be a team that if it benefits us to play more in the half court we want to do that as well but.  I definitely think that there are times when we like to get out and push that tempo a little bit, no doubt about it,” he said.

          With a loss a home to Dover, Hamilton says to be in the “OCC” mix this is a must.  “When you're talking about the conference and if you're really wanting to try to compete and battle for a conference championship every one of these games are very important,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think this year when you start looking at the favorites Mansfield's definitely in that mix or one of them that's probably towards the top as far as the favorite goes.  With us already having a loss on the season in the conference it's just something that if we're going to be battling at the end of the year for a conference championship, we've got to get this one circled on our calendar.”

Published 12/16/25

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Lexington to Face a Developing Wooster

          Lexington hits the road for Wooster and an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night against the Generals.

          They play at small school power Berlin Hiland on Saturday.

          They lost their “OCC” opener to Dover (50-45) last Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says Dover put it away late.  “I thought we were prepared.  Going into both of those games we had some good practices.  Dealing with a very young team I thought on Friday night Dover came in and maybe they were just a little bit more prepared or better prepared, maybe even had some more experience.  It came down to the end, came down to executing plays right at the end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I thought that they executed them.  We got caught in a situation where we had to foul to try to gain some possessions and they finished the game 14-14 from the foul line and that ended up being the difference in the game for us,” said Hamilton.

          They edged Sandusky (69-67) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Hamilton says they were able to make some plays at the end to win it.  “Then Saturday we came in and spirits were still pretty good with my young group.  We thought we had some advantages in that game dealing with a lot of height on their side and quickness being one of them.  I thought my guys did a nice job of using our speed and quickness against a bigger team than us and were able to be in a position in the end.  Seven Allen, who’s doing some great things early for us this year, going over 1000 points.  He had a tremendous night, unbelievable night and knocked down a big shot to put us up and win that game at the end,” he said.

          Allen scored 45 in that game for the Minutemen.

          Lexington (2-1,0-1) is at Wooster (1-2,0-1) on Friday night.  The Generals fell (63-50) to Ashland in their conference opener.

          Hamilton says they have some pieces they are trying to put together.  “Well, they lost their two primary scores from last year, but they've reloaded with some really good athletes and some guys that have experience playing under Richardson in the past from last year.  So, we expect a little bit of the same dealing with the personnel that he brings back.  Just the inside presence.  They've got two nice bigs to start the game, but then they've got their guard play.  I think they're looking to find themselves a little bit, but I think it's going to be a battle, which it typically is between Lexington and Wooster over at their place,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says Berlin Hiland is somebody they want to play to make them better.  “I've got all the respect in the world for coach (Mark) Schlabach and his staff over there.  I think they always have a have a great preparation and he does things the right way, a process getting ready for the end of the season postseason runs.  It’s just a good competitive game for us to get involved in.  We always know that they're well coached and that's what we're looking for right now and just that that really good competition at the state level and they definitely bring it every night,” he said.

Published 12/12/25

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Lexington Will See Chaos

          Lexington will be challenged this weekend as they host Dover in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday and Sandusky in a non-league game on Saturday.

          They won their opener last week in thrashing Clear Fork (61-33) on Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says second half defense was the difference.  “The defense really, really stepped up I thought in the second half.  We made a couple of comments, not really adjustments, but we just made a couple of comments about some small things at halftime and the kids went out and really executed the defense in that second half.  Forced some live turnovers, which gave us some easy buckets and that made a difference,” he said.

          With a lot of players new to the varsity level, Hamilton says they still are working out their roles on the team.  “I think a lot of it is the chemistry.  Just trying to figure out the guys on the floor.  Then of course your rotations, how do you sub, what guys work well together.  If there are some miscommunications you have got to work on that as the season goes on.  Sometimes having the right two, three, four guys together on the floor it just clicks both offensively and defensively.  With what we've been dealing with in the first part of the season, with fall sports going so late, that's one of the things that we're kind of still working to try and figure out,” said Hamilton.

          Dover beat Green (68-64) in overtime on Tuesday night in a non-league game.

          Hamilton says they are going to be disciplined on offense and attempt to attack you on the defensive end in the half court.  “Traditionally they're very successful program and they're very disciplined in their offense.  I know they had like a 30 plus year coach retire before last season, so this is the current coach’s second year, but it's his son.  So, a lot of the things that we're seeing are what they've been doing over the last 30 years.  Very disciplined on the offensive end and very intentional on where they want to shoot the ball and who they want taking the shot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “On the defense, they like to cause a little chaos.  It’s all half court.  They want to be in the half court primarily man to man, but they want to be physical with you and they want to cause a little bit of chaos.  They've got a couple of really nice scorers and a couple of nice utility guys that could be threats if you don't know where they are.  We've got our hands full on Friday night no doubt about it.”

          Sandusky advanced to the state semifinal last year in division III, but they graduated eight guys that played.

          Hamilton says their game plan did not graduate.  “He has got his program wide at the high school.  They play the exact same way so they learned a lot of that in the JV level and then when they can get some minutes in the varsity game.  So, he brings back a couple of guys, not many, but a few guys that were in last year's rotation.  So, they're going to be the leaders I'm sure, but then the guys coming up from the JV and it's a system that they've been running all of last year.  So, I expect them to be that the same type of team, same type of chaos on the offense and defense and looking to get a lot of buckets in transition,” said Hamilton.

Published 12/04/25

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Lexington Ready to Find Out

          Lexington is excited to start the boys’ basketball season on Friday night at Clear Fork against the Colts.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says he has seen good progress from what will be a pretty inexperienced group.  “It's getting there slowly, but when you've got some young guys that you're trying to bring along and get them ready and then of course with the success of our fall sports we have got a couple of guys coming in late.  So, things have been pretty positive and we're excited about it and I think we're ready to get started.  We just know that as a coaching staff that we're not where we want to be at the end of the season and what we accept that and we'll just keep working through some whatever mistakes we have,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says they have guys that will be expected to play different roles than maybe they have in the past.  “Especially with young guys that saw JV action or all JV action last year or maybe even if you have a good freshman that's all 8th grade action they may have been a main part of what their team did and now they're just looking to be a piece or they're only needed to be just a piece.  So, you have got to work through some of that stuff and maybe just learn new positions too.  If you're young and you were a post guy now you might be a wing or a perimeter guy, so there's a lot of things that we're working on, but we've been pretty happy with the success so far,” he said.

          When it comes to Clear Fork, Hamilton says they have more experience than the Minutemen at the varsity level.  He says they are in a similar position when it comes to time they have spent in practice.  “When they return a lot of guys from last year's roster and so the experience that they have is probably going to be more experience than what we put on the floor, but at the same time we know they're guys, they're young, they're athletic.  They've got a lot of football guys too, or at least fall sport athletes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We know that their time in the gym has been comparable to ours, so hopefully we can just rely that we've made a little bit more progress and we get after it.  That's why they play the game.  We're hoping that we can get down there and get after it and make a couple of buckets and get a couple of extra possessions from the rebounds and see how it all comes out.  We're excited for it.”

Published 11/26/25

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Lexington Building With Younger Kids

          Lexington has been one of the more successful boys’ basketball programs in North Central Ohio in recent years, so there is always a level of expectation when it comes to the Minutemen.

          Brayden Fogle and Joe Caudill, two kids who have been a key part of Lexington’s basketball success, are going to graduate in December and begin their college football careers.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says the rest of the varsity roster is still under development.  “The door is still open right now just because we like to give the kids a little bit of time off when they finish their fall sport and with a couple of our sports actually extending their seasons, cross country going to state and then football playing a couple extra, we've still got some kids that are in that period where we're trying to give them a little bit of time off.  A couple of guys that have played for me in the past.  They got banged up a little bit, so we’re making sure that we give them plenty of time so that they hit the door healthy.  It shortens their time up before the first game, but it's one of those deals that if you bring them in you'll kind of extend an injury a little bit.  So, we'd rather have that shortened time but have them back healthy,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says they are going to devote a lot of their energy to developing younger players.  “Right now, we've got a lot of young guys.  The guys that were healthy came right in after football and got after it, but we've got a lot of young guys.  We still have our freshman, JV and varsity all going together right now.  We had a scrimmage on Saturday.  We went to our first scrimmage and we really didn't even take any of the football guys even though they played on Friday night.  We didn't take any of those guys.  So, it was kind of a good experience for a lot of our young guys to be on a varsity court, be on a JV court, even though they might end up playing freshman basketball.  So, it's just one of those things we're using it to grow right now.  We know our time is limited, but you know we're trying to do it the right way because everything is geared towards the end of the season,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says their scrimmage schedule has been put together in such a way to be tested in the later stages of the preseason.  “We kind of had a plan that our football team would not finish in 10 weeks, so we kind of thought that there would be a little bit of an extended season and we felt really good about our cross country kids as well.  So, I put one scrimmage the first full week of practice.  I put on one scrimmage in the second full week and then the week before game week I actually loaded it up and tried to get a couple of scrimmages in there.  So, we're trying to take advantage and get those younger guys some looks right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We'll bring the older guys in.  Once you've been in the program a little bit it takes a little bit less time to kind of pick things up.  It's like riding a bike.  So, we're using the time that we've got right now without the older kids, the more experienced kids, to just bring our younger kids up to snuff and the way that we like to do things at the high school.  Then we started on Monday actually bringing in some of those older guys since cross country and football both wrapped up.  Like I said, we're still not at full strength yet.”

Published 11/12/25

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Lexington Looking Forward to Rematch with “TCC”

          Lexington starts its postseason this year with the same team that ended its season last year as they welcome Toledo Central Catholic for a division III regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

          With the third seed, Lexington (9-1), winners of eight in row, #2 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, got a bye.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they took advantage of the opportunity.  “I think it's too early to tell.  I thought it went well.  We still got the kids in and we were able to really focus even on lifting and conditioning.  We were able to get out there still practice.  Go a little bit lighter and then just continue to prepare and get ourselves better.  Understanding we're going to have one of two opponents.  So, it was different, it was unique, a little weird, I guess you could say, but I thought we took advantage of it well,” said Saris.

          Central Catholic (7-4) smoked Ontario (35-0) in a first round game last week.  They led by that same score at halftime.

          Saris says they have a lot of big kids that can play.  “They're their size and their depth really stands out.  They've got some tremendous athletes on each side of the ball.  Up front offensively, they have got some size.  They have got some skilled players around them that we’re going to have to tackle well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We're going to have to pursue well to the ball.  Defensively, I think that they're just extremely aggressive.  They get upfield, they force some havoc and also do a really good job of tackling and pursuing the ball.”

          “TCC” beat Lexington (35-7) last year in a regional semifinal.  Saris says there are really looking forward to another chance.  “Our kids are playing really well right now.  They're focused, they're excited.  It's an opponent that took us out of the playoffs last year.  Our kids talked about how excited they would be to get a rematch against them and you know they get it, they get in their first playoff game.  So, they're excited.  We get them to come to our stadium where we’ve played extremely well this year.  Our boys are ready to go,” said Saris.

          The Fighting Irish won state titles in 2022 and 2023 and the were runner-up last year.

          Saris says this is team they can’t afford to fall behind.  “We can't put ourselves behind the chains.  We can't give up big plays.  We have got to play field position.  We can't give great field position and just let them get up early like they did last year.  I think our boys are ready for that challenge,” he said.

Published 11/06/25

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Possession, Defense Keys For Lady Lex

          Lexington faces Ontario is a girls’ soccer division III regional semifinal at Clear Fork High School on Wednesday night.

          They beat Maumee (2-0) on Saturday to earn a district title.

          Coach Buck Morton likes what he sees from his club.  “I think we're playing really well.  We had a little bit of a spot in the middle of the season where we lost a couple games to some really good teams.  We lost to Granville and Clear Fork.  I think we're doing well.  We're scoring goals, minus maybe our two goal output on Saturday, we've really put up a pretty big numbers as of late.  So, we're feeling pretty good about how we're playing and we're playing consistently, so yeah we're excited,” he said.

          Ontario (15-4-1) smoked Celina (6-0) in their district final.

          Lexington (13-4-3) beat Ontario (4-2) back on August 23 in a regular season match.

          Morton says Ontario just does everything well.  “I mean they've got two of the best players in the in the area and maybe throughout the state in Hattie Yugovich and Addi Pittman along with some other really solid players alongside of them.  They're well coached, they're well disciplined, they've got the ability to score, they can defend.  I mean they do everything really well.  They're going to be a big test and it's going to be a big stage and it's going to be a lot of fun,” said Morton.

          There are going to be a lot of keys in a match like this, but Morton says they have to keep the ball in their possession and play outstanding defense.  “Since I've been here, we've prided ourselves on really being a great defensive team and so we've got to make sure that we keep the score down.  If we get into a place where we're trying to outscore people that's probably not going to be a good thing.  Our goal is to try and limit the opportunities they get, especially their two top scorers in Hattie Yugovich and Addi Pittman,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “For us, we've done a great job of ball control.  If we possess the ball that gives us opportunities.  It keeps them from having opportunities.  These are the kind of games where normally it's not going to be some fantastic play.  It's going to be some kid in there that digs out a ball in a crowd and finds a way to get it in the back of the net.  We've got to make sure that we're the ones who kind of make that play.  That kind of makes their own luck and creates an opportunity maybe on nothing.  So, we'll see.”

Published 10/29/25

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Lexington Has to Limit Big Plays

          Lexington plays at home against Ashland on Friday night in what effectively is the Ohio Cardinal Conference football championship game.

          The Minuteman have not won a title since 2016, when they shared it with Ashland.  They have not won it outright since 2008.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they are excited.  “You want to be playing meaningful games during week 10.  For us, it's a pretty special one.  We've got two teams that are undefeated in the conference coming together and I think it's going to be exciting one,” he said.

          Lexington (8-1,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Ashland (9-0,5-0), #2 in our poll, on Friday night.  The Minuteman beat Madison (49-17) on Friday.  Ashland downed Wooster (52-7).

          The Ashland offense is led by Appalachian State recruit Nathan Bernhard at quarterback.

          Saris says they are very good at getting the ball to a lot of people and creating big plays.  “They do a nice job.  They spread that ball all around.  They do a really good job with their routes and spacing.  We're really focusing on that.  When they need to run that football, they can do it and successfully,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “For us, it's simple as you have to limit big plays.  You have got to make sure that they earn everything they have.  Coming up and forcing them to be uncomfortable, forcing some turnovers is going to be extremely important for us.”

          When facing a very good Arrow defense, Saris says they must be patient.  “Look at last week, they scored three defensive touchdowns.  They get to the ball in a really aggressive manner and they do a lot of different, multiple things.  So, we've got to be able to be patient.  We know that this is one that's not going to be won on one single drive.  It's going to be an entire football game.  So, offensively for us, we've got to be able to continue to establish a line of scrimmage, run the football and when the moment comes make big shots downfield for our guys,” said Saris.

          Saris says they have to know there are going to be ups and downs in this game and they must play four quarters of football.  “Adversity is going to happen during this game and how resilient we are and how we handle that, which we've done a really nice job this season.  What we've got to do is not let the hype of the game or the outcome or the success of the game kind of dictate how we act.  We know it is going to be four quarters.  We've got to fight for four quarters and that's what it's going to take to come out on top against this really good Ashland team,” he said.

Published 10/21/25

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Lexington Has to Have Focus

          Lexington, a co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will play at crosstown rival Madison in a conference game on Friday night.

          They drilled New Philadelphia (44-20) in a conference game last week.

          Coach Andew Saris says they came out smoking again last week.  “I thought again our kids got out to a hot start and we're able to put up points early and give ourselves a lead.  Anytime you have that it kind of puts yourself in a spot where you can be a little more aggressive defensively and offensively.  We have still got a lot of things we have got to shore up with some penalties, some things just in terms of execution that we've got to get better a, but overall happy with our performance,” he said.

          Lexington (7-1,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll, is at Madison (2-6,1-3) on Friday night.  The Rams lost (32-17) to Dover last week.

          Saris says Madison has been in a lot of games, they just haven’t been able to finish them out.  “They’re a hard working football team.  I think they're really well coached.  I think coach (Kobi) Johnson is doing a great job over there.  They're putting themselves in every single game.  They're just some things here and there they're not putting together, which is a scary football team because they have played us tough the past four seasons.  We're going to have to give them our “A” game in order for us to come away with a win,” said Saris.

          The Minutemen beat Madison (14-7) last year.

          Lexington shares first in the “OCC” with Ashland and they play the Arrows next week.

          Saris says their focus this week must be on Madison.  “We can't overlook anybody.  Continue to focus on ourselves as we prepare for that opponent and right now it's all Madison Rams.  We know that they run the ball very, very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They get the ball in space to some athletes that can make some big plays.  Defensively, I think they're really aggressive.  We can't do anything to hinder ourselves from our performance and that includes focusing on Madison this week.”

Published 10/15/25

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Lexington Must Control Run Game Again

          Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Lexington hosts New Philadelphia in conference play on Friday night.

          The Minutemen (6-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, shares first in the “OCC” with Ashland.

          They have not beaten the Quakers in three chances since New Philadelphia joined the league.  It was (29-13) Quakers last year in New Philly.

          Lexington probably got its best win of the season last week when they thrashed West Holmes (41-7) in “OCC” action.

          Coach Andrew Saris says he was really pleased with their approach.  “I thought the kids came ready to play.  I was really proud of them, but just like every other week we want to move on and head to the next chapter.  So, we still watch film.  That night was pretty exciting, but then got into film and try to get better this week and get ready for a good New Philly team,” he said.

          They can make big plays in the passing game, but Saris says they have been really good at running it too.  “I think getting Markale Martin back was tremendous for us both sides of the ball and just overall leadership.  Joe (Caudill) can run the football from the quarterback position, but also Sven Allen has done a really nice job of getting some carries in the backfield.  Even Brayden Fogle is touching the ball in the backfield.  So, trying to spread the ball around and just hope those guys can make plays.  I think the offensive line has done a nice job of establishing the line of scrimmage and giving them some lanes to run,” said Saris.

          New Philadelphia (4-3,3-1), just a game behind the leaders, beat Madison (35-21) last week.

          Saris says just like last week, they are going to have to stop the Quakers from running the football.  “They’re playing great ball.  I think they're extremely well coached, very disciplined football team.  They bring a great consistency I think to our conference.  They've had our number the last three years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We're excited to get a chance to play them at home.  We think offensively they do a really good job of getting the ball to some playmakers.  The (Caleb) Carlisle kid can run.  So, we know we've got to be able to stop the run and limit those big plays on the field.”

Published 10/09/25

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Lexington Must Limit Mistakes

          Lexington takes the bus to West Holmes to lock horns with the Knights in clash of co-leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.

          The two share the lead in the “OCC” with Ashland.

          The Minutemen (5-1,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, destroyed rival Mansfield Senior (48-0) in an “OCC” game last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they did good things on both sides of the ball.  “I thought our kids really came out ready to play.  They were excited.  Anytime you play a crosstown rival here at home it's got a lot of great energy.  I thought our defense did tremendous job.  They forced some turnovers.  They were aggressive at the line of scrimmage.  I just felt like they weren't super comfortable all night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Offensively, I still thought we had ourselves a pretty good amount of balance.  I thought we came out slinging the ball a little bit and had two big touchdowns early on through the air and then kind of just calmed ourselves down and just handed the ball off to Markale Martin and Cole Eichorn and just established the line of scrimmage the second half.”

          West Holmes (5-1,3-0), #4 in our poll, buried Wooster (39-6) last Friday in “OCC” play.  They have won five in a row.  Their only loss this year is (23-21) to Wooster Triway on week one.

Saris says West Holmes is a team that plays tough football and doesn’t make mistakes.  “They're just a really, really disciplined football team.  You don't see them making a lot of mistakes.  I think they're special teams is also a really strong unit.  I think they've got two really hard runners who lower pads and they're really, really tough.  I think their quarterback does a really nice job playing mistake free football.  I keep telling our guys all this week that we cannot beat ourselves.  West Holmes does not beat themselves, so we have just got to come out be polished, can't get behind the sticks, and play mistake free football,” said Saris.

West Holmes definitely wants to run the football and Saris says they have to compete up front.  “You find in football that that line of scrimmage usually determines most of the games.  So, we have got to come out and be physical, play well, can't miss any tackles.  We have got to wrap up and get to those guys down early,” he said.

Published 10/01/25

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Lexington to Play Dangerous Mansfield Senior

          Lexington plays host to the rival Mansfield Senior Tygers in action in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday.

          Big Lex played their first “OCC” game of the season last week and buried Wooster (42-14) on Friday.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they play very well on both sides of the ball.  “I thought we came out on the road ready to play some football starting off “OCC” play.  I was really proud of the offense.  They got off to a really hot start.  They able to put up points.  The first points of the game are actually defensively with the interception, or pick 6, from Joe Caudill.  We actually were able to score twice defensively, so anytime your defense is able to put points up on the board, and your offense is rolling, usually you can be pretty successful,” he said.

          Lexington (4-1,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, puts out he welcome mat for Mansfield Senior (0-5,0-2) on Friday night.  The Tygers fell (45-26) to New Philadelphia in an “OCC” game last week.  Mansfield led at halftime, but New Philly scored 38 straight points.

          Lexington beat the Tygers (19-6) last year.  If they win on Friday night it will be the first time they have beaten Mansfield Senior in back to back seasons since 2008 and 2009.

          Saris says the Tygers are still a big play team.  “They still make great, big plays.  They gave New Philadelphia a heck of a run for their money last week.  I have seen them get better every single week on film.  Just like we always say anytime you have got a rival coming in you have got to make sure that you're ready to go because I know they're going to give us everything they have,” said Saris.

          The Lexington coach adds there is always emotion to a rivalry game, but they have to manage that.  “We talked about it, it's fun when you play those rivalry games.  It’s fun, there's a lot of common faces on both sides of the field and across from the stands,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “There's a lot of emotion to rivalry games and we have got to make sure we control that emotion and play Minuteman football.”

Published 9/26/25

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Lexington Has to be Physical

          Lexington plays its first Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the year on Friday night as thy travel to Wooster to meet the Generals.

          Their final tune up for the conference schedule was a (70-0) destruction of Akron North last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they are ready to play those conference games and renew those old rivalries.  “It’s always exciting you know the “OCC” is a great conference.  We are ready to get it kick started and start to see these teams that we see every year and, yeah, we're excited,” he said.

          Lexington (3-1,0-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (0-4,0-2) on Friday night.  The Generals lost at home (28-17) to Madison last week in an “OCC” game.

          Saris says the Generals play a lot of young guys, but they are a dangerous football team.  “They are playing some young players, but they play really hard.  They were up 10-0 versus Madison last week and just kind of let it slip away a little bit.  They are still play extremely hard.  Their coaches are getting those guys together.  We've got to focus on them and football.  Focus on ourselves, but also preparing for that opponent,” said Saris.

          In their losses the Generals have often been their worst enemy, but Saris says they have the guys that can make plays.  “We've talked about that a lot as a coaching staff.  They've done some things that have kind of just shot themselves in the foot, but I'm sure that they're focusing on avoiding those turnovers and getting that that ship righted,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We've got to be prepared for a team that's going to come in and be explosive offensively at times and be strong and physical.  They're really big up front on both sides of the ball, so we can't let a bully us around on the line scrimmage.”

Published 9/18/25

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Lexington Has to Take Advantage

          Lexington has another non-conference game this week as they play host to Akron North.

          Last week, they held off Clear Fork (31-28) when Joe Caudill picked off a pass in the final 30 seconds of the game.

          Coach Andrew Saris says he was very proud of his kids.  “Anytime you come away from a win versus a good team like Clear Fork it's always great for the guys.  I mean it was an instant classic.  I’m sure the spectators really enjoyed that game.  Our kids showed a lot of resiliency because it wasn't easy.  It was a back and forth game.  I was really proud of how the kids finished,” said Saris.

          Saris says the kids gained confidence from that win last week, but they also have to remain focused.  “Winning is contagious and breads really good really good attitudes, but we also have to tell our kids and not everything is perfect.  So, we have got to fix the things that that you see on film that you have got to continue to get better that's if you want to keep winning games,” he said.

          As far as practice is concerned, Saris says they have been pretty good this week.  “It's been really good.  We're maintaining a focus on ourselves while we're preparing for that opponent.  So, we have always got to put the finger on ourselves as coaches, as players, to continue to get better while preparing for that opponent,” he said.

          Lexington (2-1), #3 in the first Swankonsports.com football coaches poll, hosts the Akron North Vikings (1-2) on Friday.  North Canton Hoover walloped them (64-0) last week.

          Saris says they are athletic and they will be aggressive, which they hope to use to their advantage.  “They're an athletic football team.  They got a big win week one versus St. Thomas Aquinas.  They do a lot of different things offensively.  They're going to spread the ball out and also do some heavy packages.  Defensively, they're pretty aggressive,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We've got to take advantage of the moments where maybe they're up field and doing some things that aren't necessarily sound.  We can't let them get free in the open field.  They have got some kids that that can be really tough to tackle in situations.”

Published 9/10/25

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Lexington Has to Make Plays

          Lexington plays at home against Clear Fork of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in a non-league game on Friday night.

          The Minutemen lost (37-13) at Shelby last week.

          Trailing by two early in the third quarter, coach Andrew Saris says they let it get away from them.  “A disappointing outcome.  We had ourselves in a position to go and win that football game in the second half and didn't execute, which is a tough thing as a football team.  Something all good football teams do is they learn from their mistakes.  They have really short memories and they move on to the next one,” he said.

