In front of a packed house, with an atmosphere that felt like a regional championship game, the Lyon County Lyons extracted a measure of revenge from the University Heights Academy Blazers and sent a message to the rest of the 2nd Region Monday night. That message being that the defending champs would still be among those teams looking to earn the trip to Rupp Arena in 2023.
Led by another stellar effort from junior guard Travis Perry and a big effort from Bray Kirk coming off the bench, the Lyons handled the Blazers 81-61 in Eddyville.
With a large crowd of fans from both schools and those from around the area that just wanted to see Round 2 of the Lyons and the Blazers, UHA scored the opening basket of the game to take its only lead of the night. Lyon County responded with a 9-0 run to go up 9-2 and the Lyon crowd was into an early frenzy in the contest.
With ‘The Three Amigos’ doing their usual thing in the early going, and Lyon County getting a big start from Bray Kirk, the Lyons led 20-12 after the opening quarter.
Lyon County’s offense kicked into high gear in the second quarter and the Lyon County defense forced UHA into some miscues that led to points at the other end for the Lyons. Add in the fact that Lemar Northington was dealing with first-half foul trouble, and it was a tough combination for the Blazers in the second. The Blazers were still just down 27-20 until Lyon County delivered a devastating 13-0 run to explode the lead out to 20 points in what felt like the blink of an eye.
When the two teams left the court at the break, Lyon County led 44-25. Travis Perry scored 18 in the first half, but the story of the opening half for the Lyons was the play of Bray Kirk, who scored ten points in the opening half, and it was not just his offensive effort that gave a big boost to Lyon County. Kirk created havoc on defense and crashed the boards on both ends.
Lyon County opened the third quarter on a 7-4 spurt and the lead was at 51-29 and the Blazers were looking for a way to stay alive. Enter Gavin Grubbs.
Led by Grubbs 16 points in the third quarter, the Blazers made one of their patented runs and had the UHA fans in attendance thinking back to the big second-half dash the Blazers made against Owensboro Catholic to force overtime at the All A Classic. The Blazers finished the quarter on a 19-7 run and when Gavin Grubbs completed a three-point play just ahead of the end of the quarter the lead had been cut to just ten at 58-48 and the momentum was firmly with the Blazers, or maybe not quite so firmly.
While the Blazers look positioned to finish one of their big comebacks, the Lyons showed why they are the defending regional champs. And, Travis Perry showed why he is the leading candidate to be Mr. Basketball in 2024.
Perry scored and then provided an assist to start the final quarter and make it 62-48. That was enough to stop the momentum for the Blazers. UHA would not get any closer than 12 points for the rest of the game. The Lyons got big plays from Perry, Kirk, Reddick, and a ‘dagger’ three from Brady Shoulders, and that was that, as Lyon County rolled away to the 20-point win.
Travis Perry finished the game with 34 points. That gives him now 4,056 for his career. Brady Shoulders had a big night with 22 points. Bray Kirk came off the bench for his best game of the season, ending the game with 14 points.
For University Heights, Gavin Grubbs was at the top of the scoring column with 22 points, 20 of them in the second half. Lemar Northington was the other Blazer in double-figures with 12 points.
The win, which was the 9th in a row for Lyon County, improves the Lyons to 23-5. UHA falls to 18-9 with the loss.
UHA – 12 13 23 13 — 61
LCHS – 20 24 14 23 — 81
University Heights – Grubbs 22, Northington 12, Wallace 7, Baker 6, Quarles 5, Thomas 5, Walton 2, C. Brown 2
Lyon County – Perry 34, Shoulders 22, Kirk 14, Reddick 9, Breedlove 2
One Response
Congratulations Lyonsfor a great year so far !!!!!!