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The chase is now behind him and he can focus now on just winning basketball games. Although, when you watch Travis Perry play, that would appear to be what he has been doing all along, sometimes oblivious to the fact that he was chasing Kentucky high school basketball history.
It will be hard for him to be oblivious to it now, as his name is the one at the top of the all-time scoring list for boys’ high school basketball in Kentucky. Perry passed Kentucky legend ‘King’ Kelly Coleman with his 21st point against Newport Thursday afternoon.
Not only did Perry break the state’s most prestigious individual sports scoring record, he did it on Kentucky’s biggest available stage, the Rupp Arena floor during the Sweet 16.
As the 2023 season began, Perry stood at 3,189 points. Most believed he would become the state’s all-time leading scorer, but most also believed that it would happen early in the 2023-2024 season.
However, as the year went along, Travis Perry continued to pile up the points at an astonishing clip. By the final month of the season, it became obvious that he had a shot to do it this season, and the numbers were indicating that he would have the chance to do it at Rupp.
Along the way this year, he passed some big names on his climb up the scoring ladder. He passed Tim Stephens, Manual Forrest, Ervin Stepp, Dontaie Allen, Clem Haskins, Chris Harrison, Harry Todd, and yes, along the way he passed fellow Lyon County legend Ty Rogers.
As the 2nd Region tournament wound down and it was apparent that the Lyons were coming to Rupp Arena, the conversations began in earnest about Perry breaking the record in the Lyons’ opening round game and whether or not it would it be a distraction. But as evidenced by the final score, it wasn’t.
And now, the Lyons get to focus on trying to win a state championship without the discussion of when Travis will break the record because it is now all his.
Looking ahead, with his career total at 4,340, and Perry only being a junior, he has the chance to pass 5,000 career points and set that mark so high that it may never be broken.
Not only was he special in setting the record, but the humility with which he did so gives you a greater appreciation of what a special player you have had the chance to watch over the past five seasons.
‘King’ Kelly, time, after 67 years, to let someone else sit on the throne of Kentucky basketball for a while. The heir to the throne is Lyon County’s Travis Perry. Long live the new ‘King’ of Kentucky hoops.