          Saris says on defense they did not execute very well and on offense they have to a better job when they get in scoring position.  “Defensively, they did some nice things offensively, which caused our defense to kind of play on our heels and just make some mental mistakes.  Offensively, we just didn't execute in the red zone and that's a killer.  Last year, we were having difficulties because we weren't getting points in the red zone.  We knew we were going to have to score touchdowns to match Shelby.  We just couldn’t get in that end zone.  We have a big score in the second half and we give up a kickoff return for a touchdown.  Those are the things we have got to shore up.  Make sure the kids understand what their mistakes were and move on to the Clear Fork Colts,” said Saris.

          Lexington (1-1) hosts Clear Fork (2-0) on Friday.  The Colts buried Zanesville (39-0) last week.

          Saris says this week they have to make some big plays.  “They're really strong in the trenches.  I think they really have bought into that philosophy offensively.  They're going to try to grind you out and then pop a big one.  They do some nice things.  They will throw the ball around and make big plays with it, but ultimately they want to they want to live off of two tight ends, two backs and running the football on you,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday evening, “Defensively, that 3-3 stack they're running just is different.  It's a different look.  We've just got to be able to block and execute and maybe more important make them miss some tackles so we can have some bigger gains.”

Published 9/04/25

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Lexington Can’t Panic

          Lexington will be at Shelby for a huge non-conference game with postseason playoff implications on Friday night.

          Lots of points will be on the line.

          The Minutemen last week beat Ontario (36-16) in their first game.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they still made a lot of mistakes.  “Anytime you come away with a win in any fashion it's always good for your team.  We have a lot of stuff to work on.  We turned the ball over way too much.  That's something we really harped just simple ball security.  Luckily, we were able to be in a spot where the other team, Ontario, wasn't able to capitalize on it.  Going against Shelby this week we can't do those things.  We can't have those penalties, can't get pushed by the chains and can’t turn the ball over,” he said.

          Shelby hammered Madison (56-14) last week in their opener.

          Saris says the Whippets make you cover a lot of things.  “They're well managed, well coached on both sides of the ball.  Offensively, they're going to try to formation you to death.  They're going to do some shifts and do some motions.  Now, we have focused this week on not letting them panic us.  Keeping everything in front of us and being aggressive.  So, that's something we're really going to focus on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Brayden DeVito at quarterback is just a tremendous athlete.  This will be the fourth year now we've faced them.  We've just have got to try to not keep him comfortable all night.  I think you go at him.  Not let him just have his free time and let him run around and create.  Defensively, I think they do a tremendous job up front.  They're extremely physical.  They want to stop that run first and foremost and they know that we're trying to run the football and we're capitalizing on our skilled kids deep down the field.  So, it's going to be a great battle.”

          Devito threw for three TD’s and ran for another last week.  Last year, against Lexington he threw for 272 and ran for 62 in a (21-10) win over the Minutemen.  Shelby has won eight straight games against Lexington.

          Saris says they have to force DeVito into quick decisions.  “They still first and foremost want to run the football, whether it's with him or the multitude of running backs.  Containing him and making it so that we're putting that pressure in his face and force him to throw the ball quick.  He's going to make his plays.  He's a tremendous athlete.  Just a really great manager of the ball game.  So, we know that he's going to make his plays here and there, but we just can't panic, we can't fret, and we have got to make them continue to take snaps,” said Saris.

Published 8/28/25

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Lexington Wants to be True to Them

          Lexington plays at home against non-conference rival Ontario on Friday night.

          This rivalry dates back to the 1960s and the old Johnny Appleseed Conference.

          This year Lexington has been identified as one of the better teams in the area, but coach Andrew Saris says they can’t be listening to the noise. “It's only people that know what's going on and what we're doing is people who are showing up every day at practice and are out there it's in the locker room.  We’re just really focused on ourselves right now.  Even with a big week one opponent in the Ontario Warriors, but we're really pointing the finger back at us and figure out what do we have to do to make ourselves better.  We're focused on that opponent, but what can we do on our part to make ourselves better,” said Saris.

          Ontario is coming off a year in which they made it to the regional final in division IV.  They did graduate a lot of kids, but Saris expects them to still be very good.  “There's still a great football team.  I still think they make their money in the trenches.  They're really strong up front on both sides of the ball.  I think they've done a nice job of filling some spots that they lost with some seniors last year with some talented underclassmen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We know we're going into a football team that’s been on a roll the last few seasons.  They've had our number, so we're just going to focus on ourselves, what we can do to be better.  Go out there and be the best version of Lexington football on Friday night.”

          The Warriors have won the last three meetings between the teams, including (31-14) last year.

          Being game one, of course, there is no game film, only scrimmage, but Saris says that makes the process of preparing more interesting.  “It kind of makes it fun, a little bit stressful, but it does make it fun.  We're going to prepare based off of what we've seen on film, but we also want to work on our reaction how we handle adversity when they do things that we haven't necessarily practiced, but it's still something that we have lined up to before.  We know how to defend.  We have just got to be able to make those adjustments and not panic when it happens,” he said.

Published 8/20/25

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Lexington Has to Maintain Focus

          Lexington is excited to get the football season started in 10 days and they have the talent to do some damage.

          They open the season at home August 22 against non-conference rival Ontario.

          Coach Andrew Saris says he likes that his team has faced adversity well this year.  “I've seen some grittiness.  We're a competitive group, which is pretty fun. Anywhere from our senior group to that group that we've got playing as the scout team.  So, I like seeing that.  I like the competitive edge to them.  I like the fact that they want to line up, but at this point now we've got to really focus on the fundamentals and the scouting reports that we're starting to get from our week one opponent,” said Saris.

          A key this season, according to Saris, is they have to be focused at all times.  “If there's only one or two guys that don't do that particular role in that play and go from being electric to being in a really bad play or really a negative play on both sides of the ball.  So, we're trying to shore up those details get our guys ready,” he said.

          Lexington scrimmaged Galion last Friday and Saris says that was good to play someone with a different colored jersey.  “I think I mentioned to you a couple nights ago.  We were just irritable I felt like until we got a chance to scrimmage Galion on Friday.  We just needed to hit somebody else.  We can all relate to that when you're around your family,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “At this point in time we're probably all around each other more than we are actually families, which is why we call each other a family.  We got a little irritable, but it was nice to get that out of the way and we have got another one versus Buckeye Valley this Friday.”

          With division I college signees Brayden Fogle and Joe Caudill, and other top level talent, there are high expectations for the Minutemen, but Saris says they must keep their perspective.  “There are some high expectations, but we just got to focus on ourselves and block out that noise.  It's exciting, I'm excited for us, but ultimately it's only those people who are in that locker room every single day that truly know what's going on and what we're working for.  So, we have got to make sure we keep our focus on our goals,” said Saris.

Published 8/12/25

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Wooster Bombs Lexington

          It must have felt a bit like a blitzkrieg to Lexington on Tuesday.

          Wooster didn’t almost push them into the Atlantic, or the Clear Fork Reservoir if you will, but they did send 17 batters to the plate in the first inning and put 11 runs on the board on their way to a (17-0) five inning destruction of the Minutemen in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.

          The Generals had six hits in that first inning alone and coach Steve Young says he liked their approach at the plate.  “That was little unusual.  We have been really harping on guys in practice on their approaches and being on a swing plane and just pitch selection.  So, they did a good job in the first inning of kind of putting some pressure on them early and things kind of snowballed from there.  But that's a good team, a good coached program, so we know (Wednesday) we have to come back ready to go.  They're not going to lay down, so we got to come back (Wednesday) same focus same intensity and try and do again,” said Young.

          Lexington had at least one chance to get out of that first inning with less damage, but didn’t make the play.

          Coach Jeff Strickler says it wasn’t their day.  “Sometimes it happens.  Give them credit, they came out hitting the ball really well.  There were a few of them where we didn’t make a play on and that was that.  Once we got by the first inning we did make a few plays, but still not enough,” he said.

          Wooster didn’t hit any home runs in the game, but they totaled six doubles and Young says they had got a lot of batting practice the last several days and it showed on Tuesday.  “We started the season really, really slow offensively.  I really think it was due to a lack of really any kind of consistent practice time outside of the cage.  So, we've had a really, really good several days of work here since last Thursday.  Getting on the field, hitting for hours.  Guys getting to see the trajectory of the balls they are hitting,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We start off on the tee making sure we're staying inside through the baseball.  I think the guys starting to see it's working, so we have got we got sick with it.  We have got to make sure that we stay strong on our backside, have a good, strong top hand and hit line drives everywhere.”

          Wooster’s home baseball field was not ready until last Friday.  The Generals (8-2,5-1) hosts Lex (7-4,4-1) on Wednesday at their place.  Both trail New Philadelphia by a game in the “OCC” standings.  The Quakers beat Ashland (9-6) on Tuesday.

          After the explosion in the first inning, Wooster added two in the third and four in the fourth.  Young was happy with their focus.  “That was a big key.  After we got their three outs in the bottom of the first we brought them up and we said hey we have got to maintain focus.  We didn't come here to play a half of an inning or one inning.  We came here to play seven innings.  So, we wanted to make sure that we kept our demeanor, our same approach, our same intensity for all for all seven innings.  It just so happened that we ended up playing five.  I'm proud of that.  In the past we've had teams that have kind of relaxed.  Last year we were up 9-0 on West Holmes and it ended up being a 9-8 game, so we brought that up as well.  Just make sure that we're playing the game the right way at all times,” said Young.

Published 4/23/25

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Lexington Must Take Advantage

          Lexington locks horns with Sandusky on Friday night in a division III district final at Willard High School.

          It’s a one game final, but the tip off in the game is 6PM.

          Sandusky (16-7) outscored Mansfield Senior (31-11) in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to be the Tygers (72-58) in a semifinal game.

          They have played the best schedule by far of anyone in this area and Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says they really are battle tested.  “They were playing division I basketball last year in the tournament.  They brought back all five starters, just an incredible team.  Then they put together a schedule that was just unbelievable and they went through it.  I think they've learned a lot, they've developed, they've lost some games, but they've got the experience of those games.  So, it's going to be a challenge for my guys.  We're excited about it being in the district final and hopefully things work out well for us,” said Hamilton.

          The Blue Streaks will get up in your grill and defend you and Hamilton says they must be ready to execute against that.  “I think that's at the top of the list.  You really have to handle their pressure, you have to know that it's coming.  There's no secret it's coming.  Their MO is they want to turn you over, they want to create that tempo, and that atmosphere and they just want to keep bringing it for 32 minutes,” he said.

          Lexington (20-3) beat Ashland (69-48) in their semifinal on Wednesday.

          All of people are pointing to a game played January 4 when Sandusky rocked Lexington (82-60), but it’s important to note that Brayden Foggle, maybe Lexington’s best player, and a matchup problem for Sandusky, did not play in that game.

          Hamilton says they have to go to their strengths.  “I hope that we can take advantage of their weaknesses, if we can find any.  Back when we played them the first time we had a major conference game on Friday night and we just had that one day turn around, which everybody does and it was just difficult for us to try to simulate what they do in a morning practice to get ready for them and they executed very well, they did their job very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Hopefully, it was a little bit more time and practice we're able to, and fall back on as far as the memories of that game on what we did not do well, hopefully we can improve on that and we'll have a much better showing in the in the district final.”

Published 2/28/25

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Lexington Rolls Over Ashland

          Lexington guards Seven Allen, Gavin Husty and Jakob Legron combined to make nine threes and score 48 points and the Lexington Minutemen smoked Ashland (69-48) in a division III district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

          The Minutemen (20-3) return Friday night to Willard to play Sandusky (16-7) for a district title.  The Blue Streaks beat Mansfield Senior (72-58) in the nightcap.

          Ashland is a team that lives and dies on perimeter shots, but Lexington was better from beyond the arch on Tuesday night making (10-23) chances while Ashland was (7-18) on threes.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says it was a goal to score from the perimeter.  “It's something for them we were concerned about because that's how they score their points.  Then for us, we were hoping that we could get a guy in rhythm, get a guy or two in rhythm and take advantage of some open perimeter action.  We knew we had an advantage inside.  We had to make some adjustments with about a minute 1:25 of the first quarter when one of big guys picks up his second foul.  I thought the guys handled it well, build up a little bit of lead, we went to the locker room at the halftime I told the guys we survived in the first half with one of our starters on the bench we just have got to go out and finish it,” said Hamilton.

          Against the Minutemen you have to give up some things and Ashland coach Jason Hess says the Minutemen made a lot of outside shots are key times.  “When you look at it with the 10 threes they made, that's one of the things that makes it really tough to guard.  I thought we did a nice job of defending inside the paint, we rebounded well, we limited turnovers, but it's a shot making game and (Tuesday) night they made shots and we didn’t,” said Hess.

          One of Lexington’s big guys Joe Caudill was saddled with early foul trouble and played only 12 minutes and Hamilton says they made the decision to keep him out almost the entire first half.  “We discussed it a little bit about putting him in the first half, but as long as we were in control of the game, we thought we would let it ride out,” he said.

          Lexington never trailed in the game.  They led (7-2) early, with Allen scoring five of the seven points.  They expanded their lead to (19-11) after one quarter of play.

          The Arrows (11-11) had their most success offensively in the second quarter getting it as close as (32-28) after a Paxon Ediger three point basket with 1:57 left in the half and then again following an Ediger hoop with :31 left which made it (34-30) at the half.

          A key may have been three first three minutes when Ashland needed to continue to play well and did not.  A Reed Emmons three with 6:37 left in the third cut the Lexington lead (34-33), but the Arrows could never take the lead.  The Arrows would count only two Gabe Baith free throws over the next five minutes of play as they Minutemen built their lead to (50-33) after a (16-0) run that pretty much put the game away.

          Hamilton says they understood the Arrows were going to come out with fire in their eyes and they responded.  “We knew that they were going to come and try to punch us in the mouth. We knew the third quarter was big for them.  We knew they wanted to play very well coming out of the half, so we told the guys we have to defend them.  We have to be in attack mode,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “The tempo has to be in our favor.  We were sprinting back or trying to sprint back on defense and cut out any of the transition.  In the last game that we played before (Tuesday) night they had 18 points in transition or off of second chance opportunities in the paint.  We definitely wanted to limit that this time.”

          Hess says Lexington made some adjustments to their zone offense, but more than anything the Arrows just didn’t make any shots.  “I thought they made some adjustments to the zone we were playing.  They were cutting to the basket and that freed up some things, so they were able to get some really good looks and layups there to start.  We quit making shots and that was a big difference there the second half, we really struggled to score,” said Hess.

          Allen led Lexington with 21, making (9-12) shots.  Legron converted five of nine threes and ended up with 17.  Ediger and Baith both had 11 for the Arrows.

          Basketball is game of matchups and Hamilton says they were able to take advantage.  “We were really trying to take advantage of they took (Nathan) Bernhard out they were extra small and we tried to take advantage of that.  So, we knew that Bernhard wasn't going to be out much.  We knew he had tired legs there,” he said.

          In a surprising stat, with Lexington’s offensive rebounding ability on the record, Ashland outrebounded them on the offensive glass 11-8.  The decisive stat however was the Minutemen made (29-49) shots for 59% and the Arrows (18-44) for 41%.

Published 2/26/25

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10-11 PM

Lexington Wants to Play to its Strengths

          Lexington and Ashland, two members of the of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, face off against each other on Tuesday night in a division III district semifinal at Willard High School.

          Mansfield Senior and Sandusky play the second semifinal.

          They played twice this season in “OCC” play with the Minutemen (19-3) taking both games, (71-54) on January 3 at Lexington, but the second one was much closer (59-58) at Ashland on February 7.  Lexington was the “OCC” champion this year.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says with the way the tournament is setup in the Northwest District you will have a lot of these kinds of third meetings.  “It’s one of the negatives I guess about having these local districts is that you've always got that chance of facing that an opponent for the third time.  I know we've had it happen in the past and the possibility of doing again.  Our first game against Madison was the same way.  So, it's just the way the Northwest District has set up and we're tickled to be in a position to be playing in a district semi,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington beat Madison (70-39) in a sectional final at Lex last Thursday.

          Ashland (11-10) chose the bye and will be playing its first tournament game on Tuesday night.

          Hamilton says they need to play really good perimeter defense in this game on Tuesday.  “They've got a very solid team and they've got a number of guys that shoot the ball very well from the three point line.  A couple of them that have got a history of getting pretty hot,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We're going to have to be definitely aware of where they are on the floor and all times and try to limit their opportunities and try to make everything tough for them.  That's easier said than done from what we've seen.  It’s just one of those things that we're going to have to continue to work to get better for that game.”

          The Ashland lineup features a lot of guys that are guards, but they also have 6’6” Nathan Bernhard, a division I football prospect, and Hamilton says he brings another dimension to this game.  “He does bring something to the table that's a little bit out of the norm of what they're trying to do so they can use them to get a couple of buckets, get a couple extra possessions from rebounds.  We've got to use our size to match up with him.  Hopefully, our guards can keep up with their scoring guards on the perimeter and we take away any advantages that they may have,” he said.

Published 2/25/25

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Lexington Has to be Ready

          Lexington, the top seed, hosts Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Mansfield Madison, on Thursday night in a division III sectional final.

          The Minutemen (18-3), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won the “OCC” title.  Madison (4-17) finished in a tie for last place.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamiton says that really doesn’t matter at this point.  “It's a fresh start for everyone.  All teams have zero wins when you get into the tournament.  So, anything can happen.  That's when people remember upsets and things like that.  So, we've been telling the guys in practice this week that we've got to make sure we're ready and we've covered all bases.  We've got to be ready to play,” he said.

          Hamilton says practice has been good this week.  He says they are working on getting better.  “We've got some things that we're cleaning up.  We've got some things that we're continuing to work on.  With it being a second season we're attacking it with a little bit of a fresh start with some things that we're trying to do.  Of course, once you get into the routine of things, that's one of the reasons that we did not want to take to bye, we wanted to continue playing every so many days.  So, if we can start the tournament with a win on Thursday against Madison then we'll be able to continue that and in three or four days we'll have another game,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington beat Madison twice in “OCC” games (65-45) December 27 and (63-49) on January 31.

          Hamilton says the Rams have suffered from a lack of consistency.  “They've got some guys that have a lot of varsity experience. Involved in a lot of games and a lot of competition, multi sport guys.  Unfortunately, they haven't been able to put it all together with a new coaching staff and players and all that stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It's bound to happen at some point.  They do put it together for a quarter here or there.  It just hasn't been for four quarters yet.  We're hoping that we could outplay them a little bit and they don't get those four quarters up on Thursday.”

Published 2/20/25

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Lexington Looks Forward to Berlin Hiland

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, will be at home for always good Berling Hiland in a non-conference game on Friday night.

          The Minutemen (17-3,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Ashland (59-58) last Friday to claim the outright “OCC” title.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a fun game.  “That was a fun game, exciting, we had a little bit of a lead, they knocked down some big shots and it went right down to the final buzzer.  When you win those games, you look back and you think about some of the things you would have done differently, but you have to enjoy them.  You have to use those examples and situations like that to move your team forward and hopefully improve,” he said.

          Berlin Hiland’s only loss this year comes to state power Harvest Prep.

          Hamilton says this is a team that expects success.  “I mean nothing but respect from my staff to coach (Mark) Schlabach and his staff and what he does year in and year out over there.  Last year's division IV state runner up.  They return four starters from that squad.  They're off to a terrific start.  I believe they're 20-1 right now or 19-1, something like that, I've not caught up with every game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They’re ranked number two in the state (division VI).  So, we're excited.  It's the type of games that we enjoy playing.  We played O-G in the last few years.  Those types of games we enjoy playing at the end of the regular season to help get you ready for the tournament.  I'm sure that that coach Schlabach and his squad will not disappoint us.”

          Hiland beat West Holmes of the “OCC” (59-19) on Tuesday night.

          Hamiton says this is a team that doesn’t make mistakes.  “They're very disciplined in what they do.  He does all of his preparation and practice and then the guys just go out and execute it.  They expect to have long tournament runs every year.  We had Princeton coming in last weekend for the same reason to get that experience and play that caliber of team and unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us, so we had to cancel that one.  This is the type of games that we really want to be playing in February, non conference games to help us get ready for tournament postseason play,” said Hamilton.

Published 2/12/25

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Lexington Goes for it All

          Lexington already has share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title and they can earn it outright with a win over Ashland in “OCC” play on Friday night at Arrow Arena.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says that was a goal at the beginning of the season.  “That's always the first choice thing everyone puts down is to win and compete for a conference championship.  We know that we've got a share of it guaranteed, but if you can go into a game and earn it outright that's just special.  So, we're really working to make that happen this year,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (16-3,10-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Ashland (10-7,5-5), a winner of three of their last four “OCC” games.

          Hamilton says it looks like the Arrows are peaking.  “They've got some very good players over there.  They're really playing with confidence shooting the ball very well.  They've put up a lot of points here in their last few games.  They're definitely somebody that's playing well at the right time of the season,” he said.

          Lexington beat Ashland (71-54) on January 3.

          Hamilton says the presence of their big guy Nathan Bernhard makes the Arrows are tough to guard.  “They're kind of a unique bird where they've got a lot of three-point shooters.  They can put three in the starting lineup and have five at any given time guys that can shoot the three ball very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They actually start a 6’6” guy inside that does demand a little bit of attention himself.  So, we've got to make sure that we locate their shooters.  We don't give them any uncontested looks and then once those shot goes up we've got to make sure that we're boxing them out and keeping that big guy off the glass and not giving them any extra opportunities.  So, it's going to be a battle for us there's no doubt about it.”

          The Minutemen will host Cincinnati Princeton on Saturday night and Hamilton says they will be a challenge too.  “There a highly ranked division I team obviously out of the Cincinnati area.  Joe Roberts, our former athletic director at Lexington, went down there and he's there AD now and so he was kind of behind getting this started.  It's just going to be a fun night and a good experience for my guys playing that caliber of team.  Another state level team, and they're a big division I school, so it's just going to be a fun experience and hopefully a learning experience for us going into tournament time,” said Hamilton.

Published 2/07/25

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Lexington Plays Mansfield Senior for First Place

          Lexington is up at Mansfield Senior with first place on the line in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          The winner takes first place to itself and likely the title for this season.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says it’s a great time of the year and it should be an outstanding matchup.  “When you get down to the middle, end of January, first of February and conference positioning is being decided you want those matchups for whatever conference you’re in, it doesn't matter, you want those matchups to matter going down the stretch.  So, here in late January it's a big match up.  We both have a single loss in the conference and it's going to be another exciting game between Lexington and Mansfield,” he said.

          Lexington (14-2,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won the first matchup (74-70) on December 20.

          Hamilton says this is kind of a different type of Mansfield Senior team.  “That's one of the things.  They brought in a freshman that came in and he's been shooting the ball well.  They're giving him a lot of freedom to be able to try to make plays.  They've kind of moved some guys around.  Rone has been there, he’s a four year player as a senior.  This year he's moved more from an inside power forward combo guard out to be a facilitator as a point guard/shooting guard, but still has the skill and the ability to take somebody to the block.  So, they're mixing things up a little bit.  They may have a little less size than what they've had in the past, but they're playing very well with the guys that they have and that's what you'd expect from a well coached program,” said Hamilton.

          Mansfield Senior (10-4,7-1), #2 in our poll, is coming off a (72-71) overtime win over Ashland last Friday in conference play.

          Of course, Lexington’s Brayden Fogle, the defending “OCC” player of year, did not play in the first game.  Hamilton says there will be some changes in personnel.  “They were missing Ny Petty the first time we played too, so there's going to be a couple new faces in the rotation when we face each other this time.  They had Ny Petty to start the season and he got injured.  We're just kind of getting Brayden back and figuring out his positioning and rotation and then the chemistry so to speak,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Obviously, he's got definite basketball background.  So, yeah just kind of have some new faces out there.  Again, I think it'll add to the interest and add to the excitement.  Unfortunately, it's just the way that the scheduling goes, but it's just too bad this is a Tuesday night game.  I know some people will miss out on being in the stands because it's Tuesday, but I think it's going to be an exciting game and well attended game nonetheless.”

          Hamilton predicts this will be a four quarter game and they are going to have to make plays late to win.  “It's going to come down to the to the end because I don't think that any lead will be safe during the course of this game.  You're going to have to be a full 32 minutes focused and locked in on what you're trying to do and what you're trying to accomplish.  I think when it comes right down to it when you have got two teams that can apply some pretty good pressure and put defense out there, you're going to have to just rely on kids to make good decisions and make plays,” said Hamilton.

Published 1/28/25

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Perimeter Defense Key for Lexington

          Lexington hosts Wooster in an important game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.

          The Minutemen share first place in the conference with Mansfield Senior.  Wooster is a game back.  Lexington plays at Mansfield Senior this coming Tuesday night.

          Last Friday, the Minutemen made some free throws and made some plays late to edge and improved New Philadelphia (56-49) in league play.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they made the winning plays.  “We were able to get a lead late and did some things down the stretch.  Did a nice job hitting some free throws and that took care of the ball late in the game and got that good win in the “OCC”.  They are a very disciplined team, they've got some shooters, they like to spread the floor and make driving lanes and shooting spots.  So, I was really pleased with the way the guys played to get that win,” he said.

          Lexington (12-2,7-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Wooster (7-6,5-2) on Friday night.  The Generals have lost four of their last five.

          They did beat Lexington (75-68) on December 17.

          Hamilton says they must play very sound defense.  “They shot the ball just so well.  They had five guys in the scoring column and four of them double digits, you know big numbers.  They shot the ball just so well and a lot of those shots fell for them with a hand in their face,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've got to make sure that we're right there.  It's not very often that we give up 75 points, but it was over at their place.  We've got to make sure that we're right there on these catches this game and make sure that we're ready for those guys to play a full 32 minutes.  We were up nine late in the third and let it get away from us.  So, we've got to make sure we play a full 32 minutes against those guys.”

