Big free throws in the final two minutes turned out to be the difference as the Livingston Central Lady Cardinals took down the defending 2nd Region All A champion Lyon County Lady Lyons 56-49 in Thursday night’s second semifinal matchup at University Heights Academy. The Lady Cardinals, who led by as many as ten in the second half, had to fend off a fourth-quarter comeback from the Lady Lyons.
Victoria Joiner went 5 of 6 and Maggie Downey 2 of 2 in the waning moments to help the Lady Cardinals reach Saturday afternoon’s final, where they will face the Crittenden County Lady Rockets.
The first half was a story of two similar but yet completely different quarters. After Livingston Central opened the game with a free throw, the Lady Lyons ripped off nine straight points to take a 9-1 lead. Led by strong play from Lexi Holland and Courtney Collins, Lyon County would parlay that start into a 15-8 lead after the opening quarter.
The second quarter was almost an exact copy of the opening quarter, except in reverse. Lyon County scored the opening basket of the second quarter to push the lead out to 17-8. At that point, the Lady Lyons shooting eye left the gym for the rest of the half and Victoria Joiner cranked it up for the Lady Cardinals.
Livingston would score ten straight to take an 18-17 lead, and then, after a Lyon County basket, end the half with seven straight to make it 25-19 at the break.
While Lyon County lost their shooting eye, the Lady Cardinals began to attack the basket and either find layups or trips to the free throw line. Additionally, the Lady Cardinals used physical play to force the Lady Lyons into ball-handling miscues and rushed shots.
As the second half got rolling, after a Lyon County free throw, the Lady Cardinals got five quick points from Victoria Joiner to run the lead out to 30-20. Lyon County responded with a quick burst to cut the lead to 30-26, but the Lady Cardinals responded in kind to push the lead back out to ten at 36-26. The quarter would end with Livingston Central up 38-30.
The Lady Lyons then made their move to get back into the game. Lyon scored the first five points of the final quarter to make it 38-35 and it was game on. Lyon County would get to within one point on four different occasions before finally tying things up at 46-46. The game would be tied at 49-49 before Livingston Central scored the last seven points from the line.
Lexi Holland was one of three Lady Lyons to hit double figures with 12 points. Piper Cotham and Ella Defew had 11 points each.
Livingston’s Victoria Joiner led all scorers with 25 points. Emersyn Ramage finished with 18 points, including some key backdoor cuts in the second half of play.
The Lady Lyons drop to 4-11 with the loss and will have to face the Lady Cardinals for the third time in 11 days next Tuesday night.
LIV – 8 17 13 18 — 56
LYON – 15 4 11 19 — 49
Livingston Central – Joiner 25, Ramage 18, Hargrove 4, Leahy 4, Downey 3, Holman 2
Lyon County – Holland 12, Cotham 11, Defew 11, Taylor 8, Collins 6
