Even last year’s state champions did not reach this point. The Lyon County Lyons will play in the All A Classic boys’ basketball championship game for the first time in school history Sunday afternoon. The Lyons moved on to the title game with a tough, gritty performance to outlast Owensboro Catholic 58-54 and will play for the school’s first All A championship since the Lady Lyon softball team won the title in 2021.
Bray Kirk made one of two free throws with 14.4 seconds to go to put the Lyons up 57-54. Luke Beickman then missed a three for the Aces and the Lyons, who controlled the boards all night long, pulled down the rebound. Kirk, who came up with the rebound, went back to the line and again made 1 of 2, but this time it was enough to seal the win and send the Lyons on to Sunday’s title game.
After winning their first two games of the tournament playing their favored up-tempo style, Lyon County showed Saturday night, much like they did in last year’s Sweet 16 opener against Ashland, that they can buckle down and grind it out when they need to.
Both teams opened tight Saturday as it took more than two minutes for someone to get on the scoreboard. Carson Collins finally got things started for the Lyons with a three-pointer. Lyon County led by as many as five in the first quarter before the Aces battled back to take a 16-15 lead after the first eight minutes of the game.
The second quarter was the Bray Kirk show for Lyon County on offense. The Lyons’ defense was smothering and allowed the Aces just two field goals in the quarter. Meanwhile, Kirk scored all 9 points for the Lyons as they took a 24-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
Both teams came out of the break and picked up the pace on offense. To Owensboro Catholic’s credit, the Aces showed in the quarter what a resilient team they are. Led by Bray Kirk, Isaac Defew, and Carson Collins, the Lyons opened the half with a 7-2 run that pushed the lead out to 31-22.
But just as it looked as if the Lyons were going to knock the Aces out of the game, back they came. With Luke Beickman and Dremail Carothers providing the spark, Owensboro Catholic came storming back to cut the lead to 34-31.
Lyon County turned back that comeback effort and extended the lead back out to 41-33. Once again, back came the Aces. Owensboro Catholic finished the third quarter with an 8-2 run and cut the lead to 43-41 and appeared to have all the momentum heading into the final eight minutes.
Defew and Kirk continued their outstanding tournaments for the Lyons and helped Lyon County open the final quarter by pushing the lead out to 49-41. But the Aces had one final charge left in them.
Luke Beickman took over down the stretch for his team and brought Catholic to within three points at 49-46, 51-48, 53-50, and 55-52. The Aces would get to within two at 56-54 but ran out of time and timeouts as the Lyons found a way to lock down the win.
The Lyons battled their way through some late-game turnover and got big plays from Bray Kirk, Nolan Coffman, and Isaac Defew to move on to the title game.
Bray Kirk was outstanding in the win with 24 points and 6 assists. Isaac Defew continued to raise his status as one of the up-and-coming big men in Western Kentucky as he finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Carson Collins had 9 huge points and 7 rebounds for the Lyons.
The Aces were led by Luke Beickman with 18 points. Davyn Randolph hit four threes and ended the night with 12 points. Dremail Carothers also hit double figures with 11.
Lyon County ruled the glass again in the win. The Lyons outrebounded the smaller Aces 32-19, which helped them to overcome 20 turnovers for the game.
Lyon County (14-4) has now won nine straight games and will play Sunday afternoon at 2:00 at the Owensboro Sportscenter for the All A Classic title.
