The Lyon County Lyons were just not willing to let their season end that way. They were not going to let themselves be one of the tournament favorites that doesn’t make it past the opening session of the UK HealthCare Boys Sweet 16.
And, they were not willing to let Travis Perry, Brady Shoulders, and Jack Reddick go out in that fashion. Just not gonna let it happen.
Brady Shoulders made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left and then Ashland Blazer missed a 30-foot shot at the horn as the Lyon County Lyons survived a breath-stealing 45-43 win over the Tomcats to advance to the state tournament quarterfinals for the third year in a row.
It was a 4th quarter that tested the cardiac health of a large Lyon County contingent in Rupp Arena, and I am sure it was the same for what few people had to stay behind back home.
However, late in the game, the Lyon County crowd was in stunned silence as the Lyons trailed Ashland Blazer 41-34 with just over five minutes to go and the Lyons could not seem to get a shot to fall. The Tomcats had gotten Lyon County out of rhythm and were on the verge of sending Lyon County back home far earlier than anyone wanted to head back down the Bluegrass and Western Kentucky parkways.
But, don’t ever, ever count this team out. Needing a run more than they had needed one all season long, the Lyons came up with their most important 90 seconds of the year.
A Brady Shoulders basket cut the lead to 41-36. A turnover for Ashland and a Brady Shoulders basket made it 41-38. A steal and a Travis Perry basket and the score was 41-40. Another Tomcat mistake and another Travis Perry basket and the Lyons were back in the land of the living and back in the lead at 42-41, and it happened just that quick.
Braxton Jennings put Ashland back in front 43-42 with 2:25 to go.
Travis Perry drew a foul with 2:03 to go and made one of two at the line to tie the game at 43-43.
After the teams traded turnovers, the Lyons got the ball back and decided to run the clock down for the last shot to either win the game or go into overtime.
After a timeout, the Lyons put the ball into the hands of Brady Shoulders, who drove to the basket, drawing what would turn out to be the winning foul for Lyon County. Shoulders knocked down the first free throw and, after a Lyon County timeout, sank the second to make it 45-43.
Lyon County nearly stole the inbounds pass that flew toward midcourt, knocking it out of bounds with 1.4 seconds left. Ashland’s go-to guy Zander Carter got off a shot ahead of the horn but it hit the left side of the rim sending the Lyon County bench, the Lyon County crowd, and I am sure, the Lyon County fans into a frenzy, and allowing them to breathe again for the first time in several minutes.
The game was played at a slower, defensive, physical pace from the very beginning, and the Lyons, as they did last year against Newport, showed that when they need to they can get down and grit and grind one out with anyone.
It did not take the Lyons long to get on the board in this one. Travis Perry knocked down a three just twenty seconds into the game to give the Lyons a quick 3-0 lead. The rest of the quarter did not play out with the same kind of offensive tempo.
Ashland Blazer seemed in no hurry to force the pace of play and the Lyons were willing to let it ride early in the game. Travis Perry scored again nearly two minutes later to give Lyon County a 5-0 lead.
Led by Zander Carter and Asher Adkins, the Tomcats scored seven straight points to take a 7-5 lead as the Lyons had trouble early on getting shots to fall from the outside.
Then, as they have done all season, the Lyons went on a bit of a run. Not one of ‘those’ kinds of runs, but it was a nice way to close out the opening quarter as Lyon County scored the final eight points of the first to take a 13-7 lead. Six of the eight points were scored by Brady Shoulders.
The Lyons completed a 13-0 run by scoring the first five points of the second quarter on an Isaac Defew basket and a Brady Shoulders three to push the lead out to double digits at 18-7.
Lyon County would lead by double digits for most of the rest of the half. A basket from the Tomcats’ Asher Adkins cut the lead to 26-17 heading into the break. And, at that point, Lyon County fans had to like where things stood in the Lyons’ quest for a state championship.
The Lyons were up by nine despite shooting just 2 for 10 from behind the arc and 11 of 24 overall. It was defense and rebounding that had Lyon County up at the break as the Lyons held Ashland to 6 of 17 shooting and outrebounded the Tomcats 14 to 7.
Then came the third quarter, and the Lyons could not get the ball to fall. Lyon County would go 3 of 9 in the third while Ashland started to heat up, going 8 of 11, which was a bad, bad combination. The Tomcats opened the half on a 14-2 run, transforming a 9-point deficit into a 31-28 lead with 2:30 left in the third.
After baskets from Asher Adkins and Cameron Davis, the Tomcats led 36-30 and the sense of worry from the purple-clad section was palpable.
Travis Perry beat the buzzer from behind the backboard to cut the lead to 36-32 going into the final eight minutes.
A steal and a Bray Kirk basket opened the 4th quarter, bringing the Lyons to within two. But a three from Nate Freize and a basket by Braxton Jennings gave Ashland Blazer its biggest lead of the day at 41-34 and setting the stage for the heart-stopping finish in Rupp.
Brady Shoulders led the way for Lyon County with 17 points and 4 rebounds. The Tomcats limited Travis Perry to 16 points on just 7 of 17 shooting, including just 1 of 7 on threes.
Braxton Jennings led Ashland Blazer with 12 points. Asher Adkins added 11. Lyon County’s defense limited Zander Carter to just 9 points for the day.
The Lyons get the win despite shooting just 19 of 43 from the field and 2 of 16 from behind the 3-point line. Lyon County outrebounded Ashland Blazer 20-19 and forced the Tomcats into four more turnovers on the day.
The Lyons improve to 33-3 on the season and will next play Friday at 1:30 pm Eastern in the quarterfinals.
