It was just a week ago that the Lyon County Lady Lyons took down the Livingston Central Lady Cardinals to win the 2nd Region All A Classic and punched their ticket to the All A Classic state tournament in Richmond. The same two teams met Saturday afternoon in Eddyville and the result was much different than it was seven days earlier.
Whether it was the early afternoon start after a game the night before at UHA, or maybe it was the fact the Lady Lyons had played five games in eight days, or maybe it was even the calm of a Saturday afternoon contest. Whatever it was, Lyon County opened very slow and out of rhythm against the Lady Cardinals. The game was the 5th in just eight days for Lyon County.
Still, the Lady Lyons stuck with it and kept pushing and eventually found a way to pick up the 45-32 win over the Lady Cardinals.
Throughout the opening half, the Lady Lyons had struggles with getting the ball to go in the basket, getting to rebounds, and ball security. That combination allowed the Lady Cardinals to stay right with Lyon County.
The first quarter saw five ties and four lead changes. Victoria Joiner was responsible for one of those lead changes directly as she hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Livingston Central a 13-12 lead.
After Lyon County took the lead briefly on a pair of free throws in the second quarter, the Lady Cardinals scored six in a row to go up 19-14, and that was a lead they would not give up for the rest of the half. Lyon County was stymied by missed shots, bad timing on passes, and at times appeared to be running low on gas throughout the quarter. By the half, the Livingston Central lead was at 23-17.
Birthday girl Hadlie Butler almost singlehandedly kept the Lady Lyons in the game during the first half. Butler scored 8 points over the first sixteen minutes of play.
While their offense took a bit to get going in the third quarter, the Lyon County defense and rebounding kicked in, and that in turn ignited the offense. The Lady Lyon pressure would allow Livingston Central just a single field goal in the quarter and would create turnovers that led to easy baskets on the other end. Keyed by the play of Calista Collins and Rose Smith, the Lady Lyons went on a 13-0 run to end the quarter to go from 25-19 down to up 32-25.
From there, the Lady Lyons were able to close out the game and secure the win. Lyon County would outscore Livingston Central 13-7 in the final quarter to come away with the 13 point win.
Hadlie Butler led the way for the Lady Lyons, finishing the game with 15 points. Calista Collins also hit double figures with 11 points.
Livingston Central was led by Victoria Joiner with 10 points. Maggie Downey and Emersyn Ramage added 7 points each.
With the win, the Lady Lyons move to 11-8 on the season. Lyon County will take on Trigg County Monday night in Wildcat Gym before heading off to Richmond for their matchup against Campbellsville Wednesday afternoon.
The loss drops the Lady Cardinals to 5-10 on the year.
LIV — 13 10 2 7 – 32
LYON — 12 5 15 13 – 45
Livingston Central (5-10) – Joiner 10, Downey 7, Ramage 7, Hargrove 4, Holman 4
Lyon County (11-8) – Butler 15, Collins 11, Smith 6, Perry 5, Cotham 4, Defew 2. Taylor 2