          Hamilton says you must be ready for every game in the “OCC”.  “I say this all the time, and I know I'm not the only one in the “OCC”, but it is a very competitive league.  Even if the team that's in the first place is playing the team that's in seventh place, you're going to be in a battle.  It's still going to be a good test and that's one of the things that all of us coaches that are in the “OCC” what we really like about it,” he said.

Published 1/24/25

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Lexington Wants to Take the Next Step

          Lexington, the “OCC” co-leader, will play at West Holmes on Wednesday and at home against New Philadelphia on Friday in Ohio Cardinal Conference games.

          The Minutemen share first with Mansfield Senior.

          Saturday, they beat Perkins (62-56) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they had to rally in the second half to do it.  “That was an all around good game for us.  Not a good first half, but I thought the guys rallied and made some adjustments and things at halftime.  I thought the guys did a nice job down 11 at halftime.  We tied it up after three and then went on for the win.  So, I think we had a little bit of that sluggish start from the last game when we came off that loss.  We reminded the guys a little bit about some things that we wanted to do against this new team, not like the one we had lost too. I thought they did a nice job recovering from that and we walked off the court with a win and that's what you're always trying to do,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (10-2,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at West Holmes (0-9,0-6) on Wednesday night.  The Minutemen won the first meeting (72-44) on December 6.

          Hamilton says they must have focus.  “They're a very young team.  They play a lot of sophomores, just have one junior in their starting lineup, but they play a lot of sophomores here.  So, the future potentially is bright for them over there, but right now they're going through their struggles.  A lot of what they're doing right now is just a learning process.  We still respect them and what they're capable of.  We try to treat them just like every opponent and break them down individually and then recognize what they do as a team.  They've got some talent over there.  We have got to make sure that we're going into their place as prepared as we can be,” he said.

          Tuesday is a big day for the Lexington program.  Junior Brayden Fogle and his family will meet with his medical team.  They hope he will be cleared to play.  He has been out all season with a hand injury suffered in football.

          Hamilton says with a month left in the regular season now is when you want to make final preparations.  “You've got to continue to grow and we're at the halfway point of the season right now beginning of January and such.  Your kind of catching your second wind, you're looking forward to some things, but you're also kind of managing legs and stuff like that as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Your kind of putting those pieces in their final place that we talked about back in November and December where you're trying to figure out your team.  So, now that's starting to come together and you're putting all in your playbook and all that stuff.  You hope to just start executing well.”

          New Philadelphia (7-5,4-3) has beat Wooster (54-52) and Ashland (63-49) in “OCC” games last week.

          Hamilton says the Quakers are playing well.  “Two “OCC” games in a week, it doesn't happen very often.  The second one for us is New Philly on Friday, luckily we've got that one at home.  We were able to pull out a win over at their place and they and that was early in the season.  So, they've definitely improved, they’ve got a lot of their pieces are working very well together right now.  Coach (Zach) Ross does a nice job getting those guys to believe in themselves and to do the little things, the fundamentally sound little things that successful teams do and that's no surprise that they're playing well mid season,” said Hamilton.

Published 1/14/25

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Lexington Must Battle Back

          Lexington now only plays one game this week as they host Sandusky Perkins in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Their Friday night Ohio Cardinal Conference game at West Holmes has been moved to next Wednesday.  Many schools are either moving days or at least times Friday night to avoid a conflict with Ohio State football.

          Last Saturday, the Minutemen suffered just their second loss of the season when they were rocked (82-60) by Sandusky in a non-league game.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says the Blue Streaks were able to put some runs together.  “It was a good contest to start off and it was a challenge for my guys.  Unfortunately for us we didn’t handle certain situations well and once things started to go bad it just kind of snowballed for us.  We battled and I thought we did a lot of things well, but I think from watching film and everything Sandusky is definitely at full strength right now and they had a very good game on Saturday.  Not to take anything away from them, but they played a very good game.  It just was one of those nights where we just couldn't get anything really going,” said Hamilton.

          Sandusky scored 38 points off Lexington turnovers.

          Hamilton says they must learn from that game.  “You just have to point out the things to your team of what you've got to get better at.  It could be a skill set, it could be decision making, it just could be handling some adversity.  It's a number of things that for us specifically with that game.  One of my coaches made a good comment when you play games like this you either win or you learn.  So, we have to take that as a learning experience and grow from it and make sure that we're getting better,” he said.

          Lexington (9-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Sandusky Perkins (6-2) on Saturday.

          Hamilton says this will be another big test.  “Coming off of a very successful football run and they have a lot of guys that transition from football to basketball.  Being successful and winning and competing and preparing.  Those are attitudes, those are things that translate.  So, we know that they are a successful basketball program up there,” he told Swankonports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're going to be coming to our place.  It's another good game with a very successful team that we're going to have to be ready for.  They shoot the ball very well.  They like to play a little bit up tempo, but if you slow them down, they've got some good half court stuff.  So, we got to be able to play a full game.  Of course, with it being right after a loss we've got to make sure that we have a good showing.”

Published 1/08/25

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Lexington Must Defend Shooters

          Lexington, a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will play at home against the Ashland Arrows in a conference game on Friday night.

          They trail Wooster by a game in the “OCC” standings.

          They came up with two 20 point wins last weekend in beating Madison (65-45) on Friday in a league game and Shelby (73-53) in non-conference action on Saturday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton was happy.  “Anytime you can get an “OCC” win and then compete, battle, and win a game with local rival if you will you have got to consider that to be a successful weekend.  We had a brand new coach over there at Madison that we were facing on Friday night.  It took us a little while to figure some things out, but we got it going late and was able to close that one out successfully,” he told swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Then Saturday jumped on the bus and went over there to Shelby to face someone that we've had a lot of good games with the last couple of years.  It didn't disappoint either.  It was an exciting game and fortunately for us we were able to leave Shelby with a win.  So, going 2-0 for the weekend is always a good feeling.”

          Lexington (8-1,4-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, will entertain Ashland (5-3,2-2) on Friday night.  The Arrows beat New Philadelphia (49-43) in an “OCC” game last Friday and then downed Dover (58-42) on Saturday.

          Hamilton says they can balance the floor.  “That's something that Ashland has been known for over the last few years.  They've always got their shooters and good guard play.  They really like the three ball.  This year they've got a number of those guys.  So, we're going to have to be on our heels and ready to play some good defense all over the place.  If you put too much focus on that they have got a 6’6” guy inside that he can post up and put it in the bucket as well.  So, it's going to be a challenge for us.  We expect nothing less will it being an “OCC” contest,” he said.

          With multiple shooters, Hamilton says Ashland can easily get on a run.  “They're very good at that once they get relaxed and comfortable taking those shots, playing, getting up and down the floor.  They play at such a tempo that a little bit of a run or a little bit of a spurt can turn into something big for them.  So, we've got to make sure that we're ready for that.  Like I said there's a number of them, there's not just one guy or even two guys for them.  It could be any one of three or four guys that get hot.  So, we're going to have to be ready, there's no doubt about it.  It’s an “OCC” matchup, like I keep hitting that, and that's why we like the conference,” said Hamilton.

Published 1/01/25

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Lexington Getting Ready for Madison

          Lexington hosts Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night looking to continue to build momentum.

          They edged rival Mansfield Senior (74-70) last Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they made just enough plays.  “It was a nice rivalry contest.  For most of the game it was anyone who could just gain an advantage was going to be in the lead.  We missed a bunch of free throws and we had some silly possessions, but at the end of the night we did enough things right between two good teams to come out on top,” he said.

          The Minutemen only made 13-26 free throws in the game.

          They beat Ontario (75-50) in a non-league game on Saturday night.

          Lexington (6-1,3-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for Madison (3-5,1-2) on Friday night.  The Rams won their last “OCC” game (52-41) at West Holmes on Friday and their last game overall (49-46) over Clear Fork on Monday.

          Hamilton says they want to get the game moving.  “You try to figure out their philosophy a little bit and try to figure out what he's trying to do.  Not that that having a long time coach in place makes it easy, but when you have got returning players you know what they've done in the past, but you have got to throw it all out the window.  What coach (Davey) Hipp is doing over there.  He's trying to spread the ball around a little bit.  Not just one guy's doing all the scoring.  So, we have got to make sure that we get in there and we're going to be able to cover all of them.  Then we have got to figure out a way to score against their defensive.  They've been in some lower scoring games, so we've got to make sure that we get good, uncontested shots when we have the ball in our hands,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says the Holidays can be difficult to navigate lots of times.  “It's one of those things that's always been kind of tough when you when you get in the Christmas week.  Everything changes, your schedule changes.  You try to accommodate the kids the best you can because it is their break.  So, you don't want to eat up all their time.  So, you try to schedule things, but still give them the feeling of a break and being with family, whether they're traveling a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “The comforting thing is you know that everybody else is dealing with it in the same way.  So, you try to really gear up before Christmas and do as much as you can and then over break it's a little bit of review, specific study, but you do have to have some relaxing time because you have got to know that the kids are coming in and they're not walking the halls for school for six or seven hours a day and then come into practice.  They might be just getting out of bed or maybe they're hanging with their friends for a couple of hours before practice.  So, it is a different animal, there's no doubt about it, but luckily for me I've been doing it for a little while, so I've kind of become used to it.”

Published 12/24/24

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Lexington Must Contain Mansfield Senior

          Lexington is home for Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night in one of the premier boys’ basketball matchups of the season for far.

          The Minutemen (4-1,2-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, lost for the first time this year (75-68) to Wooster on Tuesday night.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says the Generals shot it very well.  “That was a good game over there at Wooster.  They had a couple of guys really step up and shoot the ball very well.  You’re not going to give up 75 points in a night and expect a good outcome.  So, we need to definitely do better Friday against Mansfield Senior defensively, no question about it.  Hopefully, it refocused us a little bit and threw a spark at us and we'll get after it on Friday,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (5-0,3-0), #1 in our poll, held off Ashland (66-59) in an “OCC” game on Tuesday.

          Hamilton says they execute well on offense and are getting on the boards.  “They're just very unselfish.  The ball is moving around a lot.  They have got a lot of guys taking shots and knocking it down.  They do have a leading scorer without question, but they've got a lot of guys that are putting points on the board and contributing.  He's got a pretty deep bench that he’s relying on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Typical Mansfield defense.  They're getting after it, they're limiting you to one shot and they're getting up the floor and getting good looks.  So, I think it's going to be another competitive game like we always have between Lexington and Mansfield and hopefully if we're prepared for it we'll be ready for the battle.”

          Freshman Kaylen Brooks has been making a lot of perimeter shots and Hamilton says that adds another dimension to the Tygers game.  “They have a couple of new guys.  A transfer and then they have a freshman playing very well for them shoots the ball very consistently and then they've got the guys that returned from last year's roster that very solid very good players.  So, it starts with Kyevi Roane and we're going to have to make sure we know where he's at.  Again they’re probably are a little bit more perimeter oriented than what they've been in the past.  They don't have that inside big man like they have, but they still shoot the ball very well, they defend very well, they rebound very well.  So, in a lot of ways it's going to be a regular Mansfield team that we're going to have to prepare for,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says the “OCC” is going to be a battle this year.  “This is one of the reasons that we really do enjoy being in the “OCC”.  Talking about the game with Wooster, not to say that it's a big school versus small school by any means, but playing that good competition night in and night out in the “OCC” and Mansfield is definitely a big part of that that makes just the “OCC” so competitive,” he said.

Published 12/19/24

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Lexington With Tough Assignment at New Philly

          In a key early season matchup in the Ohio Cardinal Conference Lexington will be at New Philadelphia on Friday night to battle the Quakers.

          They beat West Holmes (72-44) in their opening league game on Friday and then beat Dover, soon to be in the “OCC” (55-42) on Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a good weekend for them.  “Our first goal every season is to compete and battle for the “OCC” title and so Friday night was definitely important for that with it being the first “OCC” game of the season.  Then jumping on the bus and heading over there to Dover.  If my information is correct that's the first time Lexington and Dover have ever met up on a basketball court.  We knew their tradition, we knew the history of success that they have over there and we were kind of excited to walk out of their gym with a win,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (3-0,1-0) is at New Philadelphia (2-2,0-1) on Friday night.  The Quakers fell to Mansfield Senior (62-57) in their “OCC” opener last Friday and then lost a heartbreaker (59-56) in double overtime to Marietta in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

          Hamilton says the Quakers do a lot of things really well, like normal.  “Zach (Ross) does a nice job over there.  He's got a nice group, he's got a good mixture of shooters, he's got some inside size, he typically likes to run those sets, and likes the half court game.  He mixes it up a little bit playing man to man defense with some zone.  He's got a lot of different things that he can throw at you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “He's been successful since he's been there.  So, to play the first game between the two of us over on their floor is always tough going to their place, a lot of history and tradition again, on that floor.  We're going to have to make sure that we're ready for about anything they can throw at us and unfortunately that playbook is normally pretty big.”

          Hamilton says when playing New Philadelphia, you have to be very good at adjusting because they will be.  “It's also sort of a way to where if you attack him with this then he's got a book load of sets that counter that action.  If you're switching, if you go zone, depending on what you do.  So, you really have to be kind of a utility knife.  You have got to be able to do a little bit of everything against them to be able to have any success,” he said.

Published 12/13/24

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Lexington Moving Forward

          Lexington faces a double weekend and they will play those games without one of their better players.

          They host West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night and travel to Dover for a non-league game, for now, on Saturday afternoon.

          The Minutemen beat Clear Fork (65-51) last Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they played well for a first game.  “It was just good to get out on the floor and actually get some competition.  It was kind of twofold for us.  We had a small portion of our guys in the gym since November 1.  We had cancelled some scrimmages, so they were chomping at the bit to see some action.  Then our football guys came in late.  We only had 5-6 days of practicing with them to get them ready for the game.  So, that was obviously a major concern, but we played well enough, we played hard enough, and we did enough things correctly to get the win.  So, now we're just going to hopefully each day in practice we're just getting a little bit better.  We know we're not a polished instrument yet, but hopefully by the end of the season everything will be going smoothly,” he said.

          Junior Brayden Fogle, a starter his freshman and sophomore years, did not play against Clear Fork.  Hamilton says they are not sure when they will get him back.  “It's a little bit up in the air right now.  We're not really sure.  It's one of those deals where he's got to give some attention to an injury.  It's going to be evaluated like every week, two weeks as the healing process goes on.  So, we're planning, we have a season and we've got to play through it.  If he comes back at any point then that's a great addition for us, but we can't be hoping for him to come back tomorrow or next week and then find out it's going to be another week and have to change everything.  So, it's just one of those deals we know it's going to be a few weeks.  We're hoping maybe around Christmas, first of the year, but if it's even longer than that then we have got to make sure that we're ready and prepared,” said Hamilton.

          West Holmes (0-1) was smoked by Sugarcreek Garaway (81-46) on Tuesday night in their first game.

          Hamilton says they have a lot talent.  “They’re a young talented team that is surrounding a veteran big man inside.  They're big guy is a junior, a 6’7” kid, been on varsity before.  Really trying kind of maturing and growing into a zone with his with his frame and then he's got a bunch of sophomores around him that play hard.  They've got good length.  They've got solid size and they can shoot the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We're going to need to make sure that we're ready defensively for these guys and we can impose our will on the offensive end.  I think it's going to be a typical “OCC” matchup.  We have got to go in and we have got to be ready to play.  If we don't you know then it's going to be a battle.  I think we have got to prepare for these young talented kids coming into the gym Friday.”

          When it comes to Dover, Hamilton says he is aware of the Crimson Tornadoes mostly because of hall of fame coach Bob Van Kaenel.  “I know the coach a lot better than they know the team.  He's been around for a very, very long time.  Actually, just stepped down and now he's an assistant coach and his son (Matt) took over his head coach.  So, I know the assistant coach pretty well.  We had a couple of teams drop us from last year's schedule and we needed to pick up games and they're going to be in the conference soon, so we just went ahead and scheduled them with a home and away to kind of help us out a little bit with our scheduling.  They're very traditionally a half court team.  They're very patient on offense, annoying on the defensive end.  They've been very successful.  They've gotten a lot of wins over the last 20 years and rightfully so.  They do things the right way.  I think with the changing of the guard over there going from it being the father to the son now as the head coach a lot of those things are going to stay the same.  I'm sure they'll continue to be successful.  So, we've got our work cut out for us once again this weekend with a with a young quality team coming in on Friday night and jumping on the road and going over to their place and playing Dover, a quality program, if you will with a first year head coach,” said Hamilton.

Published 12/05/24

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Lexington Ready for Clear Fork

          They haven’t had much practice, but Lexington is ready to open the season at home against Clear Fork on Friday night in non-conference play.

          Lexington won two playoff football games this fall and coach Scott Hamilton says that means their preseason was a lot different.  “We're dealing with a team that played 13 weeks of football and those guys are just really starting to funnel into the gym, so we're trying to cram a bunch of stuff into a couple guys heads.  The rest of them we've had in there since November 1.  So, we're just going to make the best of it knowing that at the end of the regular season everybody makes the tournament and that's when we hope we're peaking,” he said.

          Hamilton has said in the past that they are going to be kind of vanilla early in the season and he emphasizes that will be the case again Friday.  “We try to keep it simple early on and just make sure everybody's in good conditioning and things like that.  Even with limited days you just have got to do what you can.  We're going to have some new faces and trying to work that into the system.  You really don't want to be peaking in early December anyways.  So, I mean there's a lot of things that we need to work on still without question.  We didn't see any major reason to worry about trying to muscle up the schedule and get that all confusion going with changing the dates,” said Hamilton.

          When it comes to Clear Fork, Hamilton says they have a number of guys that will be new to varsity basketball.  “They're going to have more new faces than what we do, there's no doubt about it.  They graduated a lot of seniors last year.  They bring back a very special player inside in Holz, so we're aware of him.  We've got to be aware of him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Other than that they got a lot of they’ve got a lot of new faces.  We're not really sure who's going to be out on the floor all the time.  Knowing what they graduated it's just going to be a lot of new guys and a lot of new athletes and stuff.  So, we're just going to have to try to cover as much as we can and be as prepared as we can for no matter what they throw.”

Published 11/28/24

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High Expectations Again at Lexington

          Lexington, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion and district runner-up, has high expectations again this season.

          It has been a late start to full basketball practice because the Minutemen played three playoff football games.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they played with the cards they were delt.  “It’s had a huge effect.  It’s just something you have to deal with not getting your guys for the first few weeks of practice season and scrimmage.  We really had a high number of guys between all of our high school teams freshman, JV, and varsity, I think we had about 14 guys that were still connected to football and going to practices and preparing for those playoff games.  So, we kept moving forward with the guys that we did have and worked with them just like we always would.  We just thought that hopefully when we got those guys in there and gave them an opportunity to try out, we'd be able to move it along,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says a lot of kids that normally wouldn’t have gotten as many touches in the preseason did this year.  “Typically, when a roster is set, it's done, and you're in full practice.  If you have got a guy that's second string, he might not get as many touches on the basketball or as many opportunities to work out with a play or with the starting lineup if you will.  So, what we kind of had was a mixture.  We had a couple of starters in practice, a couple of bench guys, then actually had some JV guys that were practicing with the varsity.  Everything kind of just bumped, so the freshman guys were playing the JV schedule for us doing what the JV normally does.  So, we still had a good 16 guys in the gym, but it's just that 10 of them were freshmen,” he said.

          With a lot of talent returning to go along with the tradition of the basketball program at Lexington, Hamilton says those expectations are again very high for this team.  “You can even complain about it.  You can state it I guess, but it's one of those things that you really kind of celebrate when the expectations are high.  Of course, you want them to be realistic, but when you have those high expectations that means you're doing something right and you've got good players to be able to be put on the court,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We know that we've got to make sure that we are ready to play by the first game.  We discussed it, went back and forth a little bit, about maybe looking at rescheduling early.  At the same time, we were moving along with the guys that we did have and we felt everybody else would come in rather quickly and then we'd be able to try to get some things going.  It's all about peaking at the end of January and February.  You don't want to be at your best Thanksgiving weekend.  So, we thought it was just the right thing to do rather than mudding in the schedule all up and trying to find odd days to move a game too.  So, we're going to do it and move forward.”

Published 11/21/24

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Lexington Girls Open on Saturday

          Lexington plays Norwayne in the Smithville Barn Ball Classic on Saturday in their opening girls’ basketball game of the season.

          Last year, Lady Lex was a team that got a lot better as the season went on.

          Coach Gabby Stover says this year’s team has some experience and at the same time some younger kids.  “We're kind of a mix.  We have a few key players back for us and we also have a transfer from Madison and we have got a few girls that have been younger and haven’t had their chance to step up yet and we have them as well.  So, we're a little bit of a mix,” he said.

          Stover says they will have an athletic team this year.  “I think I have a great group as far as girls go and personalities and I think as far as that I'm really lucky in that case.  I think that we are young in most portions.  We're pretty fast and a very athletic team,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think that as we get going here a little more standard and discipline they'll be in good shape.  So, happy with what I'm seeing now.  We just have got to keep moving in the right direction.  Plenty of stuff to work on.”

          At this point of the season kids are getting anxious to play a game.  Stover, who was a player at Lexington just four years ago, says she understands that and is trying to make things more interesting this week.  “I think that it's very crucial for me as a coach, especially being a player I remember if you didn't have a game in a week it was like my gosh these weeks are dragging.  So, I try to keep practices new and light and incorporate new drills and keep things going, keep them competitive and keep people interested in the game every day.  So, I think that helps a lot that I can relate to that,” said Stover.

Published 11/19/24

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Lexington Has to do What They do

          Lexington faces defending state champion Toledo Central Catholic on Friday night in a division III regional quarterfinal at Tiffin Columbian High School.

          The Minutemen might have played their best game of the season, certainly fourth quarter, in beating Rocky River (49-29) in quarterfinal action.  They have now won two games on the road in the playoffs.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they did a lot of good things, but they weren’t perfect.  “I think putting up 49 points is good for us, it's pretty impressive, however, we did do some things that that weren't the best.  We had too many penalties.  In terms of offense and defense, I thought they both played really well.  Even did a nice job of finishing out a game that we were down two scores in the third quarter,” he said.

          Lexington (7-5) plays Toledo Central Catholic (11-1) on Friday night.  Th Fighting Irish own a nine game winning streak.  They blew out Richfield Revere (48-0) last week.

          Saris says they have everything a very good football team has at its disposal.  “They're coming in as two time defending state champion.  They're extremely deep, they're very big on the offensive line with some pretty good skill to go around them.  Defensively, the same thing.  They've got a very big, very physical defensive line with a great secondary behind them.  So, we know we have got to be battle tested.  We know we're going to play great football again.  We know that we're going to have to score when we get those opportunities and not shoot ourselves in the foot, have great ball security and penalty free football,” said Saris.

          The Fighting Irish won the division III state last year.  They won it in division IV in 2022.  Overall, their have five state championships to their credit.  Ten times they have reached at least the state semifinals.

          Saris says Central Catholic is outstanding, but they don’t have to change everything they have been doing to be successful this year.  “We have to understand we are playing a very talented football team, but doesn't mean we've got to go haywire change everything we do.  We've got to be able to still run what we do offensively, adjust some things based off of what they do defensively.  Then on the flip side, we can't go and change everything we do defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We're going to try to make some big plays when we can, limit their big plays like we try to do every single week and try to force a few turnovers on that side too.”

Published 11/14/24

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Lexington Must Limit Mistakes

          Lexington will be on the road at Rocky River Friday night to lock horns with the Pirates in a division III regional quarterfinal.

          Last week, the Minutemen (6-5) downed Maumee (28-14) in their opening round game.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they played a very good second half.  “It was a hard fought game, but it was fun for everybody.  Maumee, a team you don’t typically see.  Our kids came in and they were they were ready to perform.  We were down a point going into halftime and that second half came out and the defense was able to shut them out and then the offense just was able to run the football and put up two scores,” said Saris.

          Rocky River (8-3) beat Parma Holy Name (34-14) last week.

          Saris says they are a very disciplined football team.  “They're coming in playing good football.  Offensively, they definitely want to try to run that football.  They don't make a lot of mistakes.  You can tell as a football team that they're disciplined and they know their job and they do their job well.” he told Swankonsports.com, “Defensively, they remind me of a lot of teams we've seen on our schedule, but they're pretty long on the outside, they run well to the ball and they're definitely aggressive.”

          Saris says to advance to next week they can’t hurt themselves on offense and they want to put Rocky River in bad down and distance situations.  “We've got to try to play mistake free football and don't put us in a position where we are shooting ourselves in the foot so to speak.  So, we have just got to be able to execute, never get behind the chains.  Defensively, force them into those situations where it's third and long, second along and not letting them have big gains on first down,” he said.

Published 11/07/24

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Minutemen Face Balanced Maumee

          Lexington hits the road Friday night for a first round playoff game in division III against Maumee.

          Last week, they had a chance to share the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship with Ashland, but lost (30-21) to the Arrows.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they made too many mistakes.  “It was a tough one.  We gave ourselves a chance to come away and win that game.  Down the stretch, made some errors, made some mistakes.  I know it's tough on the kids.  I thought the kids still played extremely hard.  Now, we're excited to get a chance to make the playoffs and give ourselves a chance to win a game,” said Saris.

          Saris says they have to learn from last week, but not dwell on it.  “I think you can look in terms of what can we do and what can we change to get better, but through that I always think your windshield needs to be bigger than that rear view mirror.  So, we have got to make sure that we're looking in the past to try to get better, but always having the eyes forward,” he said.

          Lexington (5-5) plays at Maumee (8-2) on Friday night.  The Panthers finished third in the Northern Buckeye Conference.  They are coming off a (41-17) win over Otsego.

          Saris says they can throw too, but they want to run it.  “They're a tough football team.  They're very balanced offensively, but they definitely still want to be able to run the ball and grind you out.  They have got a great running back and a quarterback who runs the offense really well.  He doesn't make a lot of mistakes, so when he does get a chance to throw the football he throws an accurate ball and takes advantage of it,” said Saris.

