The Lyon County Lyons have now won at least 20 games for five straight seasons. The Lyons picked up their 20th win of the 2022-2023 season by manhandling Madisonville-North Hopkins 75-58 Tuesday night in Eddyville.
The Lyons scored the first four points of the game and never trailed or were tied for the rest of the night. The Maroons struggled with the Lyon County pressure defense from the opening tipoff and it cost them dearly in terms of runouts and easy baskets for the Lyons, who played one of their best quarters of basketball this season in the opening eight minutes.
Lyon County also controlled the boards and turned the rebounds on the defensive end into transition baskets as they took advantage of their speed and outside shooting to build a big early lead over the Maroons.
With Lyon County up 6-4, the Lyons went on an impressive 18-6 run that blew out the lead to 24-10. With a late three, the Lyon County lead was 29-14 when the opening quarter ended.
The ‘Three Amigos’ of Travis Perry, Jack Reddick, and Brady Shoulders keep pouring gas on the fire as the second quarter got underway. With those three combining to score 39 points in the first half, the lead grew to as many as 21 points at 40-19.
Madisonville looked to be building a little comeback momentum late in the half led by Marcus Eaves. Taking advantage of some cooler Lyon County shooting and a few ballhandling miscues by the Lyons, the Maroons trimmed the lead to 42-27.
But what momentum they had built was ripped away by Travis Perry, who knocked down a stepback three just ahead of the halftime horn to give Lyon County a 45-27 lead.
After Perry’s dagger just before the half, not much changed in the second half of play. The rest of the game was played within a nine points span. The Maroons could not mount a rally that could get them closer than 14 points in the second half, while Lyon County could pull no further away than 23 points.
Lyon County would lead 61-42 after three quarters and then cruise on out to the final 17 point margin.
Travis Perry finished the game with 33 points. That gives him 3,958, needing just 42 points to become only the second player in Kentucky High School basketball history to score 4,000 in a career. Jack Reddick added 20 points. Brady Shoulders also reached double-figures with 12 and was a force on the boards for the Lyons.
Marcus Eaves was the leading scorer for the Maroons with 25 points. Christopher Watkins was the other Madisonville player to reach double-digits with 12.
Lyon County improves to 20-5 on the year, while Madisonville-North Hopkins drops to 17-8.
MNHHS – 14 13 15 16 — 58
LCHS – 29 16 16 14 — 75
Madisonville-North Hopkins – Eaves 25, Watkins 12, Carney 8, Butler 7, Wilkes 3, Martin 2, McAdoo 1
Lyon County – Perry 33, Reddick 20, Shoulders 12, Breedlove 4, Kirk 4, Car.Collins 2
