For a quarter Friday night, it appeared as if Lyon County and Hopkins County Central might battle deep into their game at Jason White Gymnasium, much like their first matchup the opening week of the season in Mortons Gap. But then Travis Perry heated up, and that sort of settled the issue fairly quickly.
Perry scored 18 first half points as the Lyons took control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back on their way to an 83-69 win over the Storm. With the win, the Lyons complete a “perfect” run through the 2nd Region this season, going 18-0 against regional opponents. Add in a win over Heritage Christian, who is in a probationary period with the KHSAA, and the mark would be 19-0.
The teams battled back and forth in the opening quarter, with the game tied at 2, 4, and 8. The Lyons, who got a big opening quarter from Jackson Shoulders, would end up leading 16-12 at quarter’s end.
The game was still tight early on in the second quarter with Lyon County holding a 24-22 lead. Then Perry got going, and the Storm seemingly had no answer. The Lyons would outscore Central 16-6 over the rest of the half to take a 40-28 lead at the break.
Coming out to start the second half, the Storm had some issues getting shots to fall. With Perry still rolling, things did not get any better for Hopkins Central. After Perry bagged back-to-back threes in the early going of the quarter, the score ballooned to 50-32, and it was game, set, match.
Jack Reddick and Nick Whalin provided some support as the lead grew to 66-44 after three.
Reserves would see significant time over the final eight minutes for the Lyons as they idled on out to the final 14 point margin.
Travis Perry would finish with 33 points. With that performance, his career total now stands at 2949. Jackson Shoulders added 15 points, while Jack Reddick also hit double figures with 12.
One area of concern in the second half for the Lyons was the health of Brady Shoulders. Shoulders took a hard fall in the second half and did not return to the game. He did walk off the court under his own power after the game ended.
Marcus Eaves led Hopkins Central with a “quiet” 24 points. Wesley Morris scored 14, thirteen of them coming after halftime. Drake Skeen also added 14 for the Storm.
The Lyons now move to 22-6 on the year and are scheduled to wrap up the regular season Saturday afternoon at Evansville Reitz.
Hopkins Central ends the regular season at 13-11.
HCCHS — 12 16 16 25 – 69
LCHS — 16 24 26 17 – 83
Hopkins County Central (13-11) – Eaves 24, Morris 14, Skeen 14, Hooke 6, Weldon 4, Browning 3, Hall 2, Belt 2
Lyon County (22-6) – Perry 33, J.Shoulders 15, Reddick 12, Whalin 9, Bingham 4, B.Shoulders 3, Breedlove 2, Parker 2, Kirk 2, Parker 1
