Travis Perry, Lyon County sneak past Ashland Blazer, advance to Sweet 16 quarterfinals
With less than six minutes to go, Travis Perry and Lyon County appeared to be on the verge of suffering a major first-round upset. But it was Perry’s teammate, Brady Shoulders, who fueled the Lyons to a comeback victory on the opening day of the state tournament.
On Wednesday afternoon during the second game of the 2024 UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena, No. 3 Lyon County used a 13-7 fourth-quarter run to sneak past the No. 22 Ashland Blazer Tomcats, winning by a final score of 45-43.
Perry, a class of 2024 signee with the Kentucky Wildcats, finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals while playing all 32 minutes. The future ‘Cat shot just 1-7 from beyond the arc as Ashland made it a point to prevent the state’s all-time leading scorer from getting hot.
“We’ve guarded guys like Travis all year long, not to that caliber of player, but we are big on those matchups, on eliminating space,” Ashland head coach Ryan Bonner said. “And Braxton Jennings did a phenomenal job of that. And our switches were very effective as well. We wanted really tight switches on to him. But everything was about eliminating his space and then taking away his transition opportunities.”
Enter Shoulders, who added 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists for the game. The senior, who was committed to UT-Martin until Monday, scored six points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with four seconds on the clock that put Lyon County ahead for good. Ashland’s Zander Carter, who is set to play at Liberty next season and finished with nine points, missed the potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
“Honestly for me, a little bit,” Perry admitted afterward when asked if he was panicked down the stretch. “You’re sitting on the bench, there’s a timeout called, you’re down seven, we’ve scored 34 points the whole game, what was really going through my head was there’s no way it’s going to end like this.
“I feel like that’ll be good for the rest of the tournament for us.”
With the win, Lyon County advances to the Sweet 16 quarterfinals on Friday for a matchup against the winner of Adair County and Marshall County. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. EST.
Lyon County entered this game averaging 85.7 points per outing — tops in the state by over three points. But the Tomcats were locked in defensively from the jump. Although Perry would score the Lyons’ first five points of the game, clean shots would be hard to come by the rest of the way. Despite that, Lyon County took a 13-7 lead into the second quarter.
Ashland remained steady on defense, but couldn’t muster up enough offense to make up the difference. Five straight for Lyon County to start the period made it an 11-point edge. The Lyons’ lead would grow to as many as a dozen midway through the second frame. A made layup by Ashland’s Asher Adkins with under 40 seconds until halftime made it a 26-17 score at the intermission.
But Coach Bonner’s halftime speech must’ve gotten through to his players. The Tomcats went on a quick 6-0 run to begin the third, including two buckets from Carter. A triple from Ashland’s Cameron Davis then tied the score at 28-28 with 3:15 to go in the quarter. An and-one from Adkins less than a minute later gave Ashland a three-point lead, which later grew to six thanks to a huge three-pointer from Davis.
Just like that, Lyon County’s lead disappeared into a four-point deficit going into the final quarter.
It didn’t get any easier for the Lyons early into the fourth. Braxton Jennings extended Ashland’s lead back to seven points with 5:54 left in regulation. But it was all Perry and Shoulders the rest of the way. Those two combined to score the final 11 points for Lyon County, which held the Tomcats to just two points down the stretch.
With two minutes remaining, the score was knotted at 43-43. It would stay that way until Lyon County’s final possession, which ended with Shoulders — not Perry, a four-star recruit