Over the course of his nearly five-year high school basketball career to date, there have been many nights that Lyon County junior Travis Perry has put on a show. Saturday night, he did so in two different fashions. In the first half of the Lyons game against Bracken County, he became only the second Kentucky high school player ever to score 4,000 points in a career. In the second half, he added 22 more points to that total and his team needed every single one of them as the Lyons came from behind to beat the Polar Bears 66-61 in the fourth game of the Akridge Ace Jam.
Perry scored the first points of the night on a three-pointer to put the Lyons up 3-0. For a while, it seemed as if the expectation of Perry hitting 4,000 Saturday night then began to weigh on the Lyons a bit, as they struggled to get going. Bracken County held the Lyons to just nine points in the opening quarter as the Polar Bears took a 14-9 lead.
Lyon County came out and opened the second quarter on a 14-4 run, including the historic points for Travis Perry, as the Lyons moved to a 23-18 lead. However, the Lyons could not find a way to get on one of the patented sizzling runs and put some distance between themselves and the Polar Bears. The Lyon County lead would be 31-29 at the half.
‘The Three Amigos’ of Perry, Brady Shoulders, and Jack Reddick, combined to score all but two of Lyon County’s first-half points.
As the second half started, it became clear that Bracken County was not going to wilt even after a five-hour plus bus ride to Western Kentucky.
After the Lyons scored the first four points of the half to make it 35-29, back came the Polar Bears. Bracken County went on an 11-2 run to take the lead back at 40-37. A big chunk of the damage was done by the Polar Bears’ Blake Reed, who entered the game among the state’s scoring leaders at just under 30 points a game.
But ultimately it came down to the fact that Bracken County could not stop Travis Perry when they needed to, either scoring the ball or dishing off to teammates for easy looks.
Lyon County closed out the third with a 12-4 spurt, which put them back up 49-44 heading into the final quarter.
The Lyons would extend the lead to as much as 9 early in the fourth quarter. But the Polar Bears refused to go away. Bracken would battle back to as close as two points at 63-61 and would have chances to tie or take the lead but could not get it done down the stretch as the Lyons held on for the five-point win. Perry hit 5 of 6 at the line to help secure the win.
Travis Perry led all scorers in the game with 32 points. Brady Shoulders finished the night with 15, while Jack Reddick added 11. Bracken County did a much better job on Shoulders and Reddick in the second half, limiting the pair to seven points combined in the final two quarters.
Blake Reed topped Bracken County with 27 points. Chase Archibald added 17 points, including five made 3-pointers for the Polar Bears.
Lyon County improves to 22-5 with the win, which was their 8th straight since losing to UHA in the All A Classic 2nd Region tournament. Speaking of the Blazers, the Lyons return to the court Monday night for a highly anticipated return matchup with University Heights.
BCHS – 14 15 15 17 — 61
LCHS – 09 22 18 17 — 66
Bracken County – B.Reed 27, Archibald 17, C. Reed 10, Norton 3, Jefferson 3, Commodore 1
Lyon County – Perry 32, Shoulders 15, Reddick 11, Breedlove 4, Kirk 4
