The Lyon County Lyons proved they can play at a much slower tempo when they need to, without having to play at breakneck speed all the time. In doing so, the Lyons took the first step towards returning to the All A Classic state championship game Thursday night. The Lyons took down the Mayfield Cardinals 66-42 in the first meeting between the two teams since the 2015 season. The win was the 8th straight for the Lyons and kept them unbeaten since the calendar turned to 2026.
The Lyons struck quickly off the opening tip, getting the ball to Bray Kirk for a runout and taking a 2-0 lead. The Lyon half-court defensive pressure causes Mayfield some early struggles. The Lyons had three quick steals but did not convert until the third, when Kirk scored again to make it 4-0.
Once Mayfield got settled into the flow of the game a bit, the Cardinals did a bit better job against the Lyon County half-court defense. Five quick points, capped off by a three-pointer from Malik Kirby, gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night at 5-4.
The Lyons responded with a 6 to 2 run to close out the quarter and take a 10-7 lead after one.
The tempo was where the Cardinals wanted it to go into the second quarter. However, Lyon County started picking up the tempo, and it began to pay quick dividends for the Lyons. Lyon opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to push the lead to double digits for the first time at 19-9. Nolan Coffman provided a big spark for the Lyons in the run.
Led by the outside shooting of Owen Byrd, who knocked down a pair of shots from deep, the Cardinals battled back and got as close as 23-19 late in the half. But a Coffman three with 9 seconds to go in the second quarter sent the Lyons into the break with some momentum, holding a 26-19 lead.
That momentum carried over as the second half started, with baskets from Kirk and Coffman extending the lead out to 30-19.
Mayfield fans got some hope restored as the Cardinals got back-to-back threes from Ashton Flint and Gray Robbins to cut the lead to 30-25, but then came the run that ultimately decided the game.
Lyon County rocked the Cardinals with a 13-0 blitz that included an Isaac Defew 3-pointer, and in the blink of an eye, the lead was out to 18 points at 43-25. The third quarter ended with the Lyons up by 15 points at 43-28.
A 9-2 run ignited by the play of Kirk to open the final quarter ran the lead out to 52-30, putting the Cardinals finally in a hole that would be too deep to dig out of. The Lyons later in the quarter went on a 10-0 run to get the lead out to 28 points at 63-35. Mayfield cut into the lead against the Lyon reserves to get to the final 24-point margin.
There was some history in the final quarter. With his final point of the night, Coffman reached 1,000 points for his career.
Kirk led the Lyons with 27 points, including going 11 of 13 at the free throw line. Coffman added 16 points and 7 rebounds. Defew ended the night with 9 points, while the Collins boys, Carson and Cooper, chipped in with 6 points each.
Mayfield got 13 points from Gabriel Morris, the only Cardinal to hit double figures. Byrd and Flint had 8 points each.
A telling stat in the game was the Mayfield turnovers. The Lyon defense forced the Cardinals into 17 turnovers, including 14 Lyon County steals, and converted those into 20 points.
The Lyons improve to 14-5 with the win and now move on to Friday night’s quarterfinals, where they will face Raceland, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over Kentucky Country Day. That game will now tip off at 7:30pm after tournament officials moved it up two hours due to the approaching winter storm.
