Trigg County Coach Cory Coble reacts in disbelief as the Lady Wildcats celebrate a 45-42 district tournament semifinal win over Lyon County. [Ashlyn Brown photo]
Trigg County’s first made 3-pointer of the night was its last one. And it was the game-winner.
Olivia Noffsinger buried a deep 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired to lift Trigg County to a 45-42 win over Lyon County in the 5th District Tournament semifinals. The Lady Wildcats advance to their third straight district title game where they will face Livingston Central Saturday night.
The game was a close affair throughout. There were eight ties, seven lead changes, and neither team led by more than five points.
Trigg County grabbed its first lead of the second half on a Marleigh Reynolds bucket in the final seconds of the third quarter. They then endured a four-minute scoring drought.
Gracen Wynn hit the game’s first 3-pointer with 6:47 left to put Lyon up 38-36. Trigg tied the game at 38 at the 3:52 mark.
Trigg took the lead for good with 2:14 left on a steal and bucket by T.T. Grubbs. The Lady Wildcats added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 42-28 with 2:09 left.
Calista Collins scored consecutive buckets to tie the game at 42 with 1:09 left. After a timeout, Trigg held the ball against the Lyon zone until 13 seconds were left. Adri Phillips moved right and found Noffsinger on the wing for the game-winning shot.
Noffsinger finished with nine points and four assists. Reynolds scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. T.T. Grubbs added seven points and eight rebounds, including four boards on the offensive glass.
Trigg held a 31-28 advantage on the boards and had 10 offensive rebounds.
Rose Smith led Lyon County with 16 points. She also had six rebounds. Calista Collins finished her Lady Lyon career with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Gracen Wynn scored nine points.
Lyon County, the No. 2 seed, saw its district tournament run end at the hands of Trigg County for a third straight season. Despite a 17-8 record, the Lady Lyons’ season ends.
Trigg County moves into the district championship for a third straight year. The Lady Wildcats, the No. 3 seed, will play No. 4 seed Livingston Central for the title Saturday night at 7. Livingston moved into the championship after top seed Crittenden County withdrew from postseason play Thursday due to COVID-19 protocols.
It marks the fifth straight season the girls’ district champion will not be the tournament’s top seed.
Lyon County 10 13 12 7– 42
Trigg County 11 10 15 9– 45
Lyon County [17-8] – Smith 16, Collins 11, Wynn 9, Defew 4, Perry 2
Trigg County [9-13] – Reynolds 19, Noffsinger 9, T.T. Grubbs 7, Barbee 5, Hyde 2, Phillips 2, I. Grubbs 1
