Depperschmidt's buzzer-beater sends Lexington to OHSAA district final with win over Shelby
ASHLAND — The last time Alex Depperschmidt played at Ashland High School, he delivered a game-winning layup with four seconds left to left Lexington to a win over the Arrows.
So, it was only fitting he did something even more special the next time he walked through the doors at Arrow Arena.
Depperschmidt outdid himself Thursday night as his coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer lifted Lexington to a 76-74 overtime victory over Shelby in a Division II district semifinal, sending Lex to the district championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday against top overall seed Sandusky (23-1).
With the score tied 74-all, Shelby drew up a play and executed it really well and a 3-pointer from the corner was just off the mark. Lexington freshman Joe Caudill gathered the rebound with four seconds left, found Depperschmidt with the outlet pass and let the senior do the rest, weaving in and out of traffic and finishing at the rim just before the buzzer sounded to send 1,400 fans into shock.
"Yeah, I just knew we had to go," Depperschmidt said. "Coach (Mason) Willeke always talks about how many seconds are left is how many dribbles you get. Joe got a great rebound and I took off and the ball came to me so I drove and threw it up there."
Depperschmidt has a habit of hitting big shots at Arrow Arena. He finished with just four points Thursday night, but none were bigger than his final two. Back on Jan. 13, he scored just five, but when his team needed him the most he was there. On Thursday, he sent his team back to the district championship game for the second consecutive year.
"It is something weird," Depperschmidt said of his late-game heroics in Ashland's gym. "I kind of thought about it before the game because that is a memory that will come back every time I walk in here, so it was nice to have it happen again.
"It is unbelievable. This win means so much to everyone in the locker room. It is great for all the coaches and fans. It is great."
It was an instant classic from the very beginning as Shelby built a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and 29-26 at halftime. The Whippets came out in the second half inspired, building a 42-31 lead early in the second half for the biggest lead of the night. But Lex closed out the quarter on a 13-9 run to cut it to 51-44 heading into the fourth, a much more manageable deficit.
"Good teams make runs, so to hold an 11-point lead on a great team like Lexington is easier said than done," Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said. "That is what they do, though. They make runs at key moments, and we knew they would make a comeback and we just had to do our best to withstand and fight back. Our guys did, and I am extremely proud of their effort. We left everything out there on the court. We are leaving this place with our heads held high because of everything we accomplished and we will not let this one game define our season."
The Whippets (20-4) held the lead for nearly the entire fourth quarter until Lexington's Baden Forup knocked down two free throws with 59.9 seconds left to give the Minutemen a 66-65 lead. Shelby's Alex Bruskotter, who finished with a game-high 37 points and 13 rebounds, responded with two free throws to put the Whippets back on top with 29.6 seconds left. Forup hit a jumper in the lane with nine seconds left before Bruskotter tied it up with 6.4 seconds to play with a free throw, sending it to overtime.
"Bruskotter is a tough match," Lexington's coach Scott Hamilton said. "We saw Max Dawson in our first tournament game and then Bruskotter in our second and now we have some very talented Sandusky guys in the district final, so we are excited to be playing for a district championship again and that is our goal every year. We are surviving and moving on."
In overtime, Bruskotter put the Whippets ahead right out of the gate with two free throws before Lex tied it at 70-all. Shelby answered with a bucket from Max Hess, who finished with 12 points, and Lexington's Hudson Moore tied it up with two free throws. Hess finished a tough layup in the lane to put Shelby back on top with 52 seconds left before Moore made a tough jumper to tie it again with 33 seconds to play.
The Whippets ran down the clock on their final possession and missed a corner 3 before Depperschmidt's heroics. During a previous timeout, Hamilton set up different scenarios if his team got the ball back with some time and each one of those had the ball being in a senior's hands.
"We actually talked about a couple of different scenarios if we got the ball back," Hamilton said. "We wanted the ball in our seniors' hands. We had Hudson in a position, Alex in a position and we wanted Baden to get his guy on his back and we would get it into him. We were just putting it in their hands and asking them to make a play.
"We thought with the ball in (Depperschmidt's) hands, something could happen. Alex thrives with the ball in his hands and he is out running the floor, and that is a credit to his soccer skills. He sees the field so well and weaves in and out of defenses and he does that very well on the basketball floor, too. That is when he is most comfortable. Credit to the senior for taking it right to the rim and scoring it.
"We have talked all year long about how unselfish he is and what a great family he comes from with two older brothers who came through this program. They do things the right way in any sport they play. Great teammates and great guys to have on the roster. I am so happy he was there to help us tonight."
Gallaway said his team executed the final play to near perfection with an open look to win the game, but Depperschmidt just make an amazing play few players could make.
"Our guys did a great job executing a play and gave us a great look," Gallaway said. "Depperschmidt made a great play splitting some of our guys and finished at the rim. It is unfortunate for us, but I cannot help but to be proud of our guys."
Bruskotter's 37 points were one shy of reaching a top 20 game in program history. It came despite drawing the tough assignment of guarding Forup, who finished the night with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but Bruskotter did a better job this time around when compared to Lex's 66-59 win over Shelby on Feb. 14.
"The points are impressive, but the most impressive thing I saw from him tonight was how he defended their big," Gallaway said. "We did not defend him well the first time around and they dominated the boards on us, and tonight we had it down for a tie in rebounds. We did a great job limiting their second-chance points, and that is a credit to Alex and how he defended."
Casey Lantz chipped in with 18 points. Shelby says goodbye to four seniors and Gallaway is extremely grateful for the effort they all put in during their high school careers.
"Our four seniors in Audric Kelly, Carson Garrett, Carson Brubaker and Max Hess exemplify everything we want in our program," Gallaway said. "They possess our four core values of being great teammates, being connected, relentless and grateful and they showed that in every game and practice all season long. They are a main part of why we are here. We will miss them tremendously."
Yet, Shelby returns its top three scorers as well as a talented freshman as it looks to make a run in 2023-24.
"That has been the nice thing about Shelby," Gallaway said. "Every year, the expectations are extremely high. We expect to win a league championship and make a deep tournament run. We feel like we can do that again next year because everyone from the freshmen to the seniors has bought in. This one hurts, but Shelby basketball is in a great place."
Freshman Brayden Fogle led the Minutemen (20-4) with 22 points, while Elijah Hudson added 16 and Moore had 13 to go with Forup's 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second consecutive tournament game in which the Minutemen needed late-game heroics to advance after beating Willard in a close one for a sectional title.
"Some of the games we played during the season have helped us make it through these kinds of situations," Hamilton said. "They are used to tight situations with every game in our conference being a battle, and even in our losses we had possessions at the end that could have made a difference. We have been battle-tested. It helps us when we get down to the wire."
Lexington will play Sandusky (23-1) for the district championship, and when it comes to title games anything can and will happen.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Alex Depperschmidt's buzzer-beater lifts Lexington in boys basketball