          There is no one team on Lexington’s regular season schedule that reminds Saris of Maumee, but they have seen a lot of things they try and do.  “I think there are a big combination of a lot of teams we’ve played this year.  They have a strong arm game like a Madison or West Holmes, but also some poise at quarterback that we saw early on even later in the season.  I think they bring their own kind of scheme to the game, but it's a decent mixture of a lot of things that we've seen this year,” said Saris.

Published 10/30/24

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Lexington With a lot to Stop

          With a win Friday night at Ashland, the Lexington Minutemen have a chance to share in their first Ohio Cardinal Conference title since 2016.

          They would share it with the Arrows, who already claimed their share last week.

          Lexington (5-4,4-1) got this chance by earning a (14-7) win over Madison last week.  Joe Caudill found Markale Martin with a TD pass with only 12 seconds left in the game.

          Coach Andrew Saris says that gave them a chance at the title.  “It was an exciting win.  Again, I always say, anytime you can get a win the Ohio Cardinal Conference it's great and we set ourselves up for a chance to get a share of that conference title this week,” he said.

          Ashland (9-0,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Wooster (24-14) last week.

          Saris says they have playmakers led by their outstanding junior quarterback.  “Offensively, they’re just a well coached team that is going to spread you out.  They've got a quarterback in Nate Bernhard, who just slings a great ball, a very catchable ball and those two receivers, they do a nice job of making plays in space,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Lately seeing him lower his pads and rushing the ball well.  It’s going to be tough for us to defend.”

          Saris says on defense Ashland is going to make you execute.  “Defensively, they do a lot of a lot of different, multiple things in what they're doing.  It's difficult to prepare because they give you many different looks,” he said.

          Saris says Friday night is what they have been working for all season long and they are looking forward to it.  “It's exciting for the kids and exciting for the community.  We put ourselves in a chance to be in this spot, to get a chance to go in and work to get a win against Ashland and hopefully get ourselves a piece of this conference championship,” he said.

Published 10/22/24

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Lexington Must Win

          Lexington is now a game behind Ashland in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings and Friday night they face a must win situation as they meet rival Madison in an “OCC” game.

          New Philadelphia knocked the Minutemen out of a share of first place when they beat them (29-13) last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they had too many mistakes and didn’t punch it in when they had the chance.  “It was tough, we had won four straight and we're feeling pretty good about ourselves, but just didn't get a chance to execute completely.  Penalties and field position really hurt us.  We couldn’t get the ball in the end zone when we were in the red zone, which is something we had had more success with,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We’ve moved on and they know there are still a lot of big goals ahead of us.  If we can win out and get a chance to get a possible part of an “OCC” championship.  That's something that we're really excited about.”

          Lexington (4-4,3-1) plays at home against crosstown rival Madison (1-7,1-3) on Friday night.  The Rams were hammered (35-3) by future “OCC” member Dover last week.

          Saris says Madison will be a challenge.  “They're a hungry football team.  They play extremely physical, they play good as a team, they're extremely well coached and we know that.  We've taken this week's practice working on ourselves and getting better, but also focusing on a really good Madison team,” he said.

          Now, Lexington will play unbeaten Ashland, the “OCC” leader next week, but Saris says they cannot be thinking about that game.  “We're not looking ahead at all.  We know that this Ram team is going to come in and give us everything they have.  So, we are just going to take it one game at a time and try and get the job done this week and then get our sights set on week 10 against Ashland,” said Saris.

Published 10/17/24

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Lexington to Play Tough New Philadelphia

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader, plays on the road at New Philadelphia on Friday night.

          The Minutemen share the lead with Ashland and will play the Arrows on week 10.

          They picked up maybe their biggest win of the season last week when they beat West Holmes (19-13), handing the Knights their first “OCC” loss of the season.

          Coach Andew Saris says it was a good win.  “It was nice win on homecoming.  Anytime you can beat a tough “OCC” opponent like West Holmes it's always a good thing for your team,” said Saris.

          Saris says they had to make some big plays late to win it.  “We didn't make it easy.  We scored a go ahead touchdown with 58 seconds left and defense came back out and did the job to finish it out,” he said.

          Quarterback Joe Caudill scored on a short touchdown run.

          Lexington (4-3,3-0) plays over at New Philadelphia (4-3,2-2) on Friday night.  The Quakers beat Madison (35-21) last week in “OCC” action.

          Saris says New Philadelphia just plays solid football on both sides of the ball.  “Just a great overall, solid football team.  They're not going to wow you with anything too fancy, but they run the ball extremely well.  They have a nice screen game and the quarterback throws the ball downfield when he needs to,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively, they're really sound.  They tackle very, very well.  They have a couple linebackers that come downhill in the and they'll come and get you.  So, we've got to be able to make plays when we need to.  Defensively, we have got to keep them in the second and long.  We can't let them just kind of grind us down the field.”

          Last week was the first time the Quakers allowed more than three scores in four quarters in the “OCC” this season.  Saris says they have to score when they get down close.  “Especially in that red zone.  Getting down there it's extremely important that you come away with points and not only that, but we want to be in the end zone and get us those touchdowns,” he said.

Published 10/09/24

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Minutemen Have to Contain West Holmes

          Lexington has West Holmes at their place on Friday night in a crucial game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Both are unbeaten in “OCC” play.  West Holmes is (3-0) and Lexington is (2-0) in conference games.

          The Minutemen (3-3,2-0) stuffed Mansfield Senior (19-6) last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says it was a good win for the program.  “I think it was really fun for the kids and the coaches to go to Arlin Field and get a win versus a good program like Mansfield Senior.  So, it was exciting, but we were ready to get back to work as soon as the kids came in for film on Saturday,” he said.

          West Holmes (4-2,3-0) hammered Wooster (34-6) last week in an “OCC” game.

          Saris says they are balanced on offense and aggressive on defense.  “They're coming in playing some really good football.  I think the big thing with them the have a new coach in coach (Kegan) Leppla, but they're still trying to do a lot of the same things and have the same principles.  They're going to be disciplined football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Offensively, they still want to try to run that football, but also have the ability to throw the ball really far downfield.  Defensively, they're very aggressive, so because of that you know they're going to get some big plays.  We have got to keep our kids heads forward and understand that we also can take advantage of some of that aggression as well.”

          Morgan Smith is a playmaker at quarterback for Knights. 

          Saris says they need to need to contain him, which won’t be easy on Friday night.  “He throws a great football and also has the ability to run.  You can just tell he's a good athlete.  That kid was probably running the field when they were playing in the park when he was in elementary school.  You can just tell that he's a baller.  So, we've got to try to contain him from the big plays and also don't let him get sideline to sideline and you know tackle when we need to,” said Saris.

Published 10/03/24

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Lexington Must Limit the Big Play

          Lexington will be up at Arlin Field on Friday night for a rivalry game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          The Minutemen (2-3,1-0) picked up their second straight win in beating Wooster (41-28) in an “OCC” game last week.  Quarterback Joe Caudill accounted for six touchdowns.

          Coach Andrew Saris says it was a good win for them.  “Anytime you can pick up a win against a good “OCC” opponent like Wooster you're excited for your team.  We continue to try to improve every day out in practice.  We still have a long way to go to reach our goals.  The team is coming together and playing as a unit right now with all three factions and because of that we want to continue to work to improve and get more wins,” said Saris.

          Saris believes they are starting to find their grove.  “I think we're just continuing to get reps and get better and figure out you what best suits us on offense and defense.  We're starting to click there and get consistent and put the ball in the hands of some kids that do some pretty special things with the football,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (1-4,1-1), the defending conference champion, won for the first time this year last Friday when they beat New Philadelphia (20-19) in overtime.  The winning score came on a double pass.

          Saris says the Tygers are fast on defense and as usual have big play potential anytime they have the ball.  “Their coming off a huge win against a great New Philly team.  Anytime you play Mansfield you know you're going to get a physical football team that that flies to the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Offensively with the blink of an eye they got some kids who can go the distance.  So, we've got to try to limit that and then be good tacklers on defense and force them to make some mistakes.”

          Yes, this is a rivalry game, but Saris says they can’t live on emotion.  “You have just got to go out there and play this like it’s any other football game.  There's going to be a lot of families involved.  You have got people on both sides of the stands who have relatives, friends and who have a lot of people involved in this game, so because of that you want the kids to have fun, but it's a football game just like any other football game and you have got to go out there and just execute,” said Saris.

Published 9/26/24

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Lexington Wants to Build

          Lexington wants to take the momentum of their first win of the season into Ohio Cardinal Conference play as they host the Wooster Generals on Friday night.

          Last week, they belted Akron North (49-6) for their first win.

          Coach Andrew Saris says it put a smile on everyone’s face.  “It was nice to kind of get the boys a win.  They earned it, they deserved it.  Right now, we want to continue to have great practices and good attitudes and some excitement.  We were able to come away with a win Friday and we look to go into “OCC” play against Wooster.  So, the boys are ready,” he said.

          Saris says their execution last week was better.  “I thought that the offense was able to put points up.  Sustain drives, not having the penalties, have positive first downs.  Then I thought the defense played well.  They may have given up the yards at times, but they forced turnovers and special teams wise we were able to make good plays,” he said.

          Lexington (1-3,0-0) hosts Wooster (1-3,0-2) on Friday night.  The Generals lost at Madison (35-24) last week.

          Saris says these are two teams in similar positions at this point in the season.  “They’re a team right now.  They're probably similar to us.  They're coming in trying to get more wins on their schedule.  They're coming off a tough loss to Madison, but I know they're going to come to Lexington ready to play good football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Coach (Austin) Holter has them doing really nice job.  We have got to try to get back to good fundamentals, tackle well, and try not to give up the big play.  Then offensively continue just to sustain drives and have positive first and second downs.”

Published 9/20/24

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Lexington Taking Steps

          Lexington makes the short trip to Clear Fork to take on the Colts in non-conference football on Friday night.

          They lost a hard fought game (21-10) to Shelby last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they played hard the whole game and the defense in particular was outstanding.  “It's obviously tough anytime you lose.  We're playing against a great Shelby team.  I thought with our kids the difference between week one and two was us continuing trying to go out there and compete and compete.  We didn't have the cramping issues going on, so we're taking care of our bodies hopefully a little better. Ultimately at the end, the defense came out I thought they played a great game against a tough quarterback,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Overall, the kids like I said fought, fought the whole game. The second half, we did a great job defensively and that offense started to get rolling, but it just didn't finish the way he wanted to.”:

          After a (31-14) loss to Ontario on the opening week, Saris felt they showed improvement in their play last week.  “I thought against a nice Shelby team who does some really good things offensively and defensively, so we're excited to get back on the field Friday night and continue to try to show that we're working to get better,” he said.

          Clear Fork (0-2) lost last week to Granville (31-14).  Friday night will be their home opener.

          Saris says the run game is going to be key because Clear Fork likes to run it and they have shown they can contain the run.  “It’s another a team that’s going through a tough first couple of games.  They're a young football team.  Offensively, they want to run the football and control that clock and come at you in that way.  Then defensively they continue to run that great three-three stack with coach (Tim) Scheid.  They do a good job of running to the football and being aggressive in that in that sense,” said Saris.

Published 9/05/24

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Lexington to Play Explosive Shelby

          Lexington looks to get back on the beam as they host the Shelby Whippets in a non-league football game on Friday night.

          They were shut out in the second half and lost (31-14) at Ontario last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they just didn’t get it done.  “It's a disappointing loss.  We were excited going into it against a well coached, very talented Ontario team.  The first half came out with a lot of energy and played a good half.  Second half, a battle of field position, turn the ball over a couple of times and just didn't put ourselves with chance to win,” he said.

          Saris says you can’t have turnovers, but if you do you must play complementary football.  “Not only momentum killers.  Part of it is getting your kids with the mindset of take that next snap, or sudden change is what we kind of tell our defense as they head out to the field.  We've got to have the mentality we're going to get that ball right back.  So, making sure the kids mentally are put in a spot where it's not the end of the world.  However, we don't want to have them offensively either,” said Saris.

          Shelby pulled away from Madison last week and beat the Rams (40-14) in their opener.

          Saris says they are a very dangerous offensive football team.  “They are a talented football team.  Offensively, they do a lot of different things that could put you in a bit of a bind.  Alongside of that with Brayden DeVito, he's a heck of a quarterback.  So, we've have got to try to contain him the best as we can.  He throws the ball downfield very well and also is a pretty explosive with his legs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Defensively, I think that they're really aggressive up front.  They're going to force you to try to throw the ball a little bit, but we've got to be able to try to get our run game going.”

Published 8/29/24

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Lexington Must Limit Big Plays

          Lexington-Ontario road is so named because it connects the two communities and the Minutemen take the road north to face the Ontario Warriors in a non-conference football game on Friday night.

          Big Lex coach Andrew Saris says they are ready to make that trip.  “It's a big cumulation now up to this Friday night.  A lot of preparation to this point and I think our guys are excited and ready to go,” he said.

          Saris says they must make sure their execution is sound.  “Things like special teams.  You can do those things with scrimmages, but it isn’t live anymore and so those are things on my mind and us taking focus with it.  The execution of the game plan, but also what it comes down to I would say football is all about running your feet, making tackles, and getting that other team on the ground and not making big plays,” said Saris.

          This rivalry goes back to the days of the old Johnny Appleseed Conference.  Ontario won last year (17-14) at Lexington.  The teams have spilt the last eight meetings.

          Ontario shared the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last season and the media chose them third this year.  Lexington was picked to finish second in the Ohio Cardinal Conference behind Mansfield Senior.

          Saris says the Warriors will be strong in the trenches and he have a great athlete in Bodpegn Miller, who is headed to Ohio State.  “I think Ontario's a good football team coming off a great season, so they have got a lot of confidence.  I think they're strong up front on the offensive and defensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “When you got a kid like Bodpegn Miller, who is a special athlete, who can do a lot of really good things when he's got the ball in his hands.  We've got to try to contain him as best as we can and not allow those big, big, big plays where he ends up with six on the scoreboard.”

          Saris says they can’t allow Miller to make big plays that put points on the scoreboard, which he can be quickly.  “Containing him and understanding the reality of for us to assume he's not going to get out of that pocket and make a play here and there and do some special things, but the key is getting him on the ground and forcing him to take another snap,” he said.

Published 8/23/24

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Lexington With Talent

          Lexington is in better position to win an Ohio Cardinal Conference football championship that it has been in some time.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they are ready to get out there and prove some things.  “I’ve seen some growth out of our football team.  We're starting to get some kids taking some leadership, having fun out on the field and they're doing their job working to get better every single day.  We're at that point in the season where we're ready for it to start.  It's that grind and we're ready for week one to get here.  Obviously, we have our scrimmage versus Buckeye Valley this Friday first, but I think all of our kids are itching to get to those games,” said Saris.

          Lexington opens the season next Friday on the road at rival Ontario in non-conference play.

          The Minutemen have tremendous talent in the skilled positions led by junior Brayden Fogle, who has been offered by the University of Georgia.

          Saris says they can be good in the trenches too.  “It's a group of guys who come to work every single day and are just truly working to get better, trying to get stronger, faster, and understanding the nuances of what we're trying to blocking scheme wise.  We've got kid like Logan Beer, Nate Taylor and David Biggers coming back up front, but we're losing two really good All-Ohioan in Matt Sheets and Aiden Nickel.  So, we're working trying to fill those big shoes on the offensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Then on the defensive side, it’s similar, we've got some guys really working hard down in those trenches.  Guys like Graham Clark, David Biggers, Luke Triska and others to kind of name it.  So, they're doing a nice job.  We know that’s part of our football team that we have got to continue to strengthen.”

          Yes, Saris says, they do have lofty goals.  “We have some big goals, some high expectations for ourselves, but that's just something we're trying to do as a program period.  Put ourselves in the situation to try to win an “OCC” championship every single year, which is not easy, it's an extremely talented conference, extremely well coached and extremely just well balanced football teams,” he said.

Published 8/16/24

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St. Mary’s Memorial Edges Lex

          With a two spot in the bottom of the sixth inning, St. Mary’s Memorial rallied Thursday evening to beat Lexington (4-3) in a division II district semifinal played at Bluffton University.

          They will meet Clear Fork (24-4) in a district final Saturday at Bluffton.  The Colts hammered Upper Sandusky (8-1) in the other semifinal.

          Memorial coach Adam Graves says they had guys step up.  “I'm proud of our team.  When you get down like that in a big emotional game like this it's really easy that you have the possibility of dying and we didn't.  Joel (Kogge) pitched a fantastic game for us out there.  Kasey (Grose) came in got the last two outs.  Those are our two big game pitchers.  Those are the guys that we count on the competitive out there.  I'll tell you what the bottom of our lineup, I haven’t seen our stats, but I think it was the bottom of the order that did most of the damage.  Even when we got the first two, we executed like we're supposed to.  We got a bunt down and moved them and we got a sacrifice fly.  So, very proud of the effort of my players, my coach coaching staff, just super proud of what we're doing right now,” said Graves.

          Lexington (11-18) has been a team that has been competitive in most of their games this season and veteran coach Jeff Strickler says the effort has been constant.  “I mean that's the way baseball goes.  You try to make the plays.  You do the best you can to make the plays and it doesn’t always happen.  The thing I'm really proud of these guys about is the fact that they never gave up,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They've always fought.  We've been there and played good games.  Played games where we won one run games, where we lost one run games.  It's just never been a question of effort.”

          St. Mary’s Memorial (12-14) took (2-0) lead in the bottom of the third on a double by Jace Turner, the eighth place hitter, and an infield single by Alexander Honey, out of the nine hole.  A throwing error allowed Turner to score.  Honey crossed home on sac fly by leadoff hitter Dalton Fink.

          Lexington took the lead when they put up three in their half of the fifth.  Landon Hamilton walked, Cole Eichhorn got a hit, Brayden Mumaw’s infield hit plated Hamilton and then Markale Martin’s double to right gave the Minutemen the lead.

          However, the Roughriders responded in the bottom of the sixth when Preston Rupert hit a ball into the hole between short and third for a hit and advanced to second when the ball was thrown over the first baseman’s head.  He was sacrificed to third and Memorial tied it with a RBI single by Luke Rammel.  Rammel was picked off first place by pitcher Colton Murfield in what looked like a key out.  However, Aiden Meinerding tripled to rightcenter and scored what turned out to be the winning run when Lexington’s relay wet out of play.

          The Minutemen got two runners on in the seventh, but failed to score.

          Strickler says these one run losses are tough.  “If nothing else these guys should have learned they can play with everybody.  I think maybe this is the ninth one run loss that we've had this year,” he said.

          Strickler says Murfield did a great job of keeping them in the game.  “He has been our one.  He was injured for about three weeks with an elbow injury.  Between the injury and the rehab he didn't get a whole lot of innings in.  During that time, we had some other guys step up and get the job done.  Divelbiss and Powell both did a great job there in Murfield’s absence,” said Strickler.

          St. Mary’s Memorial has won four of its last five and Garves says they believe in what they are doing.  “We were on the struggle bus there for a while during the regular season and we're coming around.  We're believing in each other and we're trying to put all three facets pitching, hitting and fielding together.  We've done that so far in the tournament and that's what we need to do when we play a very good Clear Fork team on Saturday,” said Graves.

Published 5/24/24

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Lexington Cashes in

          Lexington won their tournament opener on Thursday evening in beating Kenton (7-3) to advance to Friday’s division II sectional final.

          They will travel to Wapakoneta on Friday to meet the Redskins.

          Coach Jeff Strickler says they calmed down a little after they scored some runs.  “We got a bit of a slow start.  We left a bunch of guys in scoring position early in the game.  In the third inning, we finally broke through and got some runs across,” he told Swakonsports.com after the win, “After that it just seemed like the kids just settled down and we're just quite so nervous and just played and made plays.”

          Lexington (10-18) has had some issues with clutch hitting this spring, but Strickler says they have been getting better.  “The issues that we've had a lot this year leaving runners like on second and third situations with less than two outs and not getting any runs in.  Here of late it seems like we've been doing a much better job and scoring some more runs and not leaving too many people out there,” he said.

          Wapakoneta (15-5) shared the Western Buckeye League title this season.

          Strickler knows they are going to be a big challenge.  “They're a very good team, very solid, very fundamental.  They have a really good pitcher.  We're going to go in there with the mindset that we're trying to attack and just go toe to toe with them, but they're pretty good,” said Strickler.

Published 5/17/24

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Lexington Nips Holmes

          Lexington got past West Holmes (5-4) in Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball on Wednesday.

          Coach Jeff Strickler says the Minutemen (7-15,5-7) made some of the plays that they haven’t necessarily been making this year.  “(Wednesday) we did that.  This season we've lost seven games by one run.  To look back in those games and see opportunities that we missed, but (Wednesday) for the most part we took care of the opportunities that we had and it was a big win,” said Strickler.

          With the tournament staring next week, Strickler says they want to string together some good performances.  “We're looking at (Wednesday's) game and (Thursday) we have got Wooster, Hillsdale on Saturday and Madison on Monday.  We're looking at all these kind of like tournament games for us.  Use them as a warm up here to get ready to play Kenton next Wednesday,” he said.

          Their record isn’t what they want, but Strickler says their tough schedule has gotten them ready for the postseason.  “We play a really good, tough schedule with the conference we're in and the non conference teams that we play.  We’ve been playing very competitive teams, very good teams all year long,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I think it helped us out learning how to be competitive and how to maybe get over the hump and win some of those close ones.”

Published 5/09/24

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Ashland Gets Lex

          Luke Bryant beat Gage Powell Tuesday night as the Ashland Arrows edged the Lexington Minutemen (2-0) in a good, old fashion pitcher’s duel.

          Ashland coach Rick Gough says Bryant was dominate.  “It was Luke Bryant was on the hill (Tuesday) night.  He went seven innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.  He did an exceptional job,” he said.

          Gough says when Bryant goes to the mound it gives the Arrows a lot of confidence.  “We expect to win with Luke on the mound.  We just have to make sure we give him some support.  (Tuesday) night we gave him just enough.  We could have did a little better,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We left Lexington off the hook in the first couple innings.  We had the bases loaded twice and we're only able to scratch two runs, but it was enough to get the win.”

          Lexington coach Jeff Strickler says Powell gave them a great effort too.  “It was a well pitched game by both pitchers.  Gage Powell just had a rough second inning and then settled in very well,” he said.

          Gough says Powell kept their hitters guessing.  “I mean hats off to the Lexington pitcher.  He did a great job (Tuesday) night.  He kept us off balance with his off speed stuff.  We battled and we were able to scratch a couple just enough to get the win,” said Gough.

Published 4/17/24

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Lexington Blanks Madison

          Colton Murfield went the distance as Lexington shutout Madison (5-0) on Wednesday evening in Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball action.

          Lexington coach Jeff Strickler says Murfield was dominate and was efficient too.  “Colton Murfield was right on (Wednesday) night.  He only gave up four hits, threw 79 pitches I believe for the whole game.  Had 12 strikeouts and only one walk.  When you limit the number of walks you have a chance to win ball games,” said Strickler.

          The Minutemen (1-4,1-2) have some good speed and Strickler says executing the small game was important for them.  “The boys did a nice job executing the baserunning plays that we had on and did a nice job of bunting.  Just small ball was a big part of what we did (Wednesday), they executed very well,” he said.

          Lexington will play Madison (1-4,0-3) again on Thursday.

          Rams coach Nick Melton says they are inexperienced and at times they looked like it on Wednesday.  “We showed our youth (Wednesday) night in several key moments.  Give credit to Lexington as they took advantage of it.  Make no mistake, Colton Murfield pitched a really nice game for them.  We talked after the game that anytime we get a chance to play we have to be ready to go to battle.  No other team is going to care how many freshmen and sophomores we have in the lineup.  The good thing about baseball is we get a chance to do it again (Thursday) with a clean slate.  We look forward to that chapter and challenge,” said Melton.

          With all of their players back from last season, Lexington expects to have a solid season and Strickler says they needed that win on Wednesday.  “It was important that we won (Wednesday).  We lost all four games we played last week.  We played two really good teams last week and took our lumps from them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “So, it's important that we went out and played well and we did.”

Published 4/04/24

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Lexington With High Expectations

          Lexington expects to compete in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season with an experienced roster that has talent.

          Veteran coach Jeff Strickler says it has been nice to be able to get outside a lot during the preseason.  “First of all, it’s been great being outside.  Being able to throw full distances, see balls with sky in the background instead of a white wall.  It's a whole different atmosphere being outside.  As far as the kids go, they've been working great, they've been working hard, great attitude about things and we're getting a lot of stuff done,” said Strickler.

          Strickler says they return everyone that was a on the varsity in 2023 and that’s a plus.  “Well, we didn't have any seniors on last year's team.  So, I have got 10 seniors along with a junior and a sophomore returning starter, so 12 returning lettermen.  Then we’ve got some very good juniors coming up and joining the varsity this year as well,” he said.

          Strickler says they have a lot elements that make up a solid baseball team, including speed.  “There is a lot of talent on this team.  We have got the pitching, we can hit the ball, we have got speed.  I mean you got the main ingredients here, it's just a matter putting it together,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,” Last year it was more mental than it was physical as far as you our record and stuff goes.  So, this year hopefully with a year of varsity experience for everybody here we can take care of that aspect of the game.”

Published 3/19/24

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Shelby Downs Lexington in District Final

          Shelby produced two crucial spurts and that was enough to down Lexington (62-52) in a division II district final at sold out, standing room only, “O-rena” at Ontario High School Saturday night.

          The Whippets (23-2) will face Lima Shawnee in a regional semifinal Thursday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

          The Whippets scored 14 of the first 19 points of the game fueled by 10 from district player of the year Alex Bruskotter and they went on to lead (23-11) after the first quarter.

