LEXINGTON — Ashland had no answer for Avery Coleman.
Lexington’s 6-foot sophomore center, Coleman swiped 22 rebounds and Lady Lex pulled away in the second half for a 49-37 win over the Arrows in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Thursday at Lexington High School.
Lexington (3-12, 3-6) dominated on the glass, outrebounding Ashland (2-13, 0-9) 60-34. Coleman had 15 of Lady Lex’s 31 offensive rebounds. Josie Dahlinghaus had 11 boards, including eight on the offensive end.
“We really felt like we had the height advantage and Avery and Josie really played very hard in the post today,” Lexington coach Heidi Roush said. “Overall it was a very good effort on the boards.”
Lady Lex scored 18 second chance points and attempted 29 free throws, a testament to their aggressiveness on the glass.
“We’re not big, so that has been an Achilles heel for us,” Ashland coach Dave Swartz said of the rebounding disparity. “That is exactly what we talked about in the locker room, rebounding is what hurt us.
“We were right where we wanted to be at halftime. If we would have been able to rebound a little better in the second half, the outcome might have been different.”
The game was tied at 16-16 at the half. Alyssa Steury, Ashland’s undersized sharpshooter, scored all 10 of her first-half points in the second quarter.
“She is a phenomenal player. She always stays come and never seems rattled,” Roush said. “She creates things. I think she’s one of the best players in our league.”
Swartz agreed.
“She’s an amazing player,” Swartz said. “She didn’t score in the first quarter, but she’s not a kid who gets down on herself.”
The 5-foot-2 Steury finished with a game-high 22 points and led Ashland with nine rebounds.
Gabby Stover led Lexington with 21 points and grabbed eight boards. Coleman had 12 points, while Dahlinghaus added 10 points.
“Gabby did a good job of attacking and our big girls worked hard,” Roush said. “It was a good effort.”
