Coaches will tell you that some nights shots just don’t fall and on those nights defense can carry you through. That was the case for the Lyon County Lady Lyons Tuesday night.
Facing a Caldwell County team that refused to go away and cold shooting from both the field and the free throw line, the Lyon County Lady Lyons used 12 second-half steals to ignite enough offense to pick up a 50-43 win over the Lady Tigers at Jason White Gym.
The win was the 5th in the last six games for Lyon County.
Early on it looked as if the Lady Lyons might be ready to run away and hide. After Caldwell County scored the first basket of the night, Lyon County scored 10 straight points to take a 10-2 lead as Lexi Holland ignited an early run.
But to the Lady Tigers’ credit, they did not panic, and slowly but surely began to work their way back into the game. Morgan Aikins and Brylee Butts found some opportunities on the offensive end for the Lady Tigers and the Caldwell County defense did not give up many good looks to the Lady Lyons on the other end and when they did, the Lady Lyons had trouble getting shots to fall.
The first quarter ended with Lyon County up 12-7, but momentum was wearing blue and gold.
That momentum continued to sit on the Caldwell County sideline during the second quarter as the Lady Tigers kept on coming. KeDarriah Thomson and Davoni Williams made some strong plays on the inside as Caldwell County used a 10-0 run of its down to turn a 16-7 deficit into a 17-16 lead.
Lyon County shooting woes continued and the Caldwell County defense began to force some Lady Lyon turnovers as the lead grew to as many as five at 23-18. Lyon County was able to mount a bit of a late run and a Jenna Coursey basket just ahead of the horn made it a 25-23 Caldwell County lead at the break.
The Lady Lyons came out to start the second half and essentially ‘stole’ the game away from the Lady Tigers. Nothing fishy involved, but rather a thievery on the court. Lyon County had three steals in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter as they quickly took a 32-27 lead.
Lyon County would finish the third quarter with seven steals and got a big quarter from Courtney Collins inside as they pushed out to a 42-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
Caldwell County scored to open the fourth to trim the lead to four at 42-38. Lyon County would answer with six straight points to get some breathing room again as they carried it out to the seven-point win.
Piper Cotham and Courtney Collins led Lyon County with 13 points each. Collins scored 11 of her points after halftime. Lexi Holland also reached double figures with 10.
For Caldwell County, Brylee Butts was the only player to hit double figures with 12. Medeline Thomas added 8 and Morgan Aikins finished with seven.
Lyon County (9-4) is back on the court Thursday when the Lady Lyons host Livingston Central.
Caldwell County (2-8) is back on the road Thursday to take on St. Mary.
CCHS — 7 18 11 7 – 43
LCHS — 12 11 19 8 – 50
Caldwell County – Butts 12, M.Thomas 8, Aikins 7, Thompson 6, Clark 4, Copeland 2, Williams 2, Sykes 2
Lyon County – Cotham 13, Collins 13, Holland 10, Taylor 7, Perry 4, Coursey 3
