The high school basketball season begins this week, and one Lyon County seventh grader is already drawing comparisons to a past Lyon middle schooler who went on to become one of the region’s all-time leading scorers.
Travis Perry gained national attention and earned a spot on several recruiting lists with his play over the summer. The 5-11 guard is already dominating his peers at the middle school level. Now, he will likely be in the Lyons’ starting lineup Tuesday when they open with border rival Caldwell County.
Perry’s coach Jeff Embrey has had an up-close seat to not only see Perry, but Lyon County great Ty Rogers who began playing varsity as a seventh grader before leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer. Embrey was an assistant coach at district rival Trigg County when Rogers consistently torched the Wildcats on a regular basis. He says the comparisons between Perry and Rogers are fair and that both players could shoot the basketball effectively at a young age. He says Rogers benefitted by adding height and strength in high school and hopes Perry can do the same. It was that height that helped Rogers land a scholarship to Western Kentucky.
While Embrey knows there will be growing pains with Perry in the early phase of his basketball career, the veteran coach can’t help but grin when asked about what he expects out of his seventh grade guard.