          Lexington (22-3) took its first lead in the game at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter (30-29) when sophomore Brayden Fogle laid it in.  Shelby came right back to take the lead on an Issaiah Ramsey score and the Minutemen responded with another hoop from Fogle.  However, Bruskotter’s old fashion three point play put the Whippets up (33-31) and led to another Shelby spurt.

          The Whippets went on a (19-7) run to lead (50-38) with 4:12 to play in the game and the Minutemen would never seriously threaten thereafter.

          Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says those runs were started by way they played defense.  “It was huge, we mixed some things up defensively to kind of get them out of rhythm.  Our zone worked really well to just throw things off.  We knew this game was going to be a battle of runs.  We made a run in the first, it wasn't a shock that they made it in second, just stayed the course and came away with a win,” he said.

          Lexington’s Scott Hamilton says they were able to battle back into by halftime, down (26-20), but they didn’t really run their offense very well all night and they weren’t getting good shots.  “We dug ourselves a pretty big hole the first half, we were down by as much as 12, down six coming in.  I told the guys, I said we possibly played the worst half of basketball that we had played in the last 10 games and we were only down six.  So, we wanted to kind of ramp up the pressure a little bit in the second half.  We just couldn't get some of the shots to fall and defensively they did a nice job and they've got some nice athletic length.  There were no secrets here, everybody knew what everybody was going to do.  For us at the end of the night, when we have 15 turnovers and nine assists and that’s not who we are.  I don't think we got the ball reversed enough and we didn’t get enough wide open looks.  We weren't really attacking enough to get it to the rim,’ said Hamilton.

          Lexington shot 39% from the field (20-51) and Shelby made 45% (21-47) on the night.

          Back in December, the Minutemen beat Shelby (61-57) and Gallaway says he thought they made some solid defensive adjustments.  “That was the key for us.  They're really good at the rim.  We did a couple adjustments defensively from the first time we played them that I thought worked and it paid off and we rebounded the ball well,” he said.

          Hamliton says the Whippets athleticism on the floor game them some problems, plus they didn’t attack enough.  “Some of it has to do with their athleticism and their size.  They match up against us pretty well, but we did not isolate one on one too well.  I thought we tried to avoid a little bit of the shot blocking instead of going after it and maybe getting to the foul line.  I know the free throws were a little bit lopsided and I think that's a little bit of us you settling for further away shots instead of just driving and finishing at the rim,” he said.

          The Minutemen were 5-13 at the line.  Shelby made 16-23.      

          Lex only has one senior in Elijah Hudson and Hamilton says their youth likely led to some critical mistakes.   “The crowd was really good and we had a little trouble getting the signal in every now and then, but that's to be expected.  At game 25 you should know what you're doing out there.  Maybe a little bit of it was just some youth showing through.  We were playing hard.  I thought we were pushing it a little bit.  We were trying to do a little bit too much at times.  Then as soon as I thought we started to get a little bit of something like we wanted to we'd get a traveling call or we'd get a silly foul called and just kind of deflate us a little bit.  Credit to the guys, I mean they kept battling, didn't give up, didn't fold it or anything like that.  We've got only one senior, but we do have a senior and that's what I told the guys we've got a guy in here that's never going to put on a Lexington uniform again and that's really who we got to be thinking about right now,” said Hamilton.

          The Whippets on the other hand have eight seniors.  Bruskotter was a key contributor to the last Shelby team that went to regional, ironically against Lima Shawnee, three years ago as a freshman.

          Bruskotter paced Shelby with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but they also got 13 from Ramsey, 11 from Brayden DeVito and 10 more from Casey Lantz, that 54 of their 62 for the night.  “We're at our best when we have balance.  That was mindset going in, it's not one guy, not two, everyone on the on the floor will be a threat and we had that attack mindset right from the tip,” said Gallaway.

          Shelby rallied to beat Mansfield Senior (60-55) in a district semifinal on Thursday, but they got off to a slow start, trailing by eight at the half (29-21) and not taking command until the fourth quarter.

          Gallaway says they were focused on getting off to a better start on Saturday.  “Thursday we kind of got off to a slow start, so we had a mindset to just go out and be in touch with their energy on defense and that's going to translate to offense.  They bought into it and we were able to get a string of stops together and resulted in buckets on offense,” he said.

          Fogle paced the Minutemen with 13 points and 11 boards.  Gavin Husty had a nice game with 11.

          Seven Allen had nine points for the Minuteman, but his only point in the second half came on a free throw with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter.  He was quickly in foul trouble.

          Hamilton says he may have been trying too hard at times.  “I think he was pushing it.  I think he really wanted to come up with that pressure.  I think him and maybe one of the Shelby guys had a little conversation out on the floor and that got him a little excited.  So, I think he was really pushing it and really wanting to have a good game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “At times that can backfire on you.  I thought we had a couple of guys that were maybe in a situation of just really pushing it to try to make the shot when we needed a shot.  I thought our pressure was ramping up a little bit and then of course we would give up an open layup or an easy look at the rim,” said Hamilton.

          There was some jawing in the game, but Gallaway says that just makes them play harder.  “We thrive off momentum and that's us and our guys love that.  We just had that attack mindset.  We're on the floor like crazy, just relentless is a word that comes to mind,” he said.

Published 3/09/24

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Fogle’s Shot Give Lexington Win Over Willard

          Lexington’s Brayden Fogle is not a great perimeter shooter, not even a mediocre one to be honest, but he was when he had to be Thursday night.

          His 15-foot jumper with :02 left lifted the Minutemen to a (59-57) overtime win over Willard in a division II district semifinal at Ontario High School.

          They will be back Saturday night to face Shelby, who beat Mansfield Senior (60-55) in the opener Thursday.

          Fogle had made only one three pointer all season, but he found all net from the deep right corner with :37 left in regulation to tie at (53-53) and the Flashes failed to convert when Cam Robinson could not score on the final shot in regulation.

          Fogle says he had been working on his outside shot.  “I’m been working to improve it and eventually everything you put in, you get out and I got the reward for all of that work,” he said.

          The sophomore, who was scoreless in the first half, scored Lexington’s last 11 points and finished with 18, fellow sophomore Seven Allen led the Minutemen with 19.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says they drew up a play for the game winner, it didn’t go exactly as planned, but was happy with the result.  “We started the game, I'll say the first half, and Fogle is 0-5, Elijah (Hudson) is like 1-6, we just couldn't find the bottom of the net.  So, luckily for us we got that extra period.  We were able to tie it up and get that extra period.  Even at the end when we had that time out, they had showed a little bit of zone.  We had a zone play drawn up to run, but we knew that if they went man, we just had to get a ball screen try to finish at the rim.  We wanted to hold the ball until 20, but with Max (Dawson) putting pressure on the ball up top, we were a little sketchy because I know Max can, I saw Perkins film right, so we had to go a little bit quicker.  Then we never did get the ball screen for Fogle, but he put the ball on the floor and got to about 12 feet and hit that jumper,” said Hamilton.

          Willard ran two outstanding out of bounds plays, one in which a foul could have been called on Lexington, and wasn’t, and the other resulted in Cam Robinson getting a clean look, but the shot didn’t fall.

          Hamilton says they survived and that is all that matters.  “Cam Robinson gets a good look at the end.  I told the guys I do not want to hear a whistle, but I didn't want to give him that much room.  Elijah did a decent job on the ball, but he went back thew it and Cam was right there got a good look.  They did so many things well it's just a bad thing that that somebody's got to lose, but at this point in the season it's all about survive and move on,” he said.

          Willard (19-5), the co-winner of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, played an outstanding first half and led (26-20) at the half.  They led by eight (40-32) after a Cam Robinson free throw with 7:42 to play.

          They were able to stay in the game due mostly to the exploits of senior guard Max Dawson, who finished with 26 points on the night.

          Lexington (22-2), winner of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, took their first lead of the night (48-46) on Allen’s driving layup with 1:55 to play and extended that lead to three on Fogle’s lay in (50-47) with 1:20 left.

          However, Dawson drained a three from the right wing and was fouled.  He added a free throw to give the Flashes a (51-50) lead with 1:05 remaining.  His two free throws with :56 on the clock made it (53-50), but Fogle tied it with his three.

          Hamilton says he has great respect for Willard, and especially Dawson.  “They just did so many things well, I mean they really did.  I can't have any more respect for a player than what I've got for Max Dawson.  I've been fortunate to know him since he was about in fifth grade.  He played on a travel team, coached by someone I know, and had a couple of my friends as kids on it.  Again, just have the utmost respect for him.  He does a very nice job when you put pressure on him, he finds his teammates, his open guys and he gives them confidence and they knock down big shots,” said Hamilton.

          Dawson was 9-17 from the field and 4-8 on threes.  He was 4-4 at the line.

          Willard coach Joe Bedingfield says Dawson really doesn’t get as many free throws as you would think.  “We were trying to do some things, use him as a screener at the end.  We got some good looks.  I thought some things could have gone the other way at times.  Max has to work really hard for what he gets too.  I see a lot of great players get a lot more calls and it doesn't seem like he’s getting the same respect.  He's earned his respect because he works so hard,” he said.

          Dawson was 86-114 from the line on the year.  That’s 75% and an average of just five attempts per game, which would seem low.

‘        Bedingfield says the Minutemen made the plays when they counted most.  He says this year’s senior class at Willard has definitely left its mark.  “Fogle and to hit an outside shot, credit to him, he stepped up for his team and he hit a three when he needed and then he hit a 15 foot pull up, which he can hit from time to time.  Our kids battled once again.  It’s disappointing, our senior class has meant a lot to us.  They're great kids, they've led by example, won three league championships in four years and lost in district final after a great senior class before them and they kind of picked it up from there.  I just told them I love them because there's not much else to say.  I love being their coach.  It’s heart breaking because we don't get to spend a lot of time together anymore because practice is done,” said Bedingfield.

          Lexington made 34% of it field goals in the first half and 57% in the second half.

          Hamilton says they worked to get better shots.  “We really talked about that a little bit.  I thought we forced a couple in the first half.  Maybe they're shots that we can make, and we have made in the past, but it was definitely something that I thought we took a couple of somewhat contested shots and we had a guy wide open on the backside,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I thought early on we were little geeked up if you will and we were gambling and every time we gambled they attacked right away and it was five on four and we're giving up a layup or we're giving up you know a wide open corner jumper.  Give credit to their, I'll call them role players with all kinds of respect, but give credit to those guys when they had the open look they were knocking it down.  Beaner comes out and hit a couple of shots.  Robinson was active.  So, I mean give credit to those guys too helping to keep them in the game.”

          Robinson finished with 13, Beamer, a junior, had 12.

          Lexington is a much bigger team, but Willard held its own on the glass.  The Minutemen were credited with 31 boards, Willard 27.

          Hamilton says they rebounded better in the second half, but it really came down to getting those better shots.  “In the second half I thought we got a little bit better at it.  They outrebounded us and they outrebounded us in the first half as well and that's what I told the guys there weren't many offensive rebounds, but we weren't getting any and our points in our points per shot was way down, it was like .87, we normally shoot for the 1.0.  So, we knew we had to get better looks and with that it's got to be little bit closer to the rim.  We used Joe (Caudill) a little bit better, told Fogle to get inside, even though he did hit that three in the corner, but we got Fogle inside a little bit.  We just never really did get Elijah going real well.  (Gavin) Husty came in and hit a couple of shots for us.  I thought we got good defense from the bench, really good support once again.  So, like I said survive and move on, that's what mode we're in right now,” said Hamilton.

Published 3/08/24

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Lexington to Play Disciplined Willard

          Lexington battles Willard on Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ontario High School.

          The winner will play either Shelby or Mansfield Senior for a regional berth on Saturday night.

          Coach Scott Hamilton knows there is a lot of history here going back 50 years.  “Between Lexington and Willard there's a lot of tradition, a lot of history.  We're no longer on the regular season schedule, but we're close enough that we kind of keep tabs on each other and play a lot of common opponents.  We matched up last year in the tournament.  I don't think anyone was dissatisfied with buying a ticket to that game last year with all the excitement that there was in that game and I don't expect anything less this year,” he said.

          Big Lex beat the Flashes (58-56) in a sectional final last year.

          Lexington (21-2) smoked Galion (81-63) to win a sectional title last week.

          The Flashes got past Sandusky Perkins (52-44) to add a title to their collection.

          Hamilton says Willard (19-4) is led by senior guard Max Dawson, but they have other talented kids too.  “For them it starts with Max Dawson and everything that he can do for them, he does it all.  Then right behind him is Cam Robinson and Isaac Robinson and Jackson Beamer.  They've got guys that just know their jobs very, very well, whether it be scoring, defending, rebounding, whatever it is they're very disciplined, they know their job very well.  Anytime you mention Joe Bedingfield and even Dave Hirschy, you're talking about a quality coached team that's very prepared, very disciplined I'll say again.  So, I mean those are the things that really come to mind when you talk about Willard,” said Hamilton.

          When it comes to Dawson, Hamilton says you can’t try to defend him the same way all night or he is going to adapt.  “I think you have to mix it up a little bit I'm not real sure.  23 teams before us tried to do that and the kid is averaging 26 a night, so he's been doing it for years up there, he's very seasoned.  You're not going to rattle him, he's very composed, he's got basketball smarts, there's no doubt about it, his dad is a coach.  So, his knowledge of the game, what to do, when to do it, where to get the ball you, it's all up there to very high level and it translates.  He runs the show very, very well and he's got his teammates buying into it and it's as close to a fine-tuned machine as you can get,” said Hamilton.

          When the Minutemen have the ball, Hamilton says they have a number of ways they can attack Willard or anyone else for that matter.  “For me specifically, I like the half court game, that's still something that I take pride in and what we do, but with the kids that we've got this year, a lot of young kids, they like to play it a little faster pace, so we've compromised that a little bit,” he told Swankonports.com, “When that's available, we do that, but when we do get in the half court game, we've still got that structure and the discipline to be able to do what we need to do in the half court.  So, it's nice to have that versatility and it lets the kids have a little bit of freedom as well, so it's worked out well for us and we will just keep working on it and hopefully we can keep doing it.”

Published 3/07/24

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Lexington Ready for Tournament Play

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, will entertain Galion in a division II sectional final on Friday night.

          They have not played in almost two weeks, but coach Scott Hamilton says they have put that time to good use.  “We had some things that we wanted to work on.  We were basically able to give the guys some time off.  We hit some stuff pretty hard a couple of days and then we would let them rest.  For us, we used it I thought in a pretty advantageous way to kind of make ourselves a little bit better.  Then, of course, at this time of year you've always got a little bit of a sickness or a bug, so getting those legs recharged and all that stuff was a good thing for us.  I thought we did it in the right way,” said Hamilton.

          Galion (12-11) beat Clear Fork (60-44) in a semifinal game on Tuesday night.

          Hamilton says they have two really good scorers.  “It starts off with Cooper Kent and Elijah Chafin and those two guys are very special players.  They're very capable of scoring, shooting the ball, taking care of the ball, defending, they just do it all for them.  Then the supporting cast that they have around them is pretty solid.  So, we know from playing the first time they're going to be able to do a lot of nice things and we just have got to make sure that we're ready for them,” he said.

          During the regular season, Lexington (20-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Galion on January 6.  That was one the lower scoring games for the Minutemen this season.

          Hamilton says they have to expect the same kind of game plan this time.  “I think that's kind of been what some people have tried to do.  They really tried to slow it down and hold the ball a little bit and play a lot of zone.  So, that's something that we've kind of gotten used to, I guess, just being able to play at that tempo,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Not that we don't enjoy playing in the half court it was just not what we were doing at the beginning of the season.  So, we've gotten a lot better at it.  So, we're ready for whatever pace is going to be.  We're going to try to set the tone to accommodate us, but whatever kind of game it is I think my guys are ready for.”

Published 3/01/24

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Ottawa-Glandorf Outlasts Lexington

          Western Buckeye Conference leader Ottawa-Glandorf held off Lexington (58-54) in a non-conference game on Saturday night at Lexington.

          The Titans are led by Ohio State recruit Colin White, a 6’6” senior guard who scores from anywhere, but on Saturday that was primarily in the paint.

          The Minutemen (19-2), Ohio Cardinal Conference champions, led only once, (6-5) with 5:22 to go in the first quarter, but the Titans outscored them (13-3) to establish an (18-8) advantage after period one.

          In finding their groove a little more in the second quarter, Lexington cut their deficit to five (26-21) on a Seven Allen three with 1:22 to play in the half.  It was (28-21) O-G at the half.

          The Minutemen were able to get their transition game going more in the third quarter, but they couldn’t stop White, who repeatably got to the basket, scoring 12 points in the quarter.  The Titans led (47-36) after three.

          You are not likely the best team in North Central Ohio if you’re going to cash in your chips down 11 after three and the Minutemen did not, even down nine (55-46) with 3:04 remaining after another White hoop in the lane. 

          They would go an (8-2) run and cut it to (57-54) with :33 left on a three by Gavin Husty, but it was not to be.

          Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McGlaughlin says it was a great game that will help in their tournament preparation.  He credits that first quarter start.  “I think if you ask both coaches, I think you're going to get a similar response.  This is what it's about.  It's a tournament atmosphere.  For us being on the road, that's even better just to kind of test the metal of our team.  I thought our guys were pretty resilient, got off to a good start, but we knew they were going to make a run and they sure did and just lucky to get out here with a win,” he said.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton does agree.  He says this game is going to make them better.  “I mean that's why in 2016 we met these guys at regionals.  We actually saw them that summer and it was another battle again even with the kids that had moved on.  So, I approached Tyson I said hey, would like to get on schedule and we've had him on the schedule ever since.  So, in 2017 was the first year we played them and it's always been in the later part, but it became the last two or three games probably the last four or five years always leading right into the tournament, that's where both of us liked it.  It really wasn't a factor when it came down to seeding.  So, yeah it was just one of those things that kind of benefited us both.  We knew that it was going to be a battle and so we liked it that way.  (Saturday) night other than our first quarter, I thought we held our own, I thought we did a nice job, if we could get that first quarter back again, I'd like to see what the results would be,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington ended up shooting 50% from the field for the game (21-42) and Hamilton says after struggling early against the Titans zone, they were able to put some things together.  “They run a lot of different presses, whether it be man, diamond, 2-2-1, 1-2-2, so we've worked on that a little bit (Saturday) morning to be ready for it.  I had not seen very much zone them at all from them in film and so when they just dropped back and went to that zone, that was something that we hadn't really worked on to get ready for.  So, we were relying on a lot of things that we had done in the past just didn't handle it real well.” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I thought we got a little excited, the coaching staff recognized that, that we got a little excited, had a few too many turnovers in the first half, I think seven, the ball just went off our hands a little bit, made some silly passes.  I thought then the second half, we got locked in a little bit, handled zone a little bit better, and then they went man.  We were getting some things and making some things happen for us, just kind of ran out of time.”

          Ottawa-Glandorf made 23-41 field goals (56%) for the game.

          White, who finished with a game high 25 points, had 16 of those in the second half when he had the ball in his hands much of the time.

          McGlaughlin says White is unselfish, but he understands when it’s his time.  “I think that's the thing that the people that know Colin and really watch him he's got the talent to average 35 points a game in high school basketball and he could do that and probably it wouldn’t be too tough, but we wouldn't be a complete basketball team.  He does a great job of getting other guys involved, but he knows when it's time when we need him and he's looking for that and that's what we need but even when they started making that run, they started to commit a couple of extra guys, he got that pass to Grady (Toumazos) for that three in the corner and that was a huge play, the momentum was starting to shift a little bit.  You need your players to make plays and he's got confidence in his teammates and that definitely shows,” said McGlaughlin.

          White kept finding ways to get the basket, he made 11-21 shots.

          Hamilton says they tried to show White a number of looks, but he is going to get his.  “He's a special player, there's no doubt, that's why Ohio State offered and that's why he’s going to go to Ohio State.  We told the guys, we were going to switch, we had different guys assigned to him, we were going to do some different things against him, but we knew that he was going to be able to take it to the rim.  I didn't want to just let it become a foul fest.  So, we told the guys, hold your ground and a couple times he got in there just too close, but he's one of those guys, that's why he's going to Ohio State, he's special guy,” said Hamilton.

          Sources say White still plans to go to Ohio State despite the coaching change.  He has already spoken with OSU AD Gene Smith.

          Caden Erford had pretty good night too for O-G, he didn’t miss from the field all night, going 6-6, including 4-4 on threes and finished with 19 of his own.

          McGlaughlin says White tends to get all of the media attention, but he is proud of not only Colin, but his whole team.  “It’s no disrespect or anything to Colin, I mean he's really talented, but we have got other guys that are in the gym at 6:00 AM four days a week and put time in and they're very confident in what they do and I think it shows that trust that those guys have with one another.  I mean these guys have played together since they were in kindergarten, and it shows.  They have got great chemistry, great fuel for it, and they don't care who makes the plays,” said McGlaughin.

          Allen had 15 and Brayden Fogle 13, both sophomores, for the Minutemen.

          McGlaughlin says they knew Lexington was going to come after them, but his kids don’t panic.  “We try to really preach just the importance of execution.  We don't run a ton of actions, but the ones that we run, we better run them well.  I thought our guys did a good job.  They're athleticism, we don't see that, we haven't seen that this year. They have got more size across the board than we're used to seeing, so for us to be able to handle some of that pressure and to get out here with the win, I think it gives our guys a lot of confidence,” he said.

Published 2/17/24

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Lexington Wants Clean Slate

          Lexington plays down at Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          As the “OCC” champion, they have a chance to go unbeaten in league play.

          They won the title outright with a (69-34) win at West Holmes last Friday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a business trip.  “I mean we were able to get that outright title with our 13^th win over there and it felt really good and the kids played well.  That's a long bus ride if you don't play well, so we were happy to play well and celebrated that one when we got home,” he said.

          Lexington (19-1,13-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at Mt. Vernon (10-10,7-6), in “OCC” play on Friday night.  The Jackets lost (68-60) to Ashland in a conference game las Friday.

          Hamilton says they have shooters that are hard to guard.  “What they do they do very well.  They shoot the ball very well, they're very persistent, they'll do it for 32 minutes.  They've got a lot of length, no real great size inside, but they've got good length all the way across the board with everybody they can put on the floor, a lot of athletes,” he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It'll be the last time that we get to see them with them leaving the “OCC”, so I know that they'll be excited.  It's a home game for them, so they'll shoot the ball even better on their own floor.  So, we've got to make sure that we're prepared for them.”

          Lexington won the first game (73-64) on January 9.

          Hamilton says their goals have evolved during the season and now he says they want that clean slate.  “When we start the season wanting battle for an “OCC” championship and once we we're able to get a share of that we wanted to win it outright.  Now, that we've won it outright, we've tweaked our goals again and we want to try to see if we can be undefeated in the conference,” he said.

          Ottawa-Glandorf (16-3), the leader of the Western Buckeye League, and defending state runner-up in division III, comes calling on Saturday night.

          Hamilton says the Titans are always a great measuring stick.  “That's why we put them on our schedule what six, seven years ago we've had them on there.  It's a good challenge for us.  It's a battle going into tournament time.  We always like to play them.  They're very well coached, very disciplined team, they've always got good athletes, good basketball players and this year is no different.  They've got a guy committed to go play at Ohio State.  So, we're excited to have them on our home floor and looking forward to just another challenging ball game,’ said Hamilton.

Published 2/14/2024

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Lexington Wants That Outright Title

          Lexington already has a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title this season and they have an opportunity to win it outright if they can beat West Holmes on the road on Friday night.

          It’s been New Philadelphia that has given the Minutemen their toughest games in the league this season and that was the case last week when Lexington pulled away late to win (57-47) on Friday night.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they were able to make some plays in that pivotal fourth quarter.  “I mean they had some big shots coming over to our place and give credit to my kids they just kind of found a couple of weaknesses and we ran some plays that gave us an advantage in the fourth quarter.  We got a few stops and were able to pull that one out I think by about 10,” said Hamilton.

          This year Lexington is more athletic than they have been in the past.  They want to push the ball a little more and Hamilton says they are running less set plays too.  “We're probably a little bit more of an open concept, motion offense.  We run a little bit less sets just because of our personnel.  We've tweaked a little bit because of our personnel and what we have and what we have the ability to do.  Obviously, we've scored some more points off of our defense this year than what we probably have in past years,” he said.

          Lexington (18-1,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at West Holmes (2-14,0-11) on Friday night.

          The Minutemen won the first game handily (63-20) on January 5, but Hamilton says they have to sort of forget that one and be focused on Friday night.  “I mean we have no points from that.  There's no carryovers, if that's the word to use.  So, we're going in there fresh.  We’re 0-0 right now.  We're taking it one game at a time.  It gives us the opportunity to win an outright conference title and that's really our focus,” he said.

          Last season, Lexington shared the title with New Philadelphia and Hamilton says this year they want it to themselves.  “I mean it's one of the things that we set that goal at the beginning of every year to compete for a conference title.  Then once you get to a certain point, we’re at a situation I guess where we can claim it outright by ourselves,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We tweaked that goal a little bit and that's what we want and so that's going to be our focus against West Holmes down there.”

Published 2/09/24

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Lexington Can Get a Share

          Lexington can clinch no less than a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with a win at home on Friday night against the New Philadelphia Quakers.

          Last Friday, the Minutemen (17-1,11-0), #1 the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Ashland (74-50) in an “OCC” game.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they really weren’t at their best until nearly the fourth quarter.  “It was a good game, I thought we really had some struggles defensively.  We weren't focused.  I suppose when we played them the first time a 34 point margin of victory will have that effect on some kids.  I thought once we kind of dialed it in a little bit.  We really didn't do too much in the half court because they were pressing us and we were getting a lot of layups, so we just never really dialed in after I think we took off with like a 10-0 run and then from there until the end of the third quarter we were just kind of going back and forth going back and forth.  Then that once we got about maybe three minutes to go in the third quarter, we kind of focused a little bit more and saw a sense of urgency,” said Hamilton.

