Lyon County sophomore Travis Perry is one of only 37 Kentucky high school players ever to score 3,000 or more points in his high school career. Perry now has 3,189 points — good for 18th on the all-time Kentucky high school scoring list.
Perry is only 458 points away from tying Charlie Osborne (Flat Gap, 1953-57) for second on the all-time scoring list at 3,647 points and is 1,149 points from moving ahead of the state record 4,337 points scored by Kelly Coleman (Wayland, 1953-56).
The guard scored 990 points this year but also scored 638 in 2019 (seventh grade), 852 in 2020 and 709 in 2021.
That’s one reason the Lyon County sophomore said it was a “huge deal” not just for the team but “everyone in Lyon County” to have the team reach the state tournament.
“Playing in Rupp Arena in front of thousands of people is awesome. It’s a great experience you don’t get every day,” Perry said. “I am so proud of our team and how we played. It’s just a huge deal for us and our fans.
“It’s hard not to play hard when everybody is cheering for you. It makes you feel so happy to be out there on the floor. We might never get that again where we have 10,000 people cheering for us. You don’t forget that.”
Perry again emphasized he doesn’t think about becoming the state’s all-time leading scorer even though he’s asked about it often.
“I am not better than anybody else on the team,” he said. “I just try to set a good example for everybody, show everybody how hard they have to work.”
Covington Catholic coach Scott Ruthsatz says stopping Perry is not easy to do even when he’s the focus of the defense.
“We tried to take him out. But it is hard to stay in front of him,” the Covington Catholic coach said. “He drives hard and can stop on a dime. Our goal was to limit his play and touches because he not only can score but he can drop it off for post players. He’s just a really good player.”
Perry has scholarship offers from Mississippi, New Orleans, and Creighton, the team that almost beat No. 1 seed Kansas last week in the NCAA Tournament. He has heard from Wisconsin, Purdue, Murray State, Western Kentucky, Belmont, Iowa, Purdue, Loyola, and Virginia.
