Lyon County remembered the heartbreak associated with last year’s district tournament semifinal when Olivia Noffsinger’s 3-pointer at the horn sent the Lady Wildcats into the championship and Lady Lyons coach Jeff Doom into retirement.
First-year coach Dawn Cotham was an assistant last year and wanted to make sure history wouldn’t repeat itself Monday. The Lady Lyons led wire to wire and ended Trigg County’s three-year reign as district champions with a 54-45 win Monday in Marion. Lyon County will play Crittenden County in Thursday night’s championship. The Lady Rockets held off a pesky Livingston Central squad 42-35 to advance to the title game.
Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate as it took nearly three minutes for either team to dent the scoreboard. Lyon County scored the first six points before Kara Hyde got Trigg on the board with 3:18 remaining on a 3-pointer.
The Lady Lyons used a 14-3 second quarter run to push its lead to 26-11 with 1:38 left. Once they had the lead established, the Lady Lyons were able to quell several Trigg comebacks thanks to their work on the glass. Leading the region at 35 rebounds per game, the Lady Lyons pulled down 40 Monday. 18 of the rebounds were on the offensive glass which led to 14 second-chance points.
Trigg County had several chances in the fourth quarter to knock an eight or nine-point deficit down further but the Lady Lyons came up with five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Ella Defew was the lone Lady Lyon in double figures with 14 points. She also pulled down 12 rebounds. Calista Collins added nine points and nine rebounds.
Lyon County survived an 18 of 39 night at the free throw line, which included 11 of 28 in the second half.
In her final game as a Lady Wildcat, Marleigh Reynolds, the lone Trigg senior, scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, capping one of the finest senior seasons in school history. Hyde hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, and Olivia Noffsinger scored all eight of her points in the second half.
Trigg County was shooting for its fourth straight district title, something no other team in the 5th has done since Caldwell County won 15 straight from 1991-2006 before being shipped off to the 7th District.
Thursday night’s championship game will be at 7 o’clock at Rocket Arena.
Lyon County 12 16 9 17– 54
Trigg County 6 9 11 19– 45
Lyon County [16-13] – Defew 14, Collins 9, Butler 8, Perry 8, Smith 6, Taylor 5, Holland 4
Trigg County [16-13] – Reynolds 16, Hyde 14, Noffsinger 8, McGee 5, Alexander 2
