You could forgive Juwan Howard if he left Jason White Gymnasium Saturday night alternately humming the Lyon County fight song and “Hail to the Victors.” With the University of Michigan head coach courtside, Lyon County’s Travis Perry hit for 41 points, and his Lyon County team held off a strong rally from Christian County in the second half to take an 85-72 win.
First half foul problems and a cold shooting second quarter were brutal for the Colonels. The Colonels trailed only 17-12 before the Lyons closed the opening quarter with a 5-2 spurt, including a Perry buzzer-beater 3-pointer, to take a 22-14 lead.
But early foul troubles began to sting the Colonels in the second eight minutes. With Breland Morrison, Jordan Miles, and Prince Northington, all dealing with foul issues, the Colonels offense struggled a bit in the quarter, and that was problematic as Travis Perry and Jack Reddick began to heat up for the Lyons.
With the Lyons holding a 30-22 lead, Lyon County outscored the Colonels the rest of the half 16-3 to take a 46-25 lead into the locker room at the break. The Colonels left some points at the free throw line in the first 16 minutes, going just 5 of 16 at the line.
Coming out of the locker room, with Morrison, Miles, and Northington back in the game, and Derrell Bateman asserting himself inside, the Colonels opened the second half with a 10-1 run to trim the lead to 47-35. But, led by their big three, the Lyons were able to stem the rally and take a 59-46 lead into the final quarter.
You had the feeling heading into the final eight minutes that if the Colonels could just get inside of double-figures in the first few minutes of the final quarter, it would be ‘game on’ down to the wire. But Lyon County was able to finish out at the free throw line and claim the 13-point win.
In addition to Perry’s 41 points, Jack Reddick had 20 for the Lyons. Brady Shoulders also reached double-figures with 11.
A big night down inside for Christian County’s Derrell Bateman, who finished with 28 points. Jordan Miles was the other Colonel to get to double-figures with 12.
Lyon County improves to 5-1 with the win. The Lyons travel to Trigg County Tuesday night.
Christian County drops to 2-3 for the season. The Colonels head to Bowling Green Tuesday night.
CCHS – 14 11 21 26 — 72
LCHS – 22 24 13 26 — 85
Christian County – Bateman 28, Miles 12, Morrison 9, Sanders 9, Northington 7, Riley 5, Vaughn 2
Lyon County – Perry 41, Reddick 20, Shoulders 11, Kirk 8, Carson Collins, 3, Suitor 2
