Seeding does not matter in the Fifth District near as much as home court advantage. Lyon County proved that adage to be true once again and almost pulled off the upset. However, Trigg County hit some clutch free throws in the final minutes to allow them to escape Eddyville with a 44-43 win Monday in the semifinals of the district tournament.
Two-seed Trigg County will face top seed Crittenden County Thursday in the championship game. The Lady Rockets beat Livingston Central 48-35 in the opener.
Lyon County led most of the first half. Turnovers kept them from extending their lead and missed shots by Trigg kept the Lady Wildcats from overtaking Lyon. Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Trigg missed 30 of their 34 first half shots, while Lyon County turned the ball over 13 times that led to seven Trigg points.
Down 21-20 at the half, Trigg scored five quick points to begin the third quarter on an Adri Phillips bucket and a 3-pointer by Olivia Noffsinger to take a 25-21 lead. The Lady Lyons countered with 3-pointers by Gracen Wynn on consecutive possessions for a 31-26 lead with 3:25 left in the quarter.
Down 35-29, Olivia Noffsinger knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter to cut the Lyon lead to 35-32. The Trigg County freshman would control the fourth quarter, scoring six points and giving Trigg a 38-37 lead with 4:26 left.
Cathryn Brown answered with a bucket off a missed shot with 2:39 to give Lyon their final lead with 2:39 left. After a Noffsinger free throw tied the game with 1:56, Trigg took the lead for good on a T.T. Grubbs bucket with 1:18 left.
Up 42-41 with 17 seconds left, Adri Phillips hit two free throws to extend the Trigg lead to 44-41. On their next possession, Lyon wasn’t able to get off a 3-pointer and settled for an Ella Defew bucket with two seconds left. Trigg was able to inbounds the ball without being fouled to pick up their first-ever district tournament win over the Lady Lyons on their home floor.
Trigg’s shooting (12/60) was an abysmal 20-percent. However, they hit 16-of-26 free throws, including 4-of-6 in the final three minutes. Trigg also scored 10 points off turnovers and had 11 second chance points.
Lyon County shot 36-percent from the field but turned the ball over 22 times and was outrebounded 40-31.
Noffsinger finished with 18 points and three steals – her fifth double-digit scoring game against district opposition this season. Phillips added 11 points and six rebounds, and Rylee Bush chipped in with eight points and 12 rebounds.
Wynn knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 16 points. Defew added nine points, and Rose Smith scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Trigg County Coach Cory Coble spoke highly of the defense played by Iyanna Grubbs, whose defensive assignment for her 16 minutes of playing time was Lyon’s Cathryn Brown, the team’s second-leading scorer. She was limited to six points on five shots.
Lyon County’s season ends with a record of 13-17. They will miss the region tournament for only the third time in 17 years.
Trigg County (23-8) advances to their second straight district championship for the first time since 1989-90.
Lyon County 7 14 14 8—43
Trigg County 5 15 12 12—44
Lyon County (13-17) – Wynn 16, Defew 9, Smith 8, Brown 6, Collins 4
Trigg County (23-8) – O. Noffsinger 18, Phillips 11, Bush 8, T.T. Grubbs 5, I. Grubbs 2
