Trailing by a point going into the final quarter, the Henderson County Colonels used a strong finish to advance to the semifinals of the Boys 2nd Region Tournament Tuesday night in Madisonville. After building a lead on 3-pointers in the first half, the Colonels used offensive rebounding and a plan of attacking the basket down the stretch to pick up the 75-65 win over Lyon County.
The game started off a little rough for the Lyons, who appeared to be a little tight coming out of the gate. Henderson County knocked down three 3-pointers as part of a 10-0 run to open the game in just the first two minutes. Travis Perry finally stopped the run by banking one in from 15-feet to make it 10-2 at the 5:40 mark of the opening quarter. Perry’s basket kicked off a 9-0 run by the Lyons that cut the lead to one.
A baby hook in the lane from Jackson Shoulders put Lyon County up for the first time at 14-12 with :50 left in the opening quarter. The quarter would end with the teams tied at 14-14.
The second quarter began much as the first. Henderson County ripped off a 12-0 spurt to take a 26-14 lead halfway through the second quarter. A pair of free throws from Jackson Shoulders finally stopped the bleeding for the Lyons. But, it did not stop it for long. The Lyons continued to have problems with turnovers, as the Colonels connected on a pair of threes to make it 32-16. The Lyons battled back, cutting the Henderson lead to 37-30 at the break.
Henderson’s three point shooting was the difference in the first half, as the Colonels connected on 8 of 18 from behind the arc. The Lyon were 3 of 12. The problem for the Lyons in the opening half was ball security, as they committed 9 turnovers in the first 16 minutes, compared to only 4 for Henderson County.
Henderson took advantage of strong offensive board work early in the 3rd quarter to extend the lead back out to double digits at 46-34. The Lyons, however, came battling back again. A basket on a power move by Jackson Shoulders cut the lead to 46-43 and prompted a Henderson County timeout with 2:18 to go in the 3rd quarter. Another basket from Shoulders, this one off an assist from Travis Perry, just ahead of the horn, put Lyon County up 50-49 headed into the final eight minutes of the game.
Struggles to keep the Colonels off the offensive boards continued to plague the Lyons early in the 4th quarter, as Henderson was able to take advantage of some 2nd chance opportunities to go up 57-52 with just over four minutes left in the game. The Colonels would build the lead and knock down enough free throws to hold on for the ten point win.
It was the second year in a row for Henderson and Lyon to meet in the opening round of the 2nd Region tournament. The two teams met in the opening round last season, with Lyon County giving the northern Colonels all they wanted before falling 63-51 at Henderson County.
For the game, Lyon County was led by Jackson Shoulders with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Travis Perry added 18 points. In his final game in a Lyon County uniform, Gabe Board nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Kade Blackburn chipped in with 10 points.
Henderson County was led by Corey Stewart with 27 points. Mykel Sanners added 12.
Lyon County finishes the season at 21-10, while Henderson County improves to 16-11, and moves on to Friday night’s second semifinal game.
