Following a disappointing semifinal loss to Henderson County in the 2025 regional semifinals, it has been a focal point for the Lyon County Lyons all season long. After a year absence, the Lyons are now headed back to the 2nd Region championship game for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Lyon County used a strong defensive performance to build a first half lead and rolled on from there to an 80-56 win over the Hopkinsville Tigers in Monday night’s second semifinal game at Madisonville-North Hopkins. The win sets up a highly anticipated rematch with Henderson County in the region championship game Tuesday night.
Early on, the Tigers had the game at a tempo they liked. Four minutes into the first quarter, Hopkinsville had given up just two field goals and had a 7-4 lead. But then the Lyons were able to get the tempo up a gear and things started to shift in their favor.
Led by region player of the year Bray Kirk, Lyon County finished the opening quarter on an 11-2 run to claim a 15-9 lead after one. Kirk finished the first eight minutes with 8 points and 3 rebounds for the Lyons.
Lyon County’s defense held the Tigers to just one field goal over the final four minutes of the quarter as Hopkinsville could not get many good looks at the basket.
As the second quarter got underway, the Lyons continued to slowly stretch their lead as their defense continued to control the flow of the game. The Lyon County fans came to their feet when Jett Reddick pulled down a rebound and went coast-to-coast, capping it off with an authoritative jam that pushed the lead to 24-12 with 4:03 to go in the half, and leading to a timeout from Hopkinsville coach Anthony Babb.
With six different players finding the scoring column in the second quarter, Lyon County had the lead at 31-18 at the half.
Bray Kirk had 11 points in the half to lead the Lyons. Nolan Coffman added 7. For Hopkinsville, Jonovan Leavell had 6 points at the break, while James Bradley Jr. added four.
Lyon County had the edge in rebounds at the break at 17 to 14.
Ball security was a bit of an issue for Hopkinsville in the second quarter as the Tigers turned the ball over five times, allowing the Lyons to extend their lead out to the halftime margin of 13 points.
The Lyons came out and hit the Tigers with a 9-4 run over the first three minutes of the third quarter to move the lead out to 40-22 and leading to a Hopkinsville timeout with 5:00 to go in the quarter. Bray Kirk capped off the run with a 3-pointer and a drive to the basket.
The Lyons looked to have everything going their way as the lead grew to 25 points at 53-28, but then Hopkinsville made a huge run to close out the quarter and get back into the game. Getting a jolt of energy from Jonovan Leavell, the Tigers scored the final 12 points of the third quarter getting the game back to 53-40 and bringing some life into the Hopkinsville crowd.
Leavell got a basket in the lane and then buried a long, long three at the horn to give Hopkinsville some hope going into the final eight minutes of the game. But that hope would turn out to be short-lived for the Tigers.
With the lead at 57-44 early in the fourth, the Hopkinsville defense lost track of Cooper Collins down in the left corner on back-to-back possessions and Collins made them pay both times. The two three-pointers kicked off a devastating 19-0 run that sealed the win for the Lyons and the program history for the Hopkinsville Tigers.
Bray Kirk let a quartet of Lyons in double figures with 23 points. Nolan Coffman had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Cooper Collins ended up with 14 points, including three fourth quarter 3-pointers during the big run for the Lyons. Isaac Defew had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
For Hopkinsville, Jayon Bass scored 19 points to lead the way. Jonovan Leavell also hit double digits with 15 points. Layton Giltner finished the night with 6 points and 5 rebounds.
Hopkinsville finishes up the season at 18-14. The loss also is the final game in the historic run of the Tiger basketball program.
Lyon County, which has lost just once in 2026, moves on to Tuesday night’s regional championship game against Henderson County. The Lyons head into the title match having won 22 of their last 23 games.