          New Philadelphia (10-6,7-4) beat Madison (46-23) in an “OCC” game last Friday. 

          They challenged Lexington as well as anyone in the league has this year, losing (50-42) on December 29.

          Hamilton says they had to work hard to win.  “It's a tough place to play to begin with going over there.  They're a very well coached team and so we went there we early in the season had been working on some things and threw some new things at us and we did not start the game particularly well.  It was a nice conference game with the idea that you had two solid teams going at each other.  They threw their best guys at us.  We were trying to throw our best stuff at them and at the end we were fortunate to come out on top and now we expect nothing different this this time around,” he said.

          Hamilton says if they are able to win the “OCC”, it will be well earned.  “I've said this year after year and a lot of people laugh, but I mean it sincerely.  When you look at the “OCC” and you look at the size difference of the schools and you look at the different schools that each team plays and challenges and things like that.  You can have the number one team versus the number seven team and you can have a good conference game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Just because something went well for you the first time doesn't necessarily mean it's going to go well for you the second time.  A of lot of the schools in the conference play some pretty good competition, so not everybody's going to have 10, 15 wins at the end of the season, but that doesn't mean that they're not a good team or a good program.  I think that's what we see in the “OCC” year after year.”

Published 1/31/2024

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Lexington Taking it One Piece at a Time

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, plays at home against Ashland in a conference game on Friday night.

          They own a two game lead in the “OCC” and beat Madison (67-38) in an “OCC” game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they did the job against the Rams.  “The growth during the season is really what a coach wants to see and you want to work for and you want to improve on the things that you need to get better.  I thought we had a pretty good showing over there at Madison against quite possibly I think I could argue that they're the best wanted 1-13 team that I've ever seen.  They've got a lot of pieces, they do a lot of things very, very well.  They've just not been able to close out in their games, but they're right there and no question about it they've got some good parts,” said Hamilton.

          The Minutemen lead Mansfield Senior by two and have beaten the Tygers twice.

          Lexington (16-1,10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Ashland (6-9,3-6) on Friday night.  The Arrows are coming off one of their best performances of the season in a (54-31) win over New Philadelphia on Tuesday.

          Hamilton says they can play.  “It's no surprise, they are another young team like us that they've got a lot of pieces and it was just a matter of time before they consistently started putting it together.  They've had a couple of nice wins.  When you rely on that many sophomores, you're going to kind of take some lumps a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It wasn't too much of a surprise to see that score.  We just hope that they don't have a great night of shooting against us and we can defend them a little bit better maybe than what New Philly did.  It's one of those things we're just going to have to lace them up and get on the floor and see what happens.”

          Lexington beat Asland (88-54) on December 22.

          Hamilton says they have to be able to contain their shooters.  “That's what I thought about that game going in with New Philly and Ashland.  They both have some very good shooters on the roster.  I thought it could be one of those games that just come right down to the end.  When I saw the final score it was a little bit of surprise and I knew Ashland had really put a very good game together.  So, it's definitely caught our attention.  We're going to have to be ready for them.  We focused everything on Madison for the Tuesday game, but once we got into gym on Wednesday, we've got to hit Ashland and be ready for them Friday,” he said.

Published 1/24/2024

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Lexington Expects More of a Challenge from Tygers

          It’s an opportunity for the Lexington Minutemen on Friday night to put themselves in full command in the Ohio Cardinal Conference as they host the rival Mansfield Senior Tygers.

          They lead Senior High by a game and a win puts them two up on the field.

          They lost their first game of the season Sunday when Gahanna Lincoln beat them (56-46) at Ohio Dominican.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a good experience.  “It's a good challenge for us, there's no question about it, playing a school that size and that caliber and with the tradition of basketball and going down there to kind of a neutral site event gave us a little bit of a tournament atmosphere.  What we realized is that we can play with those caliber of teams.  I thought the guys did a nice job, we just didn't close it out, missed a couple of shots in the fourth quarter and just wasn't able to put enough points on the board.  A lot of positives, we came away with the loss, but going in it's tough to go undefeated and when you're playing teams like that on your schedule it lessens that chance even a little bit more,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (14-1,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, host Mansfield Senior (10-2,7-1) on Friday night.  The Tygers own a nine game winning streak.

          The Minutemen tared and feathered Mansfield Senior (70-45) back on December 12.

          However, Hamilton says this is a different Tyger team now.  “Well, their at full strength, there's no question about that. Ja’ontay O’Bryant was injured coming off of football, so he took some time off and got himself healed back and so he's playing pretty well and then (Karion) Lindsey had some issues the first time we played them.  So, they've got two starters, or two guys in the starting lineup now, that we did not see the first time, so that's a big plus.  Anytime you lose a starter it's going to affect your team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They've been playing well, they've been playing some good competition, played a couple of Columbus schools during that nine game stretch, so they've been tested and challenged.  We just hope that we're ready for it.  We know what's at stake on Friday night, sole leadership in the “OCC” and now we just have got to go out there and put it all on the court.”

          Hamilton expects to see a lot of pressure from the Tygers and knows they are going to have to keep them off the glass.  “I think coach (Marquis) Sykes, he's always really preaching over there the defensive philosophies that that he had when he was in school at Mansfield.  It's just part of it is getting the kids to buy in, part of it is getting the right chemistry of kids, the right mix of kids, to be able to do it when you want to do it and how you want to affect teams.  So, I think it's something that he's always been trying to do and I think when you have those kind of goals it doesn't happen overnight.  So, early in the season they're still developing that, they're working on it, and I think they've got it going pretty well right now,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton knows a win puts them in very good position in the “OCC”.  “Right now, we do not have a loss and Mansfield has one and then the third place team is New Philly with three losses.  I know Mansfield and New Philly still have to play each other.  We still have to play New Philly.  So, being able to get a two game lead in the conference in the second round would definitely be a nice comfort zone for us,” he said.

Published 1/18/2024

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Lexington Can’t Sit Still

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, begins the second half of the conference schedule on Friday night at Wooster.

          They beat Mt. Vernon (73-64) in “OCC” play on Tuesday night.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they didn’t play their best in the second half.  “It was a typical “OCC” game.  You had a pretty good battle with two top half teams.  They came out ready to play.  We defensively kind of latched off a little bit once we build up a little bit of a lead and they took advantage of that, credit to them. They hit some big shots going down the stretch and it ended up being a little bit closer than what we would have liked it to have been.  You have got to stay focused for a full 32 minutes.  So, luckily for us we were able to get a Tuesday night win and in the “OCC” and we're moving on to the next one,” said Hamilton.

          Brayden Fogle led Lexington with 18 points.

          Hamilton says Tuesday night league games can be hard to prepare for, this week in particular.  “The Saturday games are short prep, there's no doubt about it, but the Tuesdays are just out of the ordinary if you will.  You try to give your kids a little bit of time off and you come in on a Monday.  Then not to make excuses or anything, but we did have a snow day and I think Mt. Vernon did as well.  So, it king of disrupts the routine a little bit of what you're trying to build with your kids.  The Tuesday games you don't have quite the crowd and everything and it's just a little bit different, just a little bit off,” he said.

          The Minutemen hold a one game lead on Mansfield Senior in the conference standings and will host the Tygers next week.  They are also the top team in their division II district in the RIP standings.

          Lexington (13-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (5-6,4-3) on Friday night.  The Generals had a three game winning streak snapped by New Philadelphia in an “OCC” game on Tuesday night.

          Big Lex hammered Wooster (78-50) in their first meeting on December 8.

          Hamilton says they have to be ready for Wooster to be different.  “We've got our work cut out for us there's no doubt about it.  I mean it's one of those things that we have to be ready.  Once film gets out and when you start doing that second round of the “OCC” games it's one of those things that people try to pick apart what you do well, what you've had success at, and they try to eliminate it, they try to stop you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday morning, “We've got to be breaking down their film and make sure that we're ready for what they've adjusted to do and what they've changed and become.  Now, halfway through the season and they're going to do the same for us.  So, we've got to come up with some new wrinkles that they've never seen before and hopefully we can come out on top.”

Published 1/11/2024

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Lexington Far From There

          Unbeaten Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, will play at home against West Holmes on Friday night in a conference game.

          They entertain Galion in a non-league game on Saturday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they have grown over the first month of the season as a team.  “I definitely think we're better, there's no doubt about it.  Anytime when you start the season off and you replace a lot of guys through graduation or whatnot you've got individual guys that you're trying to work into a into a team, into a system trying to become one unit if you will.  If nothing else when you start looking at the number of assists that we've been throwing together and things like that you can see that these guys are learning what their teammates are doing and their actions, who's going left, who’s going right, being able to make those passes and things like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think that individually we've progressed in in a small amount, but our main growth has just been as a team in learning how to blend in the new faces with some of the guys that were on the roster last year.  Whenever you bring in so many sophomores, there's going to be that growth period and I thought that the guys have handled it pretty well.  We're not where we want to be on January 1^st, we want to make sure that we keep growing and continue to progress.”

          Hamilton says with the players they have they can be hard to guard, but he still feels the backbone of the team needs to be defense.  “You want to make yourself difficult to defend.  On any given night one of those factors can kind of give in a little bit or not be flowing the way you wanted to, but on the defensive side that is what we work on to be consistent.  Because there's going to be some nights when you shoot it 60% from the floor, then there's going to be other nights when you shoot it 30% from the floor.  That could be because of the defense or it could be you're just having an off night.  It could be one individual or it could be the entire team.  So, you're going to go through peaks and valleys in a lot of things, but for me defense has always been that consistent factor that it just comes from effort and attitude and that needs to be there every given night.”

          Lexington (10-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to West Holmes (1-6,0-5) on Friday night.  The Knights were thrashed (62-27) by Mansfield Senior in conference play last Friday.

          Hamilton says that game is not an illustration of who West Holmes is as a basketball team.  “Well, against Mansfield Senior they were missing their best player.  He had some form of an injury that he did not play.  So, we’re aware of that, we're not taking that game to heart we're going to look at multiple game films and what they've been able to do.  We're going to prepare for the night knowing what they're going to bring 32 minutes of challenge in on Friday night and hopefully we're ready for it,” he said.

Published 1/03/2024

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Lexington Gets Shelby Again

          Lexington beat Shelby (61-57) in battle between the two best basketball teams in North Central Ohio on Saturday night in Lexington.

          It was the third time the Minutemen have beaten the Whippets in the last calendar year.  They beat them in the regular season last year on Valentine’s Day in Shelby and in overtime in the division II district tournament.

          This time it came down to the final few possessions as you thought it might.

          Trailing by one, Lexington sophomore Brayden Fogle gave the Minutemen the lead (57-55) with a nice post move from the right of the lane and added a free throw with 1:38 to play.

          Shelby’s Alex Bruskotter, a senior headed to Wright State, tied the game (57-57) with two free throws at the 1:05 mark, but Lexington responded again as another sophomore Dantrell Hughes laid it in with :42 left to make it (59-57) Minutemen.

          Again, Shelby was able to get the ball to Bruskotter, but he was whistled for traveling.  After a time out, Lexington executed their press breaker and got a layup from Joe Caudill with :10 left to put it away.

          “I feel this win especially emphasizes that we might be sophomores, but we are coming to play,” said Fogle.  He led the Minutemen with 21 points and nine rebounds, he was the only Lexington player with double figure points.  Caudill and Seven Allen both had nine.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says there were a lot of plays throughout the game that led to the victory for them.  “I think we're going to go back and watch this film and find out that there are a lot of great moves, a lot of great actions, a lot of misses, a lot of lost rebounds, but at the end of the night we're going to celebrate this one without any doubt,” he said after the win, “For my guys, my young guys stepped up, a strong team win against the veteran squad with a division I committed player.  We're going to celebrate this one at the end of year there's no question about it.”

          Lexington shot 48% for the game (26-54) field goals, while the Whippets were at 32% in making (19-60) for the game.  Shelby won the battle of the boards 42-31, with 13 from Bruskotter.

          Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says they had a lot of chances to score and didn’t cash in, plus had a defensive breakdown on that Lexington fast break.  “It's frustrating game like that right down near to the end, especially when you think you had a lot of missed opportunities out there, on both ends too.  I thought our movement sucked.  Just so many things that we have to get better.  A lot of missed opportunities offensively.  I know we didn't shoot a great percentage, 19-60, man that's bad, so we have got to get better,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Something that really sticks out, at the end of the game we lose guys in transition they get a layup and it's just a lack of communication and we're better than that.  That’s the disappointing part because we have too many veterans in this group to be held to that standard and not talk on the defensive end.  So, we just have got to get better, plain and simple.”

          Most of the Shelby offense went through Bruskotter, who finished with 32 points on 10-23 field goals, many of which were tough looks, and 12 of 16 at the line.

          Lexington’s only senior Elijah Hudson was saddled with foul trouble for most of the night.  He returned for the final time with 6:31 to play, and his team up (47-44) and fouled out at the 3:14 mark.  Bruskotter have the Whippets a (51-49) lead by converting both charity tosses.

          Hamilton says he was proud of Hudson’s effort, especially his defense on Bruskotter.  “Elijah got into some foul situation.  He had a tough assignment (Saturday) night.  He's my only senior and he stepped up and really took on that challenge in guarding one of the best players in the area.  Just got a couple of silly fouls I thought.  When we called his number and brought him back in he did everything he could.  Just one of those things you have got to give everything you can to the team and he's a big part of this win no matter what,” said Hamilton.

          Bruskotter is obviously the focus of what Shelby does on offense and Hamilton says they tried to show him a lot of looks.  “That was what we were trying to do. We were going to mix it up a little bit and we know he's very good at getting to the foul line and of course he shot 16 of them there.  So, that was something that we were aware of and wanted to try to control a little bit better, but like Elijah said he did a real nice job defensively holding him to 32,” he said.

          Could there be another meeting between the two teams in March?  Gallaway says maybe, but their immediate goal is to clean up their play.  “There's a chance, yeah, but it's a non league game.  We get right back at it next week and we have two games.  We just have got to come with the mindset next week early that we have got to get better,” he said.

          Hamilton says with four sophomores playing a lot of minutes for them, he thought it was a tremendous win.  “In my opinion and I know this kind of sounds cliche because we were at home and everything, but with them and the number of seniors that they had returning from last year and the talent that they had I really thought that we were the underdog this year with so many new faces on the roster and playing so many sophomores that lack varsity experience before this year.  Again, I give the credit to my guys, they stepped up big,” said Hamilton.

Published 12/30/23

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Lexington with Two Tough Tests

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, travels to New Philadelphia to face the Quakers in a conference game on Friday night.

          They host Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, on Saturday night in a much anticipated non-conference match-up.

          Lexington and New Philadelphia shared the “OCC” crown last year and Minuteman coach Scott Hamilton says the Quakers (3-2,3-1) have done a nice job rebuilding.  “They've got some pretty potential scorers that came back from last year.  It started with Colton Slaughter, he's probably one of the premier scorers in our league and we're going to have our hands full trying to stay up with him.  They run a lot of stuff to try to get him open looks and it doesn't take much time for him to get the shot off.  So, they've rebuilt a nice supporting cast kind of around him with some inside strengths and some other shooters and they bring a couple of nice kids off the bench.  So, it's going to be a tall task for us to go into their place and come up with a win,” said Hamilton.

          Hamilton says New Philadelphia runs an offense that features a lot of screening and cuts and they are going to have to be disciplined on defense.  “That's one of the things that we've worked on this week is just how we're going to handle some of their screens and some of their cuts and curls and being able to be disciplined with that action.  Not just out athlete them, but be smarter than them and not put them on the foul line and in certain situations.  We're going in there with a with a young group.  I think we're going to give it our best.  I think it'll be just another typical “OCC” contest with two good teams battling it out,” he said.

          Lexington beat Shelby last season in overtime in the division II district semifinal and both teams are having very good seasons this year.  Lexington (8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has done a solid job rebuilding.  Shelby (5-1), #2 in the poll, returns a lot from last year, including Wright State recruit Alex Bruskotter.

          Hamilton says the Whippets have a boatload of experience.  “I think first and foremost I mean it starts with (Alex) Bruskotter, there's no doubt about it, but they're a very experienced team with the starters.  I think four of their starters are seniors, they probably have seven maybe eight, nine seniors on their roster.  So, there's a lot of experience on that on that roster,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It goes back from building up last year when we played them towards the end of the regular season and then we had another rematch against them in tournament play.  So, it's become quite the rivalry and with us both getting off to good starts it's definitely a local game that that is going to draw a lot of interest.”

Published 12/29/23

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Lexington Dominance Continues

          Lexington continues to show they are likely the best basketball team in North Central Ohio as they destroyed Ontario (84-46) on Saturday night in a non-conference game played at Lexington.

          The Minutemen (8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, scored the first seven points and never trailed.

          Ontario (1-6) cut their deficit to 10 (24-14) with a Landon Foltz three with 6:36 to play until halftime, but the Minutemen then went on a (21-2) run punctuated by a Brayden Fogle basket 1:37 left until the intermission.  It was pretty much name the score after that.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says games against Ontario are always big for him.  “I was excited, it’s a rivalry with two connecting schools.  It goes back a long way.  When I first started coaching here at a lower level coach (Joe) Balogh was over there, who was a former coach of mine years ago when I was in school, so that history got started.  Every time I took the court against Ontario that was just something.  I've said this before, it doesn't matter if we're playing checkers the Lexington-Ontario matchup is always special.  Then coach (Tim) Mergel, who was a conference opponent of mine, he goes over there and that kind of continues and builds.  So, don't really know coach (Jerry) Moton at all, but it's still Lex-Ontario to me and that's what we were out there trying to get the win for,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington shot 54% from the field (31-57), the Warriors only 32% (18-56) on Saturday night.

          Warriors coach Jerry Moton says he sees some light at the end of the tunnel.  “If we get shots maybe just a little different outcome.  I saw more fight on the rebounding end, but we still got work to do there.  Defensively, we have still got some work, but I'm seeing positive swings in the right way,” he said.

          Lexington won the battle of the boards by a 39-38 count.  Ontario grabbed more offensive rebounds (15-14), but a further investigation shows Lexington got 52% of their chances on the offensive boards to just 38% for Ontario.

          What has kept Ontario in some of their games this season is their perimeter shooting, but they only made 21% (5-23) against Lexington.

          Hamilton says perimeter defense was a key in their preparation.  “What they're capable of doing is knocking down three-point shots and statistically they shoot the ball pretty well if they get open looks.  So, we did not want them to start getting comfortable and getting settled in on our court to be able to knock down those shots.  So, we tried to make sure that we were keeping them off balance every chance we could.  We know that they want to play at a fast pace, so we tried to match that and actually build it up just a little bit more,” said Hamilton.

          The Minutemen looked comfortable at that pace.

          Although their advantage was significant all night, a running clock came into play at the 4:37 make of the third quarter when it became (65-30) Minutemen, Hamilton says they wanted to keep their foot on the gas.  “We continue to want to get better every time we step on the court.  We did have a target against these guys to make sure that we limited them to a certain amount of points.  We didn't want to give them open looks and even once we got comfortable that was a goal of ours was not to get relaxed.  Let's not relax on these guys and then ultimately let them back in the game.  So, it was one of those things that we wanted to do before the break,” he said.

          Even with their success this year Lexington had not shot all that well from the outside, but they did this weekend, they beat Ashland (88-54) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game Friday night.

          They made 47% of their threes (8-17) against Ontario.

          Hamilton says he knew they had it in them.  “The frustrating part is that we've known that we were good shooting group individually and as a unit.  We've been working on it in practice and it's basically been one of those things where you tell the guys if it's not falling we're looking to attack the rim, we've got other opportunities keep the ball moving,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “The stat that really jumps out at me (Saturday) night that I’m impressed with was we had 23 assists on 31 makes, so only eight of our makes came without a direct pass from the teammate.  That’s contagious, efficient basketball, the guys are recognizing each other, they want to play some good defense and going into the holiday break you know they've earned a couple of days off.”

          Elijah Hudson led Lexington with 19 points, Fogle had 18, Joe Caudill 14 and Gavin Husty 12.  Foltz had 10 points for the Warriors.

Published 12/23/23

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Lexington Will Have to Guard Shooters

          Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, plays at Ashland in a conference game on Friday night.

          They host Ontario in non-conference play on Saturday.

          Last week, they did not have their “A” game, but beat Madison (60-49) in an “OCC” game on Friday and then rocked Wadsworth (66-35) in the Steve Smith Classic at Orrville High School on Saturday.

          Overall, coach Scott Hamilton says they were able to take some positives from the weekend.  “Yeah, I mean that's one of the things that I told the guys two positives out of Friday night was we were able to get an “OCC” win and we were able to do it when we didn't play our best.  I think we didn’t shoot the ball very well and you might be able to give a little bit of a credit to that to Madison, but it just wasn't a normal night for us.  When you can still get away with a win you have got to look at that as a positive.  I thought being able to get right back on the court the next day was fortunate for us.  The guys responded very well and we went up to Orville for a shootout type event and played very well.  So, overall the weekend went very well for us and got through some things and got a little bit better,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (6-0,3-0), #1 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Ashland (2-4,0-3) on Friday night.  The Arrows finally got some things going on offense in a (68-58) win over Uniontown Lake at Massillon on Saturday.

          Hamilton says this has been kind of a different Ashland team.  “We know he's got shooters on the floor and on the bench and he's got a rotation. He's got some young guys just like we do.  So, he's just trying to find that combination, that mix, and once it clicks, I'm sure it's going to go well for them.  So, we're trying to be prepared for the best game they've played, the best game that they've been able to put on the floor this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He does have that rotation, which is not normal for coach (Jason) Hess.  He normally stays with the starting five, maybe goes six deep and this year he's got eight maybe pushing nine guys on the floor.  So, we're trying to match up and see what we can do against whoever he puts out there.”

          It will be an interesting matchup with Ontario on Saturday.  Hamilton says the Warriors will want the game to be played at a very fast tempo.  “They're definitely a high energy group that we're going to have to deal with.  They like to apply pressure 94 feet and they put a lot of it.  Then on the offensive end they're looking for quick shots, not bad shots, but quick shots and they can be from about anywhere.  They'll run stuff through the paint, they'll shoot it from 22, 23 feet.  So, we've have got to be prepared to match that energy and that intensity on Saturday night and hopefully be able to defend all the way out to 25, 30 feet,” he said.

Published 12/20/23

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Lexington Has to Handle Tyger Pressure

          Lexington, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, plays a key early season game in the conference on Tuesday night as they travel to Pete Henry Gym to face the rival Mansfield Senior Tygers.

          Last Friday, they got the defense of that title started in the right way with a (78-50) win at home over Wooster.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they feel good about the win.  “I mean it's always nice to get that first league game under your belt.  Of course, it was our first home game of the season.  So, we had a lot going on and just happy to walk away with the win,” he said.

          Brayden Fogle has 15 points for Lex against Wooster.

          Lexington has shot 54% from the field this season, their opponents only 36%.  Hamilton says they have gotten a lot of good shots and forced their opponents into some bad shots.  “We've been able to get to the rim a couple of times, get some offensive boards or some putbacks, which are typically high percentage.  I've got a couple of guys that shoot the ball pretty well and I think our defense is getting better each week as we work on it.  So, hopefully we're going to continue to see that and we'll be able to put a little bit of pressure on the other team shooters and we'll get some good looks,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (3-0,1-0) is at Mansfield Senior (1-1,1-0) on Tuesday night.  The Tygers opened the season last week with a (59-44) win at home over Ashland in league play.  They lost a non-conference game at Sandusky (70-61) on Saturday.

          Hamilton says the Tygers are going to try and turn defense into offense.  “It's going to be a typical Mansfield kind of what you always expect.  They are going to be driven by defense, they're going to get after you, they're going to put points on the board that come directly from defensive pressure.  So, we've got to make sure that we do the best that we can and handling that pressure and then make sure our turnovers don't lead directly to buckets,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Then on the flip side, we've got to make sure that we're defending them like we've been working on and ensure we're contesting them and giving them difficult shots and then once that shot goes up we've got to keep them off the glass so they don’t get those second chance opportunities.”

          Hamilton says you want to be aggressive against that pressure and get some easy looks, but that’s not going to be easy by any stretch.  “If you have got the ability to beat that pressure and you can stay ahead of it then yeah I mean you definitely want to try to avoid them from getting their defense set up in the half court.  The problem is just trying to beat that and that's always the case.  They've got just unbelievable pressure and it's hard to simulate it in practice to get ready for it.  You have just got to do the best you can and hope your kids are mentally ready once you get in the game,” he said.

Published 12/12/23

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Lexington With Challenges in Wooster

          Lexington, the defending champion in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, begins that defense by hosting Wooster on Friday night.

          Last week, a pair of non-conference games, the Minutemen beat Clear Fork (78-52) on Friday and Clyde (87-52) on Saturday.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a good start, but they still have things to address.  “I think it was a good start for us.  I mean we got after it a little bit.  We've got a lot of young players that we're putting on the floor mixing in with some experience from last year.  So, I thought we were able to do some things we wanted to do.  It kind of showed us some things that we really need to work on in certain areas.  Being on the road for two games was a concern to open up the season, but I thought my guys handled it fairly well,” he said.

          Hamilton says they do good things, but right now they don’t do them consistent enough.  “I think consistency for us.  We had back-to-back games and it's not necessarily game one to game two but it's week after week.  I think that what we saw were some things where we weren't consistent in what we wanted to do both offensively and defensively, taking care of the ball, rebounding, just things like that.  We were able to turn it on, but it also got turned off at times.  So, we need to be a little bit more consistent,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “When you want to turn it off as when you come out and take a break on the bench.  That's a sign of maturity just growing a little bit.  My older guys, my more experienced guys, trying to bring those younger guys along.  Some of the things that we wanted to work on this week is just that consistency and the game preparation.  Now that we're in that mode, we have to have that game preparation and we have to have that attitude during the week of practice.”

