YSE File Photo
The Lyon County Lyons will get a chance for a measure of revenge Saturday afternoon. Lyon County advanced to the championship game of the White, Greer, and Maggard Orthodontics Holiday Classic with a second-half beatdown of Frederick Douglass 86-65.
The Lyons will take on Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s championship game. It was Lexington Catholic who beat the Lyons in last year’s tournament semifinals.
Those who have watched the Lyon County Lyons over the past couple of seasons have seen them do it before and it can be like a train rumbling down the tracks and you just can’t get out of the way. Those Lyon County runs can happen in the blink of an eye, can be devastating to the opponent, and can take place without much warning.
Frederick Douglass now knows what it feels like to be on the wrong side of one of ‘those’ runs.
Douglass had come from a double-digit first-half deficit and taken a three-point lead about midway through the third quarter. By the time the Broncos realized what was happening to them, it was too late to do anything about it, and that three-point lead was a 16-point deficit heading into the final quarter.
The explosion was capped off by a stretch of just a few seconds to end the quarter that saw Travis Perry get a steal, get the ball to a teammate for a basket, get another steal, and then beat the horn with a three to effectively send Frederick Douglass into the third-place game Saturday afternoon of the White, Greer, and Maggard Orthodontics Holiday Classic.
It didn’t start off that promising for the Lyons however. In the beginning, it felt like Lyon County was shooting toward a basket with an invisible lid. Deep into the opening quarter, the Broncos were up 7-1 and when the Lyons did get their first score from the field it was on a play where the ball did not go through the hoop as the Broncos were called for goaltending.
Still, even with the icy shooting, the Lyons would find a way to take an 11-9 lead after the opening quarter. After a slow offensive opening quarter, both teams got going in the second. Lyon County outscored Frederic Douglass 26-23 in the quarter to take a 37-32 halftime lead.
The Lyons were up at the break, despite shooting just 41.7 percent. They did heat up some in the second half, knocking down 52.8 percent of their attempts.
After the third-quarter explosion, the Lyons would lead by as many as 25 in the final quarter before taking a 21-point win.
Turnovers played a role in the final outcome, as the Lyon County defense forced the Broncos into 16 miscues while having just nine of their own.
Travis Perry had his struggles from the field but still finished with 26 points, including 7 of 7 at the free throw line. He added 8 assists and five rebounds. Jack Reddick finished with 15 points, including three shots from behind the arc. Reddick also had 8 rebounds and four assists. Brady Shoulders and Bray Kirk had 12 points each.
The Lyons got a monster night from the center position. Lukas Breedlove and Isaac Defew combined for 18 points and 14 rebounds. If Lyon County can get that kind of production out of the position, they will be almost impossible to deal with for the rest of the season.
Armelo Boone led Frederick Douglass with 27 points. Logan Busson was the only other Bronco to hit double figures with 10.
Lyon County improves to 11-1 with its 8th straight win and will play for the tournament title Saturday afternoon against host school Lexington Catholic.
LCHS — 11 26 30 19 – 86
FDHS — 9 23 19 14 – 65
Lyon County – Perry 26, Reddick 15, Shoulders 12, Kirk 12, Defew 10, Breedlove 8, Crawford 3
Frederick Douglass – Boone 27, Busson 10, Wright 6, Chenault 5, Talbert 5, Jones 4, Cayson 2, Coen 2, Clare 2, Dials 2
One Response
Excellent game. I thought it was well officiated and both team played at a fast pace. No taunting, just good ,hard clean play by some hard nosed kids.
I really enjoy the way Lyon County moves the ball and their 3 seniors are on the same page with winning as their only goal.
LCHS will be a tough match up in the championship game, it should be fun.