Lady Lyons Make Early Statement With Win Over Graves

A night after cruising past Webster County in their season opener, the Lyon County girls’ basketball team tested itself against one of the top teams in the 1st Region on Wednesday at the Marshall County Hoopfest.  The Lady Lyons served notice to upcoming opponents, surviving a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer to hold off Graves County 62-59.

It looked like it could be a long night for the Lady Lyons when Graves County opened with three three-pointers to take a 9-2 lead and force a timeout with only three and a half minutes played.  However, after trailing by nine points with under three minutes to go in the quarter, Lyon capped a 9-0 run with a Piper Cotham triple to tie the game at 15-15.

The Lady Lyons took their first lead of the night on a three-pointer by Lexi Holland, and she followed with a layup to prompt a Graves County timeout early in the second quarter.  The lead grew to ten points after Courtney Collins scored in the paint, but Graves’ Hannah Glisson knocked down a pull-up jumper and closed the half with a three-pointer to cut it to 31-26 at the break.

A 7-0 run to start the third quarter put the Lady Eagles back in front for the final time, and Lyon County never trailed again after Jenna Coursey’s layup made it 37-35 with 2:30 left in the frame.  Inside the final minute, Glisson connected on one of two free throws to trim the margin to three points before Cotham came up with a steal and score in the final seconds to give the Lady Lyons a five-point edge with a quarter to play.

Lyon County looked to have it wrapped up after six straight points from Cotham made it 57-50 with 2:50 to go.  However, Graves’ Morgan Alexander drilled a trio of three-pointers in just 90 seconds to tie it at 59-59 and force a Lyon timeout with just over a minute to play.  After play resumed, Cotham worked her way into the lane and scored on a reverse layup, and the Lady Eagles turned it over on their next possession.

Lyon’s Trinity Taylor could only connect on one of two free throws to leave the door open for the Lady Eagles, but Alexander’s three at the buzzer bounced off to end the game.

Cotham finished with 18 points to lead Lyon County, followed by Taylor with 16, and Holland with 12.  Taylor added 14 rebounds to finish with a double-double, and Collins and Lilly Perry each collected seven rebounds.

The Lady Lyons shot 42% from the field and won the rebounding battle 42-30.  They were 4/17 from behind the arc and connected on 10 of 15 free throw attempts.

Alexander finished with a game-high 25 for the Lady Eagles, including seven three-pointers, and Glisson was next with 21.  Graves County hit 10 of 27 for 37% from three-point land and was 7/10 from the charity stripe.

Lyon County will return on the road on Friday to face Calloway County.  The Lady Lyons have dropped the last four in the series, including a lopsided 80-47 result last season.