Down 9 in the 4th quarter, Lexington Catholic rally stuns No. 3 Madison Central
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- Lexington Catholic rallied from nine down to beat No. 3 Madison Central 60-56.
- Ben Warren hit key 3 and assisted Hank Woodall for go-ahead layup in final minute.
- LexCath’s defense and rebounding sealed the comeback; postseason play looms.
For the second time in a week, Lexington Catholic proved as inhospitable to ranked opponents as this past month’s deep freeze has been to the entire state.
Last Tuesday, the Knights knocked off No. 5 George Rogers Clark 70-64.
On Monday, No. 3 Madison Central tried its luck against the Knights in front of their raucous Dungeon student section.
But the Indians seemingly had matters in hand with a nine-point lead and 5:48 to play in the game. Madison Central had just gone on a 10-3 run that included a Jake Feldhaus dunk and back-to-back 3-pointers by Feldhus and Grayson Burton to go up 55-46.
Lexington Catholic coach Brandon Salsman called a timeout.
“I just looked at them and said, ‘Guys, you’ve got to get out and guard,’” Salsman said.
The Knights did more than that. Lexington Catholic held the Indians to a single point the rest of the way and rallied for a stunning, court-storming 60-56 win.
“Our kids battled,” Salsman said. “When they decide to put their head into it, we’re pretty good. … And our crowd was phenomenal tonight. I thought our crowd helped us carry through.”
Out of the timeout, Lexington Catholic’s last dash began with a Jacob Holland 3-pointer and was followed by two Max Meagher free throws and a post-up bucket by Hank Woodall.
LexCath’s zone defense, meanwhile, swiped two steals and Madison Central missed its only shot during that span. It got a single Feldhaus free throw for a 56-53 lead with 3:42 to play.
On the Knights’ ensuing possession, sophomore guard Ben Warren received the ball at the right wing, waited for Meagher to set a pick to his left and didn’t hesitate when both Madison Central defenders paid more attention to Meagher than himself.
“I saw the opening they left me. Jake Feldhaus dropped back, and I was 2-for-2, so I let it fly,” said Warren, whose third 3-pointer tied the game for the ninth time at 56-56 with 3:13 left. “Three-for-three. Made it.”
Warren led the Knights with 15 points, but his next play might have been just as big.
After another Madison Central miss. Warren flashed high and quickly cut backdoor to receive a pass from Everett Stuart who was standing near midcourt. As Madison Central’s defense swarmed to cut off Warren’s drive, he calmly dropped a pass to Woodall for a wide-open layup and a 58-56 lead with a minute to go.
“Ben Warren was phenomenal,” Salsman said. “The three he hit to tie it was probably the greatest shot of his life. He has blossomed. He just keeps growing and growing into the player we all thought he could be.”
Meagher scored 13 points and led LexCath with six assists. Holland and Stuart finished with 10 points each.
Feldhaus, a 6-8 senior Belmont commit, led Madison Central with 27 points and 14 rebounds. He went 9-for-11 from the field and 6-for-10 at the free throw line. The Indians’ Luke Asher and Grayson Burton added 12 and 11 points, respectively, but each missed a shot during LexCath’s late run.
“If you’ve got a nine point lead with five minutes to go, you ought to win the basketball game,” Madison Central coach Allen Feldhaus Jr. said. “They made the plays at the end. They shot free throws. We didn’t get the ball to the right people at the end of the game. You’ve got a guy that’s 9-out-of-11, and he didn’t touch it those last two possessions. That’s the difference.”
Madison Central (23-3), briefly held the No. 1 ranking in the weekly Kentucky Media Elite 16 boys basketball poll, but lost it after a 72-64 loss at Woodford County on Jan. 31.
“We’ve played two tough games on the road. We lost them both,” Coach Feldhaus said. “I question whether we’ve got enough toughness. You get to the 11th Region (tournament), although I know nobody is on the road there, you can have environments like that. You have close basketball games.”
With the win, Lexington Catholic (15-6) bounced back from a disappointing 60-47 loss at Louisville’s Trinity on Friday, an obvious letdown after its win earlier in the week against Clark.
“We didn’t play our game at Trinity.” Salsman said. “We got in there and got out-rebounded and that’s not our game.”
Against Madison Central, despite Feldhaus’ 14 rebounds, Lexington Catholic held its own with 24 boards to the Indians’ 25.
“I mean, this is arguably the best rebounding team in the state we just played, and I knew that the game would be determined on the backboard,” Salsman said. “Our kids decided to buy in and do it.”
The Knights return to 43rd District play against Tates Creek in a game to be played at Bryan Station on Wednesday and go to Lexington Christian on Friday before facing their next ranked opponent, No. 9 Frederick Douglass at The Farm on Saturday.
The postseason’s district tournaments begin Feb. 23.
