PREVIEW – Lyons on Short List of 2nd Region Contenders

After a 22-4 showing in 2020-21, Lyon County is looking to take the next step this season, and make a little school history in the process.

The Lyons blitzed through much of last year’s slate, even opening the season with a school-record 14-game winning streak.

Lyon’s only regular-season setbacks came to Owensboro Catholic, Walton-Verona and Murray. The Lyons won the regional All A Classic championship and rolled through the 5th District tournament for another title.

But the Lyons came up just short in their 2nd Region tournament opener, bowing to Hopkinsville 58-56.

This season, head coach Ryan Perry’s team is on the short list of contenders to run through the regional tournament and capture the 2nd Region championship. And the Lyons return all the major players from last year — all with another year’s worth of experience.

Sophomore guard Travis Perry is back after scoring 27.3 points a game last season — tops in the 2nd Region and good enough for fifth in the state.

With 2,199 career points already and three varsity seasons still to play, Perry is over halfway to the state all-time scoring record. The late “King” Kelly Coleman tallied 4,337 points from 1952-56 at Wayland High School in eastern Kentucky.

Perry put up 49 points in a 104-74 preseason scrimmage win against Paintsville on Saturday.

Perry already has college basketball offers — most notably from Ole Miss of the Southeastern Conference. Creighton and New Orleans have also tendered offers.

But the 6-foot-2 Perry isn’t the only returner who has been putting up big numbers.

Jackson Shoulders, a 6-5 senior forward, has averaged a double-double each of the past two seasons. Last year, Shoulders scored 16.4 points a night while grabbing 10.1 rebounds. He shot 57.7 percent from the floor. A multi-sport star, Shoulders has signed to play baseball at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

In the backcourt, Perry will be joined by 6-1 senior Gunnar Bingham and 6-foot sophomore Jack Reddick.

Bingham is capable of putting up big offensive numbers but doesn’t have to because of all the offensive weapons the Lyons possess. Still, Bingham scored 9.3 points a game last season and is a threat to post double figures every time out. Like Shoulders, Bingham has also signed to play college baseball — at Murray State.

Reddick can also score — and shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range last season — but his primary job has been ball-handling in the Lyon offense.

Sophomore 6-3 swingman Brady Shoulders is yet another player capable of exploding offensively. He averaged 9.7 points a contest last year and was second on the team in rebounding behind his older brother at 6.2.

Additional senior leadership comes from 6-3 Nick Whalin, 6-3 Luke Gilbert, 6-1 Warren Parker and 5-11 Cory Cissell. All of them figure to see minutes as Lyon looks to push the pace and work a lot of people in.

Whalin was the top scorer among that group with 6.1 points a game last season. He grabbed 4.3 rebounds.

The Lyons also have some other promising youngsters who will try to work their way into the mix in what looks like a deep squad.

Lyon was the third-highest scoring team in the state last season at 79.9 points a game. The Lyons figure to be among the best offensive squads in the commonwealth again this season.

Lyon should be battle-tested by the time the 2021-22 postseason rolls around.

The regular-season slate includes big-time matchups in the Marshall County Hoopfest, the King of the Bluegrass tournament in Louisville, the Sportscenter Shootout in Owensboro and Mustang Madness at McCracken County.

Lyon has also lined up a home date against Bowling Green for its own Lyon County Classic in February.

The Lyons open the season with a girls and boys varsity doubleheader at Hopkins County Central on Tuesday. Lyon then faces Goodpasture Christian from Madison, Tenn., near Nashville on Friday in the Marshall Hoopfest.

It has been over 70 years since Lyon County hoisted its only 2nd Region championship trophy. (Kuttawa also claimed the 1940 title in addition to Lyon’s 1951 crown.)

Lyon made final appearances in 1966, 1973, 1990 and 1991 but hasn’t been back to the title game in 30 years.

However, Lyon County has very recently been on the state scene. The Lyon baseball team not only won the 2nd Region championship this past season — its first regional title ever — but ran all the way to the state semifinals.

So precedent has been set for one of the 2nd Region’s smallest schools to challenge the big boys for a championship — and a trip to Rupp Arena in March.