          Wooster (0-2) has lost to Wadsworth (66-56) on last Friday and (64-49) to Dover on Tuesday in non-conference games.

          Hamilton says the Generals have some guys that can play and they like to play at a quick tempo.  “We saw some game film on them.  Very familiar faces, a lot of the guys were on the roster last year, so we're kind of used to some of those names.  It looks like they play a little bit up tempo.  They've got some half court stuff that they like to play.  They've got a couple of players both inside and out that are pretty tough to defend.  We're going to have to kind of match up the best that we can.  They've got a shooting guard in Brady Bowen who was a real nice player last year as a sophomore.  So, we're going to have to be aware of where he is at all times on the floor.  Then they've got a couple of nice inside post players that could possibly give us some fits if we lose them in their rotation, ball screening and everything.  So, I think it's going to be a good test for us.  Fortunate for us, it's at home, so hopefully that'll put a little bit of comfort into the guys, but we’ve got some work to do to be ready.”

Published 12/8/23

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Lexington Ready to Get Started

          There are great expectations for the Lexington Minutemen this season and we start to figure out if they can reach those as they open the season down the road at Clear Fork on Friday night in non-conference action.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says he is confident that they will be ready to go come Friday.  “While I think that most coaches would tell you they're going to be as comfortable as they can be for game one.  You're still trying to figure out some things, you're defining roles when you have as many new faces as what we do.  You just kind of get after it.  You have got to start doing those things and then continue to work on it as season goes.  You're not going to be in peak form week one that's for sure,” he said.

          Hamilton says they don’t have time to get their whole game plan in before the opener.  He says that takes time.  “I mean you might have some continuity stuff in or your base stuff, but as the season progresses you see things and kids advance and you notice some abilities from your players that you might be able to tweak some things and put new things in throughout the year.  You probably if you could say that you had half of your stuff in going into game one, you'd probably be happy with that,” he said.

          Hamilton says Clear Fork has a roster that has a bunch of upperclassmen on it and he thinks in coach Tim Brafford’s second year, they are going to be able to stomp their feet a little more, as Colts are apt to do.  “Well, I think they're veteran squad.  I mean what they bring back from last year's team, there's a lot of experience on that squad.  It starts with Vanausdale and Holz, they play very, very strong and then of course you've got Grant Spencer, another senior, Dornbier, that’s another senior.  They've got a bunch of seniors that have played a lot of action and then they've got a couple of new faces with some kids that played probably more JV minutes than they did varsity last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They've been program kids.  They've been in the system and now that Tim's (Brafford) in his second year he's getting to do some things that he wanted to do last year.  He came in and was just kind of figuring his guys out.  So, I think they're going to be much improved they went from zero wins one year to six wins last year.  I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to improve on that this year.”

Published 11/30/23

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Lexington Taking Steps

          Lexington is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion and division II district runner-up and this season promises to be a good one too.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they are making slow progress this month.  “Every team comes together a little bit differently and this one it's just part of the process.  We've got a lot of new faces, a lot of young guys that we're relying on.  We’re mixing them in with some veterans.  So, I'm not discouraged, I'm positive, but at the same time it would be nice if we were developing a little bit faster, but knowing that we still have a little bit of time and these guys are smart basketball players, I'm confident that everything's going to go well,” he said.

          Lexington plays at Clear Fork in a non-conference game to open the season on December 1.  They host Wooster in an their “OCC” opener on December 8.

          With an extra week to prepare as compared to last year, Hamilton says they don’t feel rushed to be ready to play.  “The football team made the playoffs and so when they were able to get that and we still were able to get started on time and everything, so I think a lot of coaches are realizing maybe a little bit of time off was beneficial.  Where maybe years in the past making a playoff run you had to get right after it or even move the start of your season back a little bit.  So, we're seeing teams that have maybe made the playoffs and are still sticking with the December 1^st December 2^nd weekend to start the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “For us it's been nice, we've kind of taken things slow and overall like I said we're going to be a young roster, so we've kind of taken things slow and let the guys kind of figure each other out with the new faces that we have.  There comes a point to where you just have got to start moving forward, put your head down and let's go to work.”

          Hamilton feels the placement of their scrimmages has been important this year.  He says that gives them the chance to address some things.  “I think you know that's where kind of spacing out where you put your scrimmages can help you a little bit.  You see things, you see mistakes, you see errors, you see areas that need improving.  You work on it for a few days and then you throw the kids back out there and do your next scrimmage.  So, that's kind of where we're at we're just kind of working through some of those bumps right now.  Like I've explained to my guys, and I've done it every year, by December 1^st we're not looking to have that finished product that we hope to have come late February and early March.  The process takes place and we just have got to trust the process and keep working through it,” said Hamilton.

Published 11/23/23

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Lexington Girls’ Promising

          Lexington Lady Lex has some potential to become a good basketball team, but they have a lot of learning to do as the season approaches.

          First year coach Gabby Stover says the players have a good work ethic and they can be a solid team.  “My thoughts are pretty promising so far.  I have got a lot of hard workers.  We're pretty young and so we definitely have a lot of improvement that can be made but pretty promising group as far as work ethic and just overall morality.  So, pretty happy with how it's been so far,” said Stover.

          Lexington scrimmaged against Upper Sandusky and Marion Pleasant on Thursday.

          Stover says they learn some things in every scrimmage that they have had so far.  “I think it's good for us to kind of go out and play some teams that we don't normally see and get shown that maybe we need to come back in and work on some new things and work even harder than we did previously and that's always a good thing,” she said.

          Lady Lex opens the season the day after Thanksgiving against Clear Fork, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.  They play their first “OCC” game at home December 2 against traditional power West Holmes.

          Stover says the biggest thing they have improve is their decision making when they have the ball.  She says they have to know when to push the tempo.  “I would say the biggest thing for us is it’s just going to take clean shots and be a clean cut team.  Right now, we're pretty heavy in transition and I love a good transition team, but for us there's going to be a time and a place for it and we got to learn the difference between when we need to push when we need to slow down and get through our sets,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “For us, I just have got to distinguish and get them to understand when it's time for us to kind of lay back and get through stuff and when it's time to put the pedal to the metal and go.”

Published 11/17/23

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Lexington Has Potential

          Lexington won the Ohio Cardinal Conference boys’ basketball championship last season and advanced to the division II district final, but this season they will have a different mix.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says they are excited to find what they have this year.  “Right now, I think it's all about our potential.  We're starting to get in the gym a little bit and we'll see how it goes.  We graduated five seniors that gave us a lot of quality minutes.  So, we've got some young guys that are kind of battling for some spots.  We're excited to see what we're made of right now and then where we're going to be in a couple of weeks,” he said.

          Seven Allen, who was a major contributor on the football field this fall, transferred from Madison over the summer.

          Hamilton says they need to find the best way to get him involved on the basketball floor.  “I think it's one of those things, he's a new face for us.  We're obviously aware of what he was able to accomplish over there at Madison.  So, we're excited to get him in the gym and see what he's able to do.  I've always tried to take the guys that we have and put them in good positions and use their skill sets in the best way possible to fit us and make us successful.  He's just another one of those pieces that we're going to be looking at in the next couple of weeks,” said Hamilton.

          With the loss to graduation they experienced since last year, Hamilton says November will be important in finding out who fits where.  “I mean my big player inside Baden Forup is gone, Hudson Moore, another solid four year guy for me, probably arguably my best defender is gone, then at the point guard spot I had A.J. Young and Al Depperschmidt, that both gave me solid minutes off and on defensively and offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Those are all positions that are going to have to really be filled.  Some of them I don't think we're going to fill their shoes, but we've got to find a way.  Even the guys that are coming back that are sophomores, they're going to go be going up against 18 year old guys and they're still 15, 16 years old.  So, we'll have some things to figure out with that, but we're excited here at Lexington, there's no question about that.”

          Allen is a sophomore and so is Brayden Fogle, who started last year for Lexington and was one of the most athletic kids in the area.

          The Minuteman begin their season at Clear Fork, in non-conference play, on December 1.  Their first “OCC” game with will be December 8 against the Wooster Generals.

          Hamilton says this month they also need to find what style of play best suits them.  “If you've got a real strong perimeter, you've got to go with that.  If you've got a real strong inside play and defense.  It's just one of those things, I think you do have to tweak it a little bit.  I mean every coach has got certain things that they want to do, there's no question about it, but you have to tweak it to your personnel and adjust it a little bit and that's what we're going to find out in the month of November,” he said.

Published 11/07/23

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Lexington Feels Good

          Lexington tangles with St. Mary’s Memorial on Wednesday night in a division II regional semifinal at Clyde High School.

          The Minutemen (15-3-1) beat Norwalk (2-0) last week to earn another district title.

          Coach Pete Them says they were really able to control the game.  “There was kind of that unknown.  We had some common opponents, but we knew Norwalk was going to be tough and they were going to come play as hard.  I thought the boys did a nice job of kind of controlling the pace and controlling the game.  Fortunately, for us we were able to put the ball in the back of the a couple of times.  That really obviously was the deciding factor.  I think the fact that we could just control the game, control the tempo and basically we're kind of able to control the ball and that was that was huge for us, especially after kind of an emotional win over Ontario in district semis,” he said.

          St. Mary’s Memorial (18-2-1) beat Celina (1-0) in their district final, avenging a regular season loss.

          Them says they are very good on both ends of the pitch.  “Typically, we would have a common opponent in Lima Shawnee, but that was scratched this year due to some weather and the field was unplayable.  The common opponent would be Ontario.  Actually, they came to Ontario late in the season and Ontario got them 1-0.  So, we've watched the game film a little bit and kind of seen some things.  I've talked to the Shawnee coach a little bit here and there, and they're a good squad,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They play hard and they have 18 wins, two losses.  They don't give up a ton of goals, they score a bunch, so it's going to be a tough match.  Any game at the regional level is a tough game.  St. Mary's plays hard, they have some great kids, some great athletes and so we've got to be aware of a few of their key components and just kind of keep everybody in check.  If we do what we do and we play our game, I like our chances, I think we have got a good shot.”

          Lexington has been to the regional level in six straight years, plus, Them says they play a very challenging regular season schedule.  “I think that was something we talked about (Monday) actually at practice a little bit.  I can't exactly remember the last time St. Mary's has been to a regional and the expectation for us and the way we've competed over the last seven, eight, nine years at this level and especially our regular season matches we go out and play some of the top ranked, not only division two opponents, but in the State of Ohio, just all divisions.  I mean this in the nicest way, they're not better than anybody we haven't seen already this year.  So, for us it's can we be disciplined, can we convert our chances, can we do what we need to do and just stay focused on the goal.  Just you know make sure that we take care of things and kind of just be ourselves and go out and play the game and see what happens,” said Them.

Published 11/01/23

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Lexington Must Play Well in All Phases

          Lexington makes the short trip to rival Mansfield Senior to play a division III first round playoff game on Friday night.

          The Minutemen (5-5) earned a playoff spot by beating Ashland (24-14) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play last week.

          Coach Andrew Saris says their kids were up to a tremendous challenge.  “It was fun for our kids you know the last two weeks to take on that challenge and to come away with a win versus a good Ashland team that’s well coached. I said all week, I thought they were quality kids, quality coaches and for our kids to come away with a win against them was huge and then give us the opportunity to make the playoffs,” he said.

          Lex actually had to win two in a row, they beat Madison (31-21) the week before, to make the postseason.

          Saris says they need to continue to make consistent plays in all three phases of the game.  “Hopefully the concept of playing all three phases together, I thought we did that last week.  I thought our offense complemented our defense well and then our special teams came through and made some huge plays.  So, it was exciting to see all those phases coming together like that.  There were definitely still some breakdowns and some mistakes that we see on film and we continue to try to correct those and get better every week,” said Saris.

          Mansfield Senior (8-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, hammered rival Madison (34-0) last week to secure the outright title in the “OCC”.  They haven’t been scored on in eight quarters.

          Saris says the Tygers make big plays on offense and on defense they are going to be extremely aggressive.  “They swept the “OCC”.  They're very a talented team.  They do a nice job offensively.  You have got to keep that quarterback in the pocket and force him to throw, but he tucks that ball he runs well and then they have got athletes on the outside who can make big plays.  The idea of the scramble drill I just think, that the receivers do a great job of finding where that quarterback is and getting to him and he does a nice job getting in space.  Then they do a good enough job in the run game that you can't just take everybody out-of-the-box and try to stop those receivers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Defensively, again it's always about they're going to be extremely aggressive.  They are going to try and get up in your face and they'll press you at times.  Our kids just have to be able to make the plays in space and try to take that aggression actually making it an advantage for us.”

Published 10/26/23

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Lexington Meets Norwalk in Districts

          Lexington faces Norwalk in a boys’ soccer district final at Shelby High School on Thursday night.

          The winner gets a berth in the regional tournament, something the Minutemen (14-3-1) are used to.

          Ironically, Lexington and Norwalk play a district volleyball final at Seneca East.

          They beat rival Ontario (1-0) in a semifinal match on Monday.

          Coach Pete Them says they had to battle some adversity to reach the final.  “I mean playing Ontario it's always going to be a dog fight.  They've grown tremendously through the season.  Coach (Steven) Armstrong did a nice job over there and for us it was just kind of keeping things normal playing the way we do and just trying to match their level and their intensity  For us, we had an unfortunate injury, so we kind of had to regroup there with little time for preparation and so the guys did a nice job on the fly kind of adjusting to some new positions and kind of a different formation a little bit.  Kind of getting over that hurdle a little bit.  Just a heck of a game, especially when you're playing one of your rivals in kind of a local game.  It's just everything you expect at that level for sure,” he said.

          Norwalk (12-7) beat Mansfield Senior (1-0) on Monday in the other semifinal.

          Them says the Truckers will be hungry for success.  “They have a couple of great athletes.  The kid that wears #7, he's got 30 some goals on the season and he's a pretty good player.  We haven't seen Norwalk in a couple years, but they've always been in the district semis and they finally kind of poked their head through this year after kind of being on the outside knocking on the door.  So, they're going to come hungry,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I saw a couple interviews where the boys are aware of what we've done over the last couple of years and aware of what the history of their program is and not being in a district final for a few years.  So, they're excited about being there.  So, for us it's just come out and match that intensity, come out and play our game and make sure we do what we do and just be ready for the moment.  We played a lot of tough teams this season and so I don't think it's going to be a skill or talent difference it is just going to be who shows up (Thursday) night and who plays the hardest.”

          Lexington lost in the regional last year, the state semifinal the year before and the regional in 2020.

          Them says they have been tournament successful, but they must be at their best on Thursday.  “I mean we have 13 seniors in the program this year and I can't even tell you how many of them are two, three and four year guys, letter winners and they've been around for a long time.  They've come through this program and they've won at the district level and they've won at the regional level.  So, they're hungry, they know what it means, they know what it takes.  So, it's just trying to keep them focused if you will and kind of motivated.  It's a long season and sometimes those days off in between games can drag on.  We've been there, but we have still got to show up every night and we have got to play our game and take care of business,” said Them.

Published 10/26/23

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Another Must Win for Lexington

          Lexington wants to play next week and to be able to do that they need to beat Ashland Friday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          If they lose, they start packing up equipment on Saturday because they won’t be in the playoffs.

          Right now, they stand 20^th in their division III region.  Even if they beat Ashland it is not a guarantee that they get a ticket.  The Minutemen are in region 10, if they were in 11 or 12, their changes would greatly enhanced, but they’re not.

          They kept their hopes alive with a (31-21) win over Madison in “OCC” play last Friday.

          Coach Andrew Saris says played well in the second half.  “We didn't make it easy on ourselves, but our kids did come out second half and responded.  In the first half just made some mistakes and it was tough on the kids because you have got to coach on the field, you have got to get them to persevere and push through and they did a nice job of that in the second half,” he said.

          Lexington (4-5,3-3) plays host to Ashland (5-4,3-3) on Friday night.  The Arrows are coming off a (34-0) whipping of Wooster last week in a conference game.

          Saris says the Arrows run the ball well and they really play outstanding defense.  “Another really well coached team.  Anytime you have Scott Valentine coaching the team you know that they're going to be prepared and ready to go.  Offensively, despite them being a majority five wide team they've been running the football really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Then defensively, my gosh, I think they do a great job of changing up coverages, of giving you different looks all the time, so you just never know what you're going to see.  So, that's going to be a challenge for us.”

          Saris says they understand that this is in reality a playoff game for them.  “We've told our kids the last two weeks have been playoff games for us.  In order for us to get a chance to be in that top 16, we're going to have to win them.  So, same thing this week for us.  We know that despite this isn't technically the OHSAA playoffs it is for us if we want to be able to continue to play,” said Saris.

Published 10/19/23

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It’s Already Playoff Season for Minutemen

          Lexington understands they need wins this week and next if they are going to have a chance at making the postseason playoffs this fall.

          It begins with a trip to play the rival Madison Rams on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.

          Last week, they had a late fourth quarter lead, but lost (21-14) to New Philadelphia in “OCC” play.

          Coach Andew Saris says it was a bitter pill to swallow, but the kids have responded positively this week in practice.  “Last week was tough on us.  Anytime you're in a situation to beat a good New Philly team it's tough.  However, the kids took away some of the positives of it, which was boy we never gave up, we never gave up.  We gave up a few big plays late. The offense gave us a chance to win, defense gave us a chance to win, and kids hung their heads high afterwards and had a good week of practice this week going into Madison,” said Saris.

          Lexington (3-5,2-3) plays across town at Madison (1-7,1-4) on Friday night.  The Rams earned their first win of the season last week in blanking Mt. Vernon (38-0) on Friday.

          Saris says the Rams show a lot of different things well on offense.  “They're coming off a big win.  I think it's a team that's just progressively getting better week to week.  They're very big up front.  I think offensively they do a lot of different things that force you to practice.  They do a nice job of running between the tackles, but also getting the ball out to some playmakers, who catch a good deep ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively, I think that they also do a good job of running to the ball.  They're also big up front.  We've got to be able to play a good game to beat that Madison team.”

          Lexington is 19^th in its division III computer region an Saris says they need two wins, they play Ashland next week, in order to make the top 16.  “We have said all week that the playoffs have basically already started.  We know we've got to win these last two games in order to give us a chance to get in there.  So, at this point in time, we're considering ourselves in that situation where we've got to win in order to be able to get in the playoffs,” he said.

Published 10/11/23

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First Down Big for Lex

          Lexington hosts New Philadelphia Friday night in a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          The Minuteman (3-4,2-2) are now two games back in the “OCC” standings after losing (62-28) to West Holmes last Friday.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they gave up too many big plays.  “It was a tough one for us, I'm not going to lie.  We came out really hot out of the gate offensively matching their points.  Defensively, we put ourselves in third and longs and fourth and longs, and we gave up big plays.  We knew going into it that they like to do that offensively.  They're going to put you in some binds.  It's something we've got to work on and we've got to work to correct our competitiveness and just simply tackling and tackling is the big focus this week for us,” said Saris.

          Wet Holmes quarterback Morgan Snith ran for five scores and threw for three more.

          New Philadelphia (5-2,4-1) comes off a (21-10) win over Madison last week.  They scored twice in fourth quarter to secure the win.

          Saris says the Quakers are balanced on offense.  “They're going to play their game, they're very disciplined.  They're going to try to own the offensive and defensive line, own that line of scrimmage.  Offensively they're very balanced.  I can't get over how balanced they are.  From that they might not hit the big plays on the pass game, but they do enough to have you always thinking about it.  So, we're going to have to play that style of game and also sustain our drives and try to match their physicality up front,” he said.

          Saris says the New Philly defense is very good up front and they have come out an win first down against them.  “I think it starts with their front seven.  They stop the run extremely well and then in the back end they just they keep everything in front of them and keep things in front of you and you rally up and you tackle.  You watch the NFL on the weekends that's a lot of what they're doing, so they do a nice job of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They're ferocious, they pursue to the ball really well and they expect to have big stops.  So, we've got to try to deflate a little bit of that early on and win first down.  I know offensively our goal this week is to have success on first down so that we can run our entire offense from second and third down.”

Published 10/03/23

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Lexington Has to Make Tygers Execute

          Co-leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet on Friday night as they Lexington Minutemen host the rival Mansfield Senior Tygers.

          Lexington won their third straight game by rallying to beat Wooster (42-27) last week.  Mason Green ran for 105 yards and two scores.

          Coach Andrew Saris says again they were able to rally and win.  “I think all of our games, the last three wins that we've had, we've been down at some point, so the kids are showing that they're always fighting they're getting used to that, which is good, but you always want to put yourself in a position where you're not really doing that.  However, I think long term that's good for us to show that you're never out of a football game and also what it takes physically to win a football game,” said Saris.

          Lexington (3-2,2-0) entertains Mansfield Senior (3-2,2-0) on Friday night.  The Tygers beat New Philadelphia (35-14) as Duke Reese threw three scoring passes.

          Saris says the Tygers are aggressive and hopefully they can use that to their advantage.  “Just overall team speed obviously jumps off the film.  I think offensively their quarterback is experienced, is a big kid, who throws a nice football and it gets the ball to Amar Davis in a pretty special way.  They have plenty of other athletes around them to scare you.  They run the ball pretty efficiently and then take advantage of big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Then defensively they're always aggressive, always going to be aggressive and you have got to take advantage of that aggression.  Because of that they're going to make their plays, but we've got to make ours when they come to us too.”

          You have to figure that Mansfield Senior is going to make some big plays.  Saris you have to move on to the next play.  He says you can’t let big plays become touchdown plays.  “You can't carry it with you and you got to hope you keep out of the end zone. It’s a numbers game of always making them take another snap.  Anytime you take another snap you get possibility doing great things.  So, luckily coming into this we've had some situations where we've had to fight back.  I know it's going to be a battle, they're a great football team. Our guys are ready for it, they're excited for it, and excited for an a rival to come to our stadium,” said Saris.

Published 9/20/23

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Lexington Wants to be 2-0

          Lexington plays at Wooster on Friday night in a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          They got 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns from running back Markle Martin and they rallied to beat Mt. Vernon (31-17) in an “OCC” game last week.

          Now this week, coach Andrew Saris wants to get off to a better start.  “The last two games, we came out and kind of looked like a different football team in second half.  I think it's a testament to our kids taking to halftime adjustments, not panicking, and just finishing what they start.  So, this week I think the challenge for us is can we come out with that and score those off of good drives early on and not necessarily have to fight from being down,” said Saris.

          They also rallied to beat Clear Fork (28-27) on week three.

          Wooster (2-2,1-1) got 176 yards rushing and three touchdowns form Julian Franklin last week in beating Madison (27-13) in conference action.

          Saris says the Generals have an outstanding running game.  “They run the ball really well.  They have got two great running backs, a quarterback who could do a nice job alluding the pocket and create some fits and then they also do a nice job of their screen game off of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We've got to be able to tackle in open space when opportunities come and then have good first downs.  Force them into second and longs, third and longs because they don't want that.  They don't feel comfortable there.  So, that's going to be a challenge for our team and I think we're up to it.”

          Now, Lexington beat Wooster in overtime last year, but Saris says their focus this week has been improving to 2-0 in the conference.  “I think most of it is us focusing on ourselves.  We know that was a big win for us last year in overtime.  It’s going to be exciting again.  The challenge for us is can we be 2-0 in the conference after Friday night and that's been our focus,” he said.

Published 9/15/2023

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Lexington Wants to Drive it

          Lexington takes to the road on Friday night as they travel to Mt. Vernon to play the Jackets in their first Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the season.

          Last week, they edged Clear Fork (28-27) in a non-conference game.

          They did it with some big plays, but coach Andrew Saris says they also need to be able to drive the ball and be consistent in making plays.  “Anytime you can come away with a win over quality team like Clear Fork it's always nice for the kids and nice for the community.  I saw some growth out of our team.  We've talked about being young in spots and they're starting to grow up and realize what it takes to be a varsity football player, but there is still a lot that we have to correct in a lot of places for us to get better,” said Saris.

          Against Clear Fork, the Minutemen (1-2) got two athletic touchdown catches from Brayden Fogle and a 93-yard score from Seven Allen, but Saris says they have to be able to consistently pick up first downs.  “We found out that big plays are great and it's important, but also sustaining drives is just as important just for us as in all aspects of the game special teams, defense and then obviously offensive.  So, we can throw a few of those body blows and then come back come up with a big play that's always great,” he said.

          Mt. Vernon (1-2) was crushed (42-0) by Delaware Hayes in a non-conference game last week.  They have a new coach in Jay Campbell.

          Saris believes the Jackets are going to concentrate on running the football against his team.  “They do a nice job on offense of trying to control the line of scrimmage.  I think they live by their run game, but set up some of their big passes off of that run game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “On the defensive side of the ball, I think they get to the ball pretty well.  I think their strength is in their front seven as well.  So, we've got to be able to establish the run against that, but make our big plays when we get the chance with some of those athletes.”

Published 9/06/23

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Lexington Has to Win First Down

          Lexington plays at home against Clear Fork in a non-league football game on Friday night.

          They fell last week to Shelby (50-19) on Friday night.

          They got behind (36-6) with 5:58 to play in the third quarter, but scored twice to get within a couple scores (36-19), but the Whippets put it away.

          Coach Andew Saris says they have to cash in when they have the opportunity.  “I think there was a time there where we were excited.  The kids were ready to go.  We were down two scores.  Just at some point in time it kind of got a little bit away from us.  Still continued to create some turnovers on defense, got going with some big plays on offense, which is exciting, but also the kids have just got to buckle down and realize when we have that opportunity, we have that chance, we have got to make the most of it,” said Saris.

