Adair County coach Jeff Breeze knows the challenge his team faces against Lyon County after losing by 50 points to the Lyons in February. (Les Nicholson Photo)
Adair County coach Jeff Breeze said it was a “no-brainer” that Lyon County standout Travis Perry would be Mr. Basketball and guessed he might have won by the biggest margin ever.
Breeze got a close look at Perry and Lyon County Feb. 17 on Lyon’s Senior Night when the Lyons won 98-48. Now Adair County gets a rematch Friday afternoon at 1:30 in the state tournament quarterfinals after Lyon edged Ashland and Adair beat Marshall County Wednesday.
Breeze remembers that Adair was up 16-14 after one quarter and it was 23-22 midway of the second quarter when it “snowballed” in Lyon’s favor to the tune of 75-26 the final 2 1/2 periods.
Second-leading scorer Isaiah Cochran (16.9 points per game) fouled out midway of the third period and leading scorer Connor Loy (17.5 points per game) got benched after getting a technical foul.
“To me, they are the (state favorite) but that is who we want to play,” the Adair coach said after Wednesday’s win. “We have got to handle the pressure. They beat us 50 and I am sure they will try to press us at the start. Coach Ryan Perry does not want another game like today (a two-point win over Ashland). He is going to knock us out early if he can.”
Perry hit 10 of 20 shots, including six of 13 3’s, and had 30 points against Adair.
“He is a great shooter, He comes off screen after screen. He never stops moving. But they have other great players around him,” Breeze said.
Brady Shoulders, who hit the winning free throws against Ashland with 3.7 seconds to play, had 22 points against Adair on 9-for-16 shooting, including 3-for-5 on 3’s, and 17 rebounds. Jack Reddick was only 3-for-13 from 3 but had 21 points.
Lyon was 24 of 36 on 2-point tries but only 14 of 41 on 3’s against Adair. However, Adair went 5-for-26 from 3. Cochran had 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 10 rebounds before fouling out while Loy had 12 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game.
Marshall coach Sawyer Donohoo said Adair bothered his team with its physicality in Wednesday’s win.
“I thought we would give them problems probably but they turned tables and were more physical,” Donohool said.
Breeze knows his team needs to shoot well to play with Lyon.
One Response
Lyon Co should win this one, but the next opponent probably Great Crossing is another story.