Lyon County broke open a close game with an offensive explosion in the second quarter Saturday afternoon to roll past Kenwood 83-51 in the opening game of the Akridge Ace Hardware Shootout in Jason White Gym. The win was the third straight for the Lady Lyons and their fifth in the last six games.
The Lady Knights made their first two shots from behind the 3-point line to trail Lyon County early in the first quarter 9-6. The reason that is worth pointing out is that the baskets from Alesha Williams and Nyla Murphy would be the last ones for Kenwood from someone other than Yazmine Pearson for the rest of the half.
The Lady Knights would lead by one point on two occasions in the first quarter, the last coming at 12-11. The Lady Lyons finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to go up 20-14 and they would never be seriously threatened for the rest of the afternoon.
After two quick baskets from Yazmine Pearson to start the second quarter, Lyon County went on a 12-0 run to push the lead out to 32-18. Kenwood had no answer for the inside-outside combination of Piper Cotham and Trinity Taylor, who were lighting it up in the opening half.
Lyon County would close the half with a 10-0 run to take a 52-29 lead into the locker room. Piper Cotham and Trinity Taylor combined to score 35 points in the half, Cotham with 23 and Taylor with 13.
The only bad news for Lyon County in the first half was an ankle injury suffered by starter Courtney Collins. She would not return to the game.
Yazmine Pearson had all but six of Kenwood’s points in the half.
While Kenwood was able to slow down Cotham and Taylor somewhat in the second half, the bad news for the Lady Knights was that Lexi Holland heated up. A 19-7 run would get the lead to 35 points and sped up the rest of the game with the running clock. The third quarter ended with the Lady Lyons up 72-39.
Three-point shooting was a big plus for the Lady Lyons as they knocked down nine shots from behind the arc.
Piper Cotham led the offensive attack with 28 points for Lyon County, 23 of them coming in the first half. Lexi Holland finished with 18. Trinity Taylor added 16.
Yazmine Pearson was the only player to reach double figures for Kenwood with 31 points, only 8 of those coming after the break.
Lyon County now goes to 17-8 on the season. The Lady Lyons are off until Thursday when they travel to Mortons Gap to take on Hopkins Central.
KWHS — 14 15 10 12 – 51
LCHS — 20 32 20 11 – 83
Kenwood – Pearson 31, Seay 8, Murphy 6, White 3, Williams 3
Lyon County – Cotham 28, Holland 19, Taylor 16, Perry 8, Coursey 8, Collins 2, Downing 2
