Gotta win games

Friday night was Lexington’s third faceoff with Purcell and their third loss. The Bulldogs fell 88-63 in the District tournament.

“I had nothing but praise for my team. It’s the playoffs and you don’t want to lose, but they fought hard against a very good Purcell team,” head coach Tyler Thetford said.

Despite a hot night offensively behind juniors Zeke Faulkenberry (25 points) and Ty Mixon (17 points), Lexington couldn’t keep up with Purcell.

“Zeke gave it his all. He had a breakthrough game and he finally got tired in the third quarter,” Thetford said.

In the high-scoring game it was 48-39 at halftime. Faulkenberry had 23 first-half points.

Lexington cooled off offensively but Purcell stayed red hot, scoring 25 third quarter points. The Bulldogs added 13.

Lexington was outscored in the final quarter 15-11 as Purcell cruised to a third win in as many tries.

“Ty also had a great game. He’s another guy we’ve been hoping will have a big game. He woke up in the second half.”

Eleven of Mixon’s 17 points came in the second half.

The Bulldogs play Frederick today (Thursday) at 3 p.m. in Purcell in the Consolation bracket of Area II Regionals.

“I’m optimistic that we can get a win. Of course, you don’t want to overlook anyone because those are the ones who will cost you,” Thetford said.

“I think we have a good shot to make it out of Regionals, the guys just have to show up and play like I know they can.”

Girls

The Lady Bulldogs came up short in a hard fought defensive battle with Purcell, 41-28.

Purcell held a 15-14 halftime lead.

The second half saw the Lady
Dragons pull away as they outscored Lexington 10-2 in the third quarter and 16-12 in the fourth to pick up the win.

Maddie Manuel was the leading scorer for Lexington with nine. Landri Bean and Abby Sample added five each.

Lexington will play today (Thursday) against Comanche at 1:30 p.m. in the Area II Regionals at Purcell.