          Clear Fork (1-1) lost (15-0) to Granville last week.

          Saris says they want to put Clear Fork behind the yard markers.  “Offensively, they definitely want to run the football.  They want that to be their identity.  They have got some big boys up front.  They want to be able to drive off the ball and grind you down and then catch you with a big play action pass or something to keep you off balance with the big play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “That's our motto, we've got to be able to try to not get them in a situation where they have got second and short.  We want to create a second and long because anytime you have an offense like that, I think that's always a difficult thing.  On the defensive side, I think they play well.  I think they run to the ball really well, but we've got to be able to establish the run, which will set up our passing game.”

          Saris says they can’t make mistakes when they have the ball.  They want to have some freedom when it comes to pay calling.  “You have to give them a lot of credit on defense.  They're pretty impressive.  They do a nice job over there with it, but we're just going to have to make our plays when they come to us and we can't shoot ourselves in the foot.  We have to have good first down plays.  We have to make sure we all the ball.  We can't have those silly penalties, which I think anytime you have that it lets that good defense really take a handle of the game.  So, we have got to establish ourselves on offense early I think, that'll be really important,” he said.

Published 9/01/23

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Lexington Wants the Ball

          Aft er a tough loss last week, the Lexington Miutemen take their act to Shelby on Friday night to meet the Whippets in a non-conference game.

          They were beaten by Ontario when Trey Booker kicked a field goal at the buzzer for a (17-14) Warrior win last Friday.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they responded well in practice this week.  He says Friday they have to play complementary football.  “Boy you know it’s something that's tough to come off of, however the boys have responded well I thought this week in practice.  We know that all three phases of the game have to learn to mesh together.  The offense made its plays at the times, but we have to sustain drives,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That was the biggest thing for us is keep that defense off the field, keep your offense moving and churning, and that's going to be an important thing for us this week.”

          With Shelby’s explosive offense, Saris says it’s going to be really important to keep the ball out of the Whippets hands.  “I think everyone's that’s going into playing Shelby Whippets this year are thinking that.  They've got a dynamic quarterback, who can make his plays.  He's one of those guys you have just got to try to contain and not let those big plays become huge plays and then also respond well as a team,” he said.

          Not only does Shelby have an excellent sophomore quarterback in Brayden DeVito, but they also ran for more than 200 yards in their (41-14) win over Madison last week.

          Saris says their defense has to be fundamental and be able to keep the Whippets from making huge plays.  “They do run the ball well.  I think that they just do it in many different ways and it might not look like that traditional under center, gap down, kick out, kind of concepts, but they run their quarterback well and they do a nice job of keeping you off balance that with their run game,” said Saris.

Published 8/24/23

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Lexington Looking to Make Big Plays

          Lexington plays its first game of the season at home on Friday night against the rival Ontario Warriors in non-conference action.

          Andrew Saris, in his second year as the head coach, says he thinks the players are ready go.  “Yeah, I think we really have seen progress in in terms of not only scheme, but being in the right place the right time, the physicality, but I think we're ready now for week one and we're ready to compete playing a full game,” he said.

          Saris adds that when you are practicing and scrimmaging for weeks the players are ready for a game that means something.  “I think they're just excited to get out, like I said, just play four true quarters.  Everyone does their preview scrimmage and we did three full quarters and you know it's just something about not playing that fourth one that just made it not quite the same.  We're excited, I think, getting a chance to play like I keep saying your rival week one is yeah pretty special and pretty unique.  So, I'm excited for Friday night.  The kids are excited and it should be a good show,” said Saris.

          Saris says Ontario is team that can make big plays, especially quarterback Bodpegn Miller, who is the Warrior starter for the second year in a row.  “I think they do a nice job offensively of getting off the ball and being physical at the point of attack.  They have a quarterback who's back with this second year starting who I just feel like always feels comfortable in the pocket and is always going to be a playmaker.  So, with that comfortability you know defensively we have got to try to make him feel uncomfortable even though we know that there's going to be times where he's going to make his plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We just have got to make them sustain.  It's a numbers game in terms of that.  Keep making them take snaps, the more snaps they take, the more probability of a mistake for us to take advantage of defensively.  On the defensive side, again, I think they get off the ball pretty well.  They've got the ability to stop the run.  So for us, we've just got to make the plays when they come to us and make big plays out of them when we can.”

Published 8/16/23

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Lexington Has Potential

          Lexington, like everyone else right now, is trying to figure out who can play at the varsity level.

          Their opener is at home against the Ontario Warriors on August 18.

          Coach Andrew Saris says they have a lot of learning to do.  “Listen, we've got some young guys playing.  We have got to learn how to practice right and we are going to instill that.  Luckily, with the state and the early acclamation days with it being August 1st there's still a lot of that we were able to hash away early on.  So, now we're just fully padded hitting and seeing who increases.  Once you put those pads on some people rise and some people fall.  So, we're trying to instill get as many risers as we can and get ourselves to practice right,” said Saris.

          Football is collision sport and Saris you have to figure out who wants to hit before that first game.  “I can think back even the last season of giving some examples of kids where it's like man you know not that they weren't on our radar, but we weren't sure and then man we put the pads on and they just change mentality.  Luckily for us I think we're at the point where we got kids they like that, that's what they want, so that's what we're trying to get as many of those risers to come from that,” he said.

          Saris believes the Minutemen have some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and on defense with their front seven they can be pretty good too.  “I think we're on the offensive side of the ball we have got some skilled players.  I think when they get the ball in their hands they can do some special things, just kind of make sure we're protecting for them, protecting for our quarterback and that they're in those right spots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively I think our front seven is pretty strong.  Every one of our linebackers has starting experience up front and we've got some strength there.  We're just trying to replace these secondary guys.  They're working hard right now, so it'll come, we're not there yet, but it's coming.”

Published 8/02/23

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Lexington Scores Late

          Lexington scored seven runs in the sixth inning and beat Norwalk on the road in a non-conference baseball game on Thursday evening.

          Coach Jeff Strickler says they were finally able to put together a big inning.  “We were down 3-1 going into the sixth and we were finally able to put together a real big inning ourselves.  The kids really did a great job staying in the game and then the bats came alive and that sixth inning and we're able to use our speed get some runs across,” said Strickler.

          Especially in Ohio Cardinal Conference games, the Minutemen have struggled to get runs across.  Strickler says they are inexperienced at the varsity level and they aren’t as consistent as they need to be.  “It seems that way at times.  We've lost some close games where we didn't score very many runs like (Wednesday) night, we got beat 3-2 and we were shut out (against New Philadelphia) Tuesday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win over Norwalk, “We just haven't been consistent yet.  There are games when we really score a bunch of runs and others that we haven't, so I think that's part of being still a fairly young team as far as experience goes and just learning how to make adjustments.”

          The postseason tournament is just around the corner and Strickler believes they can do some things if they can become a more consistent ballclub.  “I like the district we are in.  I think we can play with any team in our district.  If we get hot, we're pretty good when we get hot, but then then the other end of the spectrum you just need to be more consistent,” he said.

Published 4/28/23

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Lexington Takes Out Tygers

          Lexington made the short trip to Mansfield Senior on Tuesday afternoon and ripped the rival Tygers (11-0) in five innings in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          Big Lex coach Jeff Strickler says their pitchers were outstanding in allowing only three Tygers to reach base.  “We got really good pitching.  We only faced 18 batters, three over the minimum for five innings and had nine strikeouts and one walk and gave up a couple hits.  Colton Murfield and Landon Hamilton really threw well,” said Hamilton.

          Mansfield Senior had gotten a couple of non-conference wins over Orrville (13-10) on Friday and Crestline (13-0) on Saturday.

          Tygers coach J.R. Davis says they have to approach the “OCC” games with more confidence than they have been.  “We just have to have more confidence going into conference games.  Yes, every conference game of ours is going to be tough, but we can’t beat ourselves before the game even starts,” said Davis.

          Strickler says when the Minutemen got runners on, they got them in too.  “We got some good hits.  I’m not sure exactly how many we got,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win, “We made their pitcher work, we got some walks and we got a few guys on with an error, but we were able to get people around.  We didn’t leave very many very many people stranded.”

          They beat Bellevue (10-7) on Saturday and they host the Tygers on Wednesday afternoon and Strickler says he hopes they can get into a grove.  “That's what we're aiming for.  Just show up every day and be focused and ready to play that day and do the best we can to win the ball games,” he said.

Published 4/19/23

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Lexington Shuts Out Defending Champs

          Colton Murfield threw seven shut out innings and Lexington beat defending “OCC” champion Wooster (5-0) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game played at Lex on Tuesday evening.

          Murfield allowed only five hits and coach Jeff Strickler says he was fantastic.  “Colton Murfield pitched a real gem of a game.  He went the distance and only threw I believe 77 pitches, gave up five hits and didn't walk anybody.  So, I mean you do that and you have got a real good chance to win the ball game,” he said.

          Lexington scored twice in the second, twice in the third and one in the fourth and Strickler says they were able to make their speed be a factor.  “One of the things that we're blessed with is having good team speed.  So, we were able to be aggressive on the bases, got some stolen bases, got some extra bases here and there and then we got very timely hits to bring those kids in.  We had chance to score even more runs in another inning, but we'll take to five as long as we hold them to zero,” said Strickler.

          In other, “OCC” action on Tuesday, Mt. Vernon smoked Mansfield Senior (18-0), Ashland walloped New Philadelphia (16-4) and West Holmes blasted Madison (12-2), all games that did not go seven.

          Right now, Ashland, Lexington, Mt. Vernon and Wooster all have (2-1) “OCC” records and Strickler knows this is going to be a very interesting race.  “You better be ready to play every given night because everybody's good enough to win every day.  Wooster, we're going to their place next and I know they're going to be gunning for us,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night, “Ashland has got a lot of people back, Mt. Vernon’s got a lot of people back.   I don't know a whole lot about New Philly, but I would guess they're pretty good knowing the athletes they've had in other sports that I've seen them.  The other teams they play hard.  West Holmes plays hard all of the time.  Madison, we were able to split with them.  You just need to be ready to play every Tuesday and Wednesday night no matter who it is that you're playing.”

Published 4/05/23

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Lexington Going to be Competitive Team

          Lexington is going to field a baseball team this spring that is going to challenge everyone they play with their speed and their pitching.

          They open the season on Saturday against Galion in non-conference play if Mother Nature allows.

          Coach Jeff Strickler, back at the controls of the Minutemen, says he likes what he has seen in the preseason.  “First and foremost, they're a great group of kids. They work hard every day, they are coachable, you ask them to do something and they do their very best to try and do it.  So, I've been very pleased with that aspect,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We also have got talent.  This is a pretty talented group of boys, they have good speed, pitching has been looking pretty good during scrimmages and practices, so I think we're definitely moving in the right direction.”

          Strickler says this is team that can put pressure on the opponent with its speed.  “You have got to get on the base first.  So, that's the one thing we have to keep working on.  We’ve had two scrimmages, the first scrimmage we didn't do a very good job of getting on base, but the second one we did a really nice job of doing it.  With that speed you can keep the pressure on.  If teams know you have that speed and it’s a possibility that you might be doing stuff you know that just puts a little more pressure on them too because they always wondering when you're going to do something,” he said.

          Lexington opens Ohio Cardinal Conference play next Tuesday and Wednesday against the rival Madison Rams.

          Pitching depth is key in the “OCC” and Strickler says they are searching or that as the season begins.  “When you go back-to-back like we do in this league you have to have at least two good pitchers if you want to be successful.  We really only have one pitcher with a lot of varsity experience back from last year.  We have three others that have a little bit, but I've been very impressed with all of them up to this point.  We are going to have to start facing some other “OCC” teams in order to you know judge it completely.  From what I've seen in the two scrimmages we've had I think we could hold our own,” said Strickler.

Published 3/24/22

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Relentless Sandusky Beats Lex for District Title

          Sandusky forced 31 turnovers and scored 29 points off of those and outlasted Lexington (75-67) to win a division II district title on Saturday afternoon at Ashland High School.

          They just seemed to be relentless with their pressure and coach DeMar Moore says that is how the Blue Streaks (24-1) have been playing all year.  “That is our “Streak Ball” moto to create offense with our defense and put pressure on teams and make them uncomfortable as much as we can,” he said.

          Sandusky never trailed in the fourth quarter.  They were paced by senior guard Daylen Green, who tallied 34 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the afternoon.  He ways 12-23 from the field and 3-9 on threes.

          Lexington (20-5) had the early advantage in the game, leading (12-9) with 3:10 go in the first quarter after a Joe Caudill basket, but the Streaks would outscore them (12-5) the remainder of the quarter, nine of those points coming from Green.

          Hudson Moore gave the Minutemen a (26-21) lead with 6:41 left in the half with a goal.  A three by DeMar Moore, the son of the coach, with 1:39 left gave the Streaks a (33-32) advantage.  Green’s 35-foot three at the horn made it Sandusky 38, Lexington 37 at the half.

          The third quarter featured seven lead changes and five ties.  The Streaks were on top (54-53) after 24 minutes of play.

          Another key three by Green opened the scoring in the final stanza, making it (57-53) Sandusky with 7:37 remaining, but the Minuteman wouldn’t go away.  They got as close as one-point (61-60) after two free throws by freshman Brayden Foggle with 4:09 on the clock, but the Streaks spread the floor and made 8-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

          Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says they were right in the game for most of the way, but especially in the second half they made some lazy passes against the Sandusky pressure and it cost them.  “I think 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,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “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.  We discussed the idea that the turnovers that led directly to points and they scored 29 points off our turnovers.  So, that was something that we knew was how they played and we knew that we had to control that.  I mean first and foremost, hats off to them they're the number one seeded team in the district, there's a reason for that you know, they've won 20 straight now and they're a very good team.”

Sandusky, the outright champion of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, was the number one seed in the district, but Hamilton says they made them hold their breath.   “I thought we had them nervous, we had it right down to the wire.  I thought we had opportunities, but we just let it get away.  Free throws we didn't knock down when we needed to, couple of possessions we were in good position I thought we got the ball where we needed to a couple of times, just couldn't get it in.  We didn't get our normal second chance points, they rebound so well, but we were really focused on getting back on the defensive side.  So, my guys played hard.  I think we took it right down to the end and like I said we had the number one team in the district, number four team in the state shaking a little bit.  So, my guys played with their hearts and I’m proud of them,” said Hamilton.

Green and Moore where first team all-district 6 selections Jason Henlon was honorable mention.  Moore finished with 12 points and six assists and Henlon added 17 markers for the Streaks.  Moore established a single season record for assists at Sandusky with more than 200 for the year.

          Coach Moore calls his backcourt the best in the state.  “Daylon had a great game (Saturday).   He provided us with the spark we needed when we needed it.  He was relentless offensively at the end with 34 points, but like I said at the beginning of the year, and I'm still saying it to this day, we have the best back court in Ohio.  We just don't have the eyes on us, so everybody can see it, but I'll take my backcourt against any backcourt in the state,” said Moore.

Lexington, with a significant height advantage, won the battle of the boards 45-34, Foggle had nine and Elijah Hudson had eight, but Sandusky created some chaos in the lane and Moore thought they held their own in there.  “I thought we did a good job of keeping the game at a fast pace that and if we can do that they can't settle in and just pound the ball inside.  We were able to kind of keep the game going and they kind of struggled to keep it up,” he said.

Foggle led Lexington with 27 points.  Forup, saddled with foul trouble in the first half, had 13.

With only 48 hours to get ready for Sandusky, Hamilton felt his guys did a nice job executing their game plan.  “I mean this is the most exciting time of the year, but it can also be heartbreaking you know when you experience this.  So, I thought the guys did a nice job and they battled.  Two days to prepare for a team like this and I thought the guys did a nice job with the plan.  They're probably a little bit better than what film lets you let you see.  They get after it and they're hungry for that ball.  You watch the game and you say boy that was lucky that the ball you know fell into his hand, but they make their luck.  I mean they just worked their tails off and they make it happen and like I said hats off to them, but I'm not taking anything away from my guy's efforts (Saturday), that's for sure,” said Hamilton.

Sandusky, who will played Lutheran West in the regional semifinals, shot just 36% as a team (28-77) and they were 3-10 on threes, but Moore thought if they missed a shot or gave up a layup they did a good job moving on to the next play.  “It’s next play mentality, you can’t get that play back, once it's over it's over, you have got to move on.  If we worry about what happened a few seconds ago, we'll miss out on the next play.  So, we have had a next play mentality all year, have a short memory, we see something going wrong, bounce back and on to the next play,” said Moore.

Published 3/04/23

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Lexington Beats Shelby at the Horn

          Lexington’s Alex Depperschmidt went the length of the floor to lay it in at the buzzer and the Minutemen edged Shelby (76-74) in overtime Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School.

          The Minuteman (20-4) will play Sandusky (23-1) in the district final on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Streaks beat Mansfield Senior (84-75) in the first game on Wednesday.

          “(Assistant) coach (Mason) Willeke always talks about it, how many seconds left, how many dribbles you get.  Joe (Caudill) got a great rebound and I ran and the ball kind of came to me and I drove and threw it up there,” said Depperschmidt.

          Coach Scott Hamilton says he trusted his kids to make the play.  “That’s just one of those deals where you just kind of rely on your seniors to make a play.  We were calling some simple stuff at the end and just try to let those guys create a little bit.  A couple of times, we were asking just to put the ball on our seniors hands to be able to do something well for us and rely on their experience and when it came right down to it “Al” just kind of stepped up and went the full length of the floor.  Big rebound from Joe Caudill too that kind of got us started.  Just a great effort, great game, great district semifinal.  That's what you want to play for,” said Hamilton.

          Frankly, it was just the kind of tournament basketball game that any fan would love, except those that support the team that comes up on the short end, but that is why the call it “The Trail of Tears.”

          Shelby (20-4) scored last nine points of the first quarter, six of them by Alex Brushkotter, to take a (15-11) lead after one period of play.

          Their led grew to five at (20-15) after a Max Hess score with 6:07 to play until halftime, but Lexington took their only of the quarter at (24-22) when Baden Forup scored with 3:57 remaining.  Shelby led (29-26) at the half.

          The Whippets pulled away in the early stages of the third quarter taking an 11-point lead (44-33) with 3:44 left in the quarter after a basket by Bryson Baker.  Again, it was Brushkotter leading the way as he scored eight more during that stretch.  Lexington scored the last four points of the quarter and the Whippets led (51-44) after three.

          Lexington started the fourth with an (11-4) streak and Elijah Hudson tied the game at (55-55) on a three with 4:55 on the clock.  Brushkotter immediately scored five straight points to put Shelby back up (60-55) with 3:57 to play.  Back came the Minutemen and Forup tied it at (62-62) with 2:08 remaining.  His two free throws gave Lexington their first lead of the second half (66-55) with :59 seconds on the clock.  Brushkotter put Shelby back on top with two charity tosses with :29.6 seconds remaining.  Forup’s goal in the post gave Lexington a (67-66) lead with nine ticks left in regulation, Lexington freshman Brayden Foggle fouled Brushkotter on the inbounds play, his fifth foul.  Brushkotter made his first free throw, he missed his second, and the ball with tipped out of bounds and awarded to the Whippets.  They got off a final shot, but didn’t make it, sending the game to overtime.

          Brushkotter made to free throws with 2:37 left in overtime to give Shelby a (68-66) lead, but he would then foul out on a charging call, leaving the game with 37 points and 13 rebounds.

          Hess scored twice for Shelby and Hudson and Moore scored a goal each for the Minuteman and Moore added two free throws to leave the game tied at (74-74) and the ball in Shelby’s hands, but Hess missed a shot with more than seven seconds left and the final play then unfolded.

          Shelby coach Gregg Gallaway says his kids gave him everything he asked and more.  “I think we did everything that we were coached to do all week at practice.  We had a great prep week.  I thought our scout team did a great job getting us ready for this game.  I thought we made some adjustments from the first time they played.  It just came down to one play and sometimes it just doesn't turn out in your favor.  I'm just really proud of our guys and the effort they put in (Thursday) night,” said Gallaway.

          Gallaway says Brushkotter was a warrior for them.  “His is a great player for us.  He got us in this position.  It was unfortunate that he wasn't there to finish it with us, but he left everything out there.  Along with the points, he did a great job keeping their big off the glass, he rebounded heck out of basketball tonight.  I mean he had 13 rebounds against the best rebounding team that we have played.  He just does so much for us.  We're happy especially happy to have him another year,” he said.

          Casey Lantz added 18 for Shelby and Hess 12.

          Foggle, again just a freshman, led the Minutemen with 22.  Forup has 18 and 11 boards, Hudson 16 and Moore 13.  Depperschmidt had four.

          Shelby is a team that really wants to push the tempo and at times so did Lexington, but Hamilton says they had to be smart about it.  “There were a couple of times when I said on a change of possession we have go to get up the floor we have got to go as quick as we can, but there were also times when I said hey we're not going to make this a track meet,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We didn't want to get up and down the floor too much.  We still wanted to be able to run our half court stuff.  We were able to do that at times and got some key buckets for us when we really needed a bucket.  The guys executed well and then the foul situations were not in our favor, so that was something we had to deal with as well.  We told the guys everybody that was on the bench (Thursday) night everybody that saw the floor you know you guys contributed in a big way.”

          Lexington has been forced to defend some tremendous scorers in tournament play in Brushkotter and Willard’s Max Dawson, who had 32 in the sectional final last Friday.

          Hamilton says they are excited to play Sandusky in the district final.  “Bruskotter is a tough match, there's no question about it.  We see Dawson in our first game and then we see Bruskotter in our second game and now we've got to you know district runner up player of the year for the coaches association (DeMar Moore) in the district final, I mean you know when are we going to get something easy?,” he said tongue and cheek, “We're excited to be playing for a district championship again.  It's one of the things that is our goal every year to make it back to the district and hopefully right now we're just surviving and moving on,” he said.

Published 3/03/23

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Lexington has to Limit Mistakes

          Lexington meets Shelby in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School on Thursday night.

          The Minutemen (19-4) beat Shelby (66-59) in a regular season game just over two weeks ago.

          However, coach Scott Hamilton says they cannot extra to produce an exact blueprint.  “I mean we will watch that game just like we would watch any other film, but to think that you can rely on anything that happened or there's no points that you collect from it, there's no credit you get from it.  You just use it as a teaching point and a learning curve and you move on.  So, there's really little value for us in that game other than just the game film and preparing like we would for any other opponent,” he said.

          Lexington had some big plays at the end last Friday to edge Willard (58-56) in a sectional final.  Shelby (20-3) smoked Ontario (70-47) to win theirs.

          Hamilton says the Whippets have a really good player in Alex Brushkotter and surround him with a lot of other playmakers.  “First and foremost Brushkotter, just a great talent, great player, at 6’7” has the ball in his hands just so much of the time and the things that he can do.  Then when you go to a supporting cast you still got some size with Ramsey and Lantz and the scoring opportunities that they give them.  The other guys that are on the roster with Hess and Baker and then Brubaker and DeVito off the bench to name those guys.  It's just a really good team in what they do and in the pressure that they try to put on you and the tempo that they want to play it's a tough assignment for any team, but it's district finals you don't expect anything less,” said Hamilton.

          When it comes to the tempo, or pace, of the game, Hamilton believes they have some flexibility.  “I think you know the schedule that we play we played in a lot of half court games, we played a lot of up tempo teams, so I think for us it's something that we have learned to try to adjust to and adapt to,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Defensively, we're going to have our assignments and we'll try to take away from the other team, but we definitely won't shy away from an up tempo team or an up tempo game, but it really comes down to how we can defend in our half of the floor.  Then what we can do on our on our offensive end.  So, I think the tempo of the game will be part of it, but I think it’s who can put the most turnovers or the most mistakes on the other team is probably going to be the one that comes out on top.”

Published 3/02/23

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There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Lexington Must Adapt

          Lexington takes on Willard in a division II sectional final Friday night at Mansfield Madison High School.

          On Wednesday night, Zach Dawson scored 33 points and Willard (15-8) erased a seven point fourth quarter deficit and beat Galion (82-77) in a semifinal to set up he matchup with Lexington.

          Lex coach Scott Hamilton says Willard, the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division champion, has very good talent.  He says Dawson is great and the kids that surround him and pretty good too.  “I mean it all starts with Dawson.  He's just a really good player, really good basketball IQ, he can score from about anywhere, if you put him on the foul line he's as close to perfect as a high school player can get and even if you send a lot of activity at him he finds the open teammates,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “He's got a very good supporting cast.  They can play in a very low scoring tempo game and he's going to give them an opportunity or they can get out and play.  I think (Wednesday) night they had four guys in double figures.  So, a very good basketball team, no doubt about it, and well coached.”

          Willard does not have very much depth this year, but Hamilton says they know what they have to do to be successful.  “I mean they're very smart, they're basketball IQ is very high and they don't get themselves into foul trouble and when they do pick up a couple of fouls they just kind of start to play the game a little bit differently to make sure that they can stay on the floor.  Again, that comes from coaching, that comes from good coaching and just good experiences.  I think they've been challenged this year and they've had some good experiences, both in wins and losses, that have resulted in where they are right now,” said Hamilton.

          Lexington (18-4), #3 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with New Philadelphia.

          However, they have faced some adversity at the end of the season with suspension of starting point guard A.J. Young and sixth man Gavin Husty due to a violation of team rules.

          Hamilton says they must make some adjustments.  “I mean that just comes with bench depth and what you've done throughout the season to kind of develop kids.  So, we're continuing to work on that.  Every day in practice we continue to try to get better.  We practice with a number of guys, not just the starting five, so we're putting some guys in some different roles right now just trying to figure some things.  Hopefully, we're just getting a bit better every day,” he said.