It seems like it has been said a great deal this season, but the Lyon County Lyons did it again. They closed out another opponent with one of ‘those’ runs and this time it came with the biggest stakes of the season on the line, that being a third straight 2nd Region championship and the chance to go back to Rupp Arena and play for a state title.
Lyon County opened the second half of their regional championship game with a devasting and electric 14-0 run that began with four straight three-pointers and that turned out to be the difference in the game as Lyon County ran past Henderson County 56-44 to claim another regional championship.
The title was effectively decided in just 90 seconds of play. Holding a very tenuous 20-18 halftime lead, the Lyons came out of the break and decided to try and get back to what they do best and when they did, Henderson County was staggered to the point that they could not recover from the bomb dropped on their championship hopes by the Lyons.
The Lyons opened the second half with two quick threes from Jack Reddick prompting Coach Tyler Smithhart to take a timeout to try and stop an avalanche as the Lyons pushed the lead to 26-18. But, the avalanche kept coming.
Out of the timeout, three-pointers from Perry and Kirk and another Henderson County timeout as the lead was not 32-18. Two free throws from Bray Kirk ended the run at 14 points and found the Colonels staring at a 16-point hole that they could not dig out of.
That electric pace of play was a far cry from how the night started.
The first quarter was a story of which team could will the other into playing the way they wanted. Lyon County opened defensively in a box and one with Travis Perry chasing Henderson County’s Cooper Davenport in an effort to keep the deadly streak shooter from getting off to a hot start in the game.
The effort worked for the Lyons in one aspect, as they shut Davenport out in the first quarter. But, Henderson County, for the most part, refused to attack the Lyon County defense, remaining out near mid-court in an effort to draw the Lyons out on defense.
Neither team gave in much in the first eight minutes and that led to a 5-5 tie after the opening quarter. The Lyons got a three from Jack Reddick and a pair of free throws from Brady Shoulders. Henderson got field goals from Dwaine Moss and Elijah Suggs, plus Moss made one of two free throws in the opening quarter.
As the quarter wound down, both crowds came to their feet roaring and shaking the roof of Tiger Gym. The Lyon crowd supporting their defense and the Henderson crowd supporting their team getting their way in the quarter. The atmosphere, which was already electric, got another jolt of energy as the quarter came to an end.
The tempo picked up a bit in the second quarter, not a bunch, but a bit. The two teams traded shots back and forth as evidenced by the fact that there were six lead changes and three ties in the quarter.
Despite Travis Perry having only three points at the break, the Lyons were able to carry a 20-18 lead into the locker room. Jack Reddick also had only three at the break. Brady Shoulders, who was a wrecking machine down in the paint all game long, helped get the Lyons to the halftime lead with his rebounding, defense, and six points.
Speaking of defense, Travis Perry does not get nearly enough credit for what he does with that part of his game. He locked down Cooper Davenport in the first half and shut him out for the first 16 minutes of play.
After the blitz to open the second half, Henderson County would close to within 6 points once in teh third quarter and 8 points on a couple of occasions in the fourth, but the Lyons turned the tables on Henderson County to close out the game. It was now Lyon County spreading the court and forcing the Colonels to play chase or foul, and with Travis Perry doing most of the late-game ball handling, fouling quickly became a very unattractive but necessary option for Henderson County.
The Lyons got a great assist from Travis Perry that led to a Bray Kirk layup just ahead of the horn to take a 42-31 lead into the final eight minutes.
Then, with Travis Perry giving his best Globetrotter impression, it was keep away from the Colonels and draw fouls. Perry would go to the line 12 times in the final quarter and seal the win. His last trip to the line gave the Lyon County starters a chance to exit the game and the huge Lyon County thronged roared its approval as the Lyons nailed down their third straight regional title.
Travis Perry ended up with 23 points on four 3-pointers and 11 made free throws. Jack Reddick and Bray Kirk added 10 points each. Brady Shoulders finished with 6 points but had a big night on the glass with 11 rebounds.
Alex Satterfield was the only Henderson player to reach double figures with 14 points. Max Thompson had 9 points, all in the second half. Lyon County did the job on Cooper Davenport, who was a thorn in the side of the Lyons in a home loss to Henderson County earlier in the season, limiting him to just five points in the game.
Henderson County ends the season at 27-6.
Lyon County improves to 32-3 on the year and will move on to the Boys’ Sweet 16 next week. The Lyons will face Ashland Blazer, who beat Boyd County in the 16th Region final, next Wednesday afternoon at Rupp Arena.
LCHS — 5 15 22 14 – 56
HCHS — 5 13 13 13 – 44
Lyon County – Perry 23, Kirk 10, Reddick 10, Shoulders 6, Breedlove 4, Car.Collins 2, Defew 1
Henderson County – Satterfield 14, Thompson 9, McKinney 6, Davenport 5, Moss 3, Belle 3, Johnson 2
