SHELBY — It was billed as the game of the year in Richland County — and it didn’t disappoint.
Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Lexington rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference titlist Shelby 66-59 in front of a standing room only crowd at Shelby High School on Tuesday night.
The Minutemen (18-3) and Whippets (18-3) have been the class of the area all season long. Both already have won at least a share of their respective league crowns and can win them outright with victories Friday.
What’s more, the two could meet again in the Division II district semifinals at Ashland on Feb. 2. Shelby is the No. 2 seed in the district, while Lex is No. 3.
Tuesday’s game had the feel of a postseason conteset.
“This was a tournament atmosphere for sure,” said Lexington’s Baden Forup, who scored 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting swiped a game-high 11 rebounds. “It feels good to come in here and get the win against a very good team and a team that we could possibly see again.”
Forup, Hudson Moore and Brayden Fogle combined for 57 of Lexington’s 66 points. The Big Three were especially dangerous after halftime. Fogle scored 14 of his game-high 21 in the second half, while Forup had 10 of his 18 and Moore scored 11 of his 18 after the break.
“Those three guys really took care of us,” Lexington coach Scott Hamilton said.
Lexington connected on 15-of-29 field goals in the second half, a stark contract to the opening 16 minutes. The Minutemen were 11-for-29 from the field in the first half.
Shelby led 15-13 after the first quarter and 29-26 at the half.
“One of the things I told the guys at halftime is I focus on points per possession and at halftime we were at .8,” Hamilton said. “Our goal is always to be over one and at the end of the game we were over one (1.04).
“That tells me we played exceptionally well and had better decisions (in the second half).”
Shelby, meanwhile, managed just four points through the opening five-plus minutes of the third quarter. The Whippets trailed 39-33 after a mid-range jumper by Moore with 3:46 to play in the period. Casey Lantz hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final three minutes to keep Shelby within striking distance.
Lex led 46-42 after three quarters and 55-48 midway through the fourth before the Whippets made one final push. Shelby cut the Lex lead to 58-52 on a pair of Alex Bruskotter free throws with 2:05 to play, but couldn’t get any closer.
“Obviously we’re disappointed because we feel like we didn’t execute down the stretch,” Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said. “We were really excited to play in this atmosphere. To have the experience to play in front of all these people, our guys are going to gain a lot from that.”
Lantz led Shelby with 17 points, including a highlight-reel dunk in the first half. Bruskotter added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Issaiah Ramsey had seven points and seven boards, and Carson Brubaker had seen points.
Elijah Hudson had seven points and six rebounds for Lex.
The Minutemen visit Pete Henry Gym on Friday to take on surging Mansfield Senior. A win over the Tygers would give Lex the outright OCC banner.
Shelby visits the O-Rena on Friday to take on Ontario. A victory assures the Whippets of the outright MOAC trophy.
