After falling last year in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, the Lyon County Lyons set their focus on not just getting back to the state tournament but on being the team that got to cut down the nets on Saturday night. Saturday night, all of the hard work, sweat, tears, and the run through a brutal schedule paid off as the Lyons won their first-ever state championship by dispatching a gritty Harlan County team 67-58 in the finals of the 2024 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 in an electric championship night atmosphere in front of a large contingent of Lyon County fans who roared their approval all night long.
Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise, this Lyon County team was the best team in the state from beginning to end. They were a tweaked ankle away from finishing 39-1 and winning both the All A Classic and the Sweet 16 championship. If Jack Reddick is not hurt, they do not lose to Newport in the All A semis and do not lose a home region game to Henderson.
When this team had its parts all running in full working order, they were a machine that was hard to slow down and they proved that again Saturday night. After dispatching the #1 ranked team in the state in the semifinals, the Lyons found what they needed late to pull away from the Black Bears in the fourth quarter, which started with the teams locked up in a 45-45 tie.
The two teams traded baskets over the first couple of minutes of the final quarter before the Lyons did it just one more time. With the game tied at 50-50, Lyon County got one last run and while it was not as big as some they ripped off this season, it was the most important.
Two Brady Shoulders free throws, two Travis Perry field goals, and a Lukas Breedlove slam were the 8-0 run that gave the Lyons a 58-50 lead and started the countdown to the title.
Harlan County did not go down without a fight and got as close as four points at 62-58 with 1:14 to go thanks to the play of Trent Noah and Maddox Huff. But the Lyons made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch and the Black Bears missed their last three 3-point shots and that was that.
A runout dunk by Brady Shoulders at the horn sent the purple and gold-clad fans into a new level of frenzy and the Lyon County celebration broke out on the floor as the championship trophy was ready to start making the journey back to the halls of Lyon County High School.
The night started off a bit bumpy for the Lyons as they could not find the basket early on and Harlan County jumped out to a 5-0 lead. The Lyons finally got going with 8 straight points to take a 8-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
A Trent Noah three tied things up but the Lyons then closed the opening quarter with a 10-2 run to take an 18-10 lead. Jack Reddick and Travis Perry scored the last 8 points of the quarter for the Lyons.
After Harlan County cut the lead to 18-14 to start the second, the Lyons delivered what looked like at the moment a possible knockout blow to the Black Bears’ title hopes with a 10-0 run that put Lyon County up 28-14 with 4:59 to go in the half and early delirium was setting in throughout the Lyon County sections of Rupp Arena.
But it would not be just quite that easy. Reggie Cottrell and Maddox Huff brought Harlan County back to within 36-30 at the break and things settled in for a tense final 16 minutes.
The comeback for the Black Bears continued in the third quarter as they finally pulled even with the Lyons at 40-40 with 3:58 to go in the third. The game was then tied at 43-43 and 45-45 when the quarter ended. The Lyons did not help their cause any by going 1 of 6 at the line late in the quarter.
But note, the Black Bears never got back in front of the Lyons. And, as they had done so, so many times this season, the Lyons answered when they had to in the fourth quarter, and this time the answers won them a state championship.
State tournament MVP Travis Perry ended his Lyon County career with a stellar night, scoring 27 points, making 5 three-pointers, and dishing out five assists. Jack Reddick added 16 points. Brady Shoulders finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds.
In addition to Perry being named the MVP, both Reddick and Shoulders were named to the All-Tournament team.
Maddox Huff led Harlan County with 22 points. The Lyons did a fabulous job of containing South Carolina-bound Trent Noah, limiting him to 17 points.
The Lyons had their best shooting game of the tournament at 54.8 percent. Harlan County shot well too at 50 percent. A big stat in the game was on the boards, where the Lyons outrebounded the Black Bears 25-17.
It was a season of mission in 2023-2024 for Lyon County and after Saturday night, the Lyons can officially declare ‘mission accomplished.’ They set their minds to it and knocked it out of the park.
The 2024 KHSAA state basketball champions are the Lyon County Lyons and that big nice trophy and that championship banner are headed back to Eddyville.
