With four starters back from a team that won 21 games last year and defeated Crittenden County for the district championship, Lyon County coach Dawn Cotham feels this could be a breakout season for her Lady Lyon team.
Lyon County lost one starter and its sixth man from last year’s team but return everyone else. Among those is the coach’s daughter Piper who scored 19 points a game as a freshman and led the team in steals.
Cotham, along with sophomore Trinity Taylor (12 ppg., 8 reb.) are two key pieces to a puzzle that can see Lady Lyons go inside or outside and finish in transition.
Both players have added height and size to their frames from last year which should improve their game this year.
Lilly Perry (4 ppg.), the lone senior on this year’s team, will allow Cotham to use her as a point guard or a two-guard. That will help the Lady Lyons when teams try to apply pressure to them.
Courtney Collins (8 ppg., 9 rebs.) is another player who’s strong on the glass for Lyon County and can finish inside. Joining her inside is Jenna Coursey (5 ppg., 2 reb.), who played well last year, especially against district opponents.
If there’s an area of concern for Cottom, it’s depth.
“(We have to) stay healthy and stay injury-free. We’re just going to have to pray that we make it through the season. Our bench is short and we still have one player out with an injury,” Cotham said.
The Lady Lyons only have seven varsity players on their roster. Cotham said six to eight middle schoolers are expected to be recalled throughout the season to help fill out the roster and allow the team to run fully staffed practices.
“We just have to keep working every day we get in the gym and we have to be better than we were yesterday. We’re bringing up some middle schoolers this year and we’re going to have to focus on bringing them along sooner rather than later,” she said.
BIG GAMES
Lyon County has beefed up its schedule to better prepare them for a run in the All A Classic and the postseason region tourney.
The Lady Lyons will play a pair of defending region champions (vs. McCracken County on Dec. 20 and at Henderson County on Feb. 1). Teams expected to challenge for a Second Region title – Christian County, Madisonville, and Hopkins County Central also appear on the slate.
Lyon County is also making a return trip to the Bourbon County Kelly Holiday Classic where they will open with Henry Clay, a 22-game winner last season. The other six teams in the event averaged 14 wins last year.
“We’ve got some pretty competitive teams on our schedule. We play Henderson, Graves, and McCracken. We’ve tried to get all the teams from every surrounding region and want to get out and play new teams,” Cotham said. “We don’t craft a schedule to make a winning season. We craft a schedule to make us better and that’s what we’re looking forward to every day. We just want to get better so hopefully that tough schedule will take us a little bit further at the end of the year.”
Of course, Lyon County also has a pair of games with district rival Crittenden County — a team they split four games with last year. There is a good chance they could see the Lady Rockets four times again this season.
UNDER THE RADAR PLAYER
Cotham thinks Jenna Coursey could be the X-factor for the Lady Lyons this season.
“She’s a junior, she’s got some experience, and she’s been playing for a while. She’s got everything it takes to be a great player. As soon as she’s ready to step into that role, I think she’s going to be a big-time role player for us. She is capable of a double-double every game.
OUTLOOK
This is a Lyon County team that likes to play fast. But there were times last year when playing fast meant not playing under control. That’s something Cotham hopes their experience will help in making that problem vanish.
The Lady Lyons feel like they have unfinished business when it comes to the All-A Classic, where they lost to Crittenden County by three points in the championship game.
