Lyon County was considered by many as having a real good shot of dethroning Henderson County atop the girls’ Second Region basketball mountain this season
However, the Lady Colonels proved they weren’t ready to give up their crown just yet. Jersey Gardner hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with under two minutes left, and JaNyla Locher hit four free throws in the final half minute to lift Henderson County to a 49-46 win over the Lady Lyons in the region quarterfinals on Tuesday at Hopkins County Central High School.
The matchup featured the region’s number one team in the KHSAA RPI (Lyon County) against the seven-time defending champions (Henderson County), and the game lived up to all of the pre-tournament hype that was levied once the bracket positions were drawn on Saturday.
Lyon County held a precarious 34-30 lead late in the third quarter, but Maggee Melvin hit a corner 3-pointer ahead of the horn to bring the Lady Colonels to within a single point.
Gardner and Melvin started the fourth quarter off with back-to-back buckets to cap an 8-0 run and give the Lady Colonels their biggest lead of the second half to that point.
Trinity Taylor tied the game for Lyon County with 3:40 left, scoring on an inbounds play, but Henderson County had an answer for every bucket Lyon County made.
Taylor again scored with 1:50 left to tie the game at 40 before Gardner’s go-ahead 3-pointer. The Lady Colonels extended the lead to five with 59 seconds left before Jenna Coursey continued her strong second-half play with a bucket in the paint with 48 seconds left.
Lyon County had only been whistled for one foul in the quarter up to that point, meaning they had to foul four times over the next 19 seconds to put Henderson County in the bonus.
Locher hit four straight free throws down the stretch, her last two giving Henderson County a 49-44 lead with 19 seconds left.
Piper Cotham hit a shot in the paint with six seconds left to bring Lyon to within three, but the Lady Lyons were out of timeouts, and the clock ran out.
Both teams shot the ball well in the fourth quarter, but Henderson County hit 2 of 4 from behind the arc and threw a 1-3-1 zone at Lyon County, which stymied their outside shooting. The Lady Lyons missed all three of their shots behind the arc in the final eight minutes.
Each team owned a statistical category that kept the opposition from running out to a large lead. Lyon County out-rebounded Henderson County 39-20 and had 14 second-chance points.
However, Lyon County turned the ball over 20 times, resulting in 20 Henderson County points.
Locher was the only Lady Colonel to score in double figures with 18 points. She also had three rebounds and two assists. Melvin finished with nine points and four rebounds, and Region Player of the Year, ATylia Green, who has signed to play at Kentucky State University, scored nine points and handed out five assists.
Adalyn Gish scored five points, handed out five assists, and pulled down seven rebounds, while being nearly flawless in distributing the basketball in the second half.
Cotham led Lyon County with 15 points while Taylor added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Coursey, the lone senior on the Lady Lyon roster, scored 10 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Lyon County, which came into the game averaging six 3-pointers and shooting 32% behind the arc, was held to two threes thanks to a Henderson County defense that applied consistent pressure and pushed the Lady Lyons further behind the line.
Lyon County’s season ends with a school record 25 wins. However, they lost to the Lady Colonels for a second time this season. Henderson County scored a 65-58 win on February 10.
Henderson County improved to 22-9 and will play Hopkins Central in Friday’s second semifinal at 7.30. The Lady Storm hammered Hopkinsville 76-24 on Tuesday.
Friday’s other semifinal pits a pair of former 5th District rivals as Crittenden County plays Caldwell County.
Lyon County 10 12 12 12– 46
Henderson County 11 12 10 16– 49
Lyon County (25-8) – Cotham 15, Taylor 14, Coursey 10, Coffman 5, Collins 2
Henderson County (22-9) – Locher 18, Green 9, Melvin 9, Gardner 6, Gish 5, Burnett 2
Rebounds – Lyon County 39 (Coursey 13, Coffman 7, Taylor 7, Collins 7), Henderson County 20 (Gish 7, Burnett 5)
Assists – Lyon County 5 (Taylor 2, Collins 2), Henderson County 12 (Green 5, Gish 5)
Steals – Lyon County 6 (Coffman 2, Collins 2), Henderson County 13 (Gish 5, Three with 2)
