So What is Next for the State Champs ?

While the celebration continues for Lyon County High School after the Lyons won the state championship last week, it also becomes time to wonder what lies in store for the team for the 2024-2025 season and whether or not the Lyons can make it four straight 2nd Region championships. Obviously, there will be some pretty big slots in the lineup to fill for the coaching staff next season.

It’s tough enough to fill a hole left by the graduation of one Division I signee, much less three. And, these three, Travis Perry, Brady Shoulders, and Jack Reddick, plus the two other seniors on the Lyon County roster this season, Luke Burchett and Jackson Crawford, made up the core of a historic run for Lyon County High School basketball.

So, we come back around to the question at hand, ‘what’s next?’

The news that other teams around the 2nd Region will not want to hear is that the cupboard will be far from bare for the Lyons next season. Yes, replacing the seniors from this season is a big, big challenge, but there are pieces in place that can make that challenge more manageable.

Let’s start with the sophomore class, or the juniors-to-be, which is where you have to start since there were no juniors on this year’s Lyon County team.

After his performance in the Sweet 16, Bray Kirk figures to see his role, especially on the offensive end, see a big jump in 2024-2025. With Perry, Shoulders, and Reddick gone, he is the returning leading scorer for the Lyons after averaging 9.6 points per game. He delivered a one-man knockout blow early in the second half of the quarterfinal game against Adair County, finishing the game with 18 points.

There have been several instances over this state championship season where Kirk has shown just how good he can be for the Lyons and will fully get that chance next season.

The ‘Twin Towers’ of Lukas Breedlove (4.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Isaac Defew (4.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg) were also a big part of the championship run in Lexington, both on the offensive end and the defensive end. Look for both to see even bigger roles next season and with their abilities, it could be that both could see more time together on the court next season. With Breedlove’s ball-handling abilities and Defew’s strength inside, it would not be a big surprise to see Breedlove spend more time at the four and Defew at the five for Lyon County next season. For that, we will have to wait and see.

The guards will likely be ‘double trouble’ for their opponents next season. Twins Carson Collins (2.7 ppg) and Cooper Collins (1.8 ppg) look to be the leading candidates to slide into starting roles next season for the Lyons. Carson saw action in every game this season and Cooper appears to be another ‘shooter’ on the way for the Lyons.

Johnson Herring and Jonah Ramey are also a part of the sophomore class.

With no freshman on the roster this season, be sure to keep your eyes on 8th graders Jett Reddick, Hudson Phillips, and Colton Prow, and the progress they make this summer, both in their game and in their physical growth.

With the pieces returning and the upcoming talent, this summer should be a very interesting one for Lyon County basketball as they start the work towards picking up a 4th straight regional championship.

Yep, there are some big-time graduation losses from this year’s state championship team, but if everything holds to form during the off-season, Lyon County is still going to be a handful for opponents when they get back on the court in November.

So while the celebration is still fresh and going on, it is interesting to take a look at what the champs will have to work with when the 2024-2025 season rolls around.