The Lyon County girls’ basketball team sealed passage to the 2nd Region All “A” semifinals with a 41-31 win over the visiting Crittenden County Lady Rockets Friday night. The Lady Lyons snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 10-5, while the Lady Rockets slip to 9-8. Lyon County also claims the season series, although the two teams could meet again in the 5th District Tournament.
The first quarter was back and forth, with a runner by sophomore guard Kayden Watts tying the score at 9 with just over a minute to play in the period. Freshman forward Calista Collins had 4 of the Lady Lyons 9 points, but the Lady Rockets took a slight, 10-9 lead into the second quarter.
Crittenden began the quarter with five straight points to take a 15-9 lead. With junior power forward Allison Murphy on the bench, the Lady Lyons found scoring difficult, but were still within 5 points after senior shooting guard Sophie Bingham hit a corner three to cut the lead to 21-16. However, the Lady Rockets scored at the buzzer to take a 23-16 lead into halftime.
Bingham led the Lady Lyons in scoring at the half with 6, followed by Collins with 4. Senior guard Mauri Collins led all scorers with 10 for the Lady Rockets.
Lyon County turned up the defensive pressure after the break, going on an 8-0 run over the first six minutes of the third quarter, and taking a 24-23 lead after a runner in the lane by Murphy. Seventh-grader, guard Cathryn Brown knocked down a jumper from the corner with 25 seconds left, before Crittenden County got their only point of the quarter, hitting 1 of 2 from the free throw after a foul was called at the buzzer. Murphy had 6 points in the quarter, and the Lady Lyons led 26-24 going into the final frame.
With four minutes left to play, Bingham nailed another big three to put the Lady Lyons up 33-28. Senior forward Hannah Holloman and Murphy scored on consecutive trips, giving Lyon County their largest lead of the night at 37-28 with just under three minutes remaining. Murphy stepped to the line with just over a minute left and converted two free throws, she was a perfect 6-6 in the final quarter, to give Lyon their first double-digit lead at 39-29. Both teams added a couple of free throws, and the Lady Lyons saw the game out for a 41-31 win.
Murphy paced the Lady Lyons with 15 points, leading all scorers. Bingham had 13, with Brown and Collins adding 4 each. Holloman finished with 3, along with a team-leading 13 rebounds, and Watts’ basket rounded out the scoring. Collins and Murphy both had 7 rebounds as well. After scoring 10 first-half points, Crittenden’s Collins could only add 4 in the second to finish with a team-high 14.
Lyon County moves on to face Livingston Central (10-9) in the All “A” regional semifinal at Caldwell County on Saturday. The Lady Lyons have dropped two games to the Lady Cardinals this season, losing 44-41 in Smithland and 50-49 in Eddyville just over a week ago.
