Thursday was an historic day for the Lyon County Lyons. The Lyons made their first trip to the boys’ state basketball tournament in 71 years. Not only did they make the trip, they picked up the program’s first-ever state tournament win by using a strong second-half performance to cruise by 5th Region champion John Hardin 82-65.
Now, the Lyons move on to the quarterfinals of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16, and will need to elevate their game another notch as they face one of their biggest challenges of the season.
The Lyons will battle Covington Catholic in Friday’s third quarterfinal game. Catholic has been ranked among the state’s best teams all season long. Much like Lyon County, the Colonels used a strong second half to advance past Ashland Blazer Thursday night 76-65.
Covington Catholic got a very big game from Chandler Starks with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Evan Ipsaro led the Colonels in scoring with 26 points. Isparo is averaging 21.7 points a game for the season. Mitchell Rylee, who averages 16.5 for the year, was limited to just 11 points on the night.
The Colonels did not rely on the outside shot to get past Ashland. Rather, they used their strength inside to provide the difference. Covington Catholic made only two three-pointers compared to Ashland Blazer’s twelve. However, the Colonels not just owned the glass, but OWNED the glass, winning the rebounding battle 30-12. The Lyons will have to find a way to not allow that to happen again Friday.
Ashland lost the game despite shooting 50 percent from the field. Of course, there is the small matter that Covington Catholic shot 66.7 percent for the game, including above 70 percent in both the first and last quarters.
If Catholic shoots anywhere close to those numbers Friday, the Lyons will not be able to afford to have a slow start shooting the ball from the outside.
The Colonels trailed 40-33 at the half, but then outscored Ashland 43-25 over the final sixteen minutes of the game.
For the Colonels, they will be looking to contain Travis Perry and then not let the Lyons physically control the game as they did against John Hardin.
Covington Catholic enters Friday night at 29-4. Their only Kentucky losses came to Male and Ashland in a one-week span in late January. They have won their last 11 games in a row.
Lyon County will enter the contest at 29-6. The Lyons have won ten in a row and have not lost since February 12, when they dropped an eight-point decision to Bowling Green.
Tipoff for Lyon County and Covington Catholic is set for Friday evening at 6:00 eastern at Rupp Arena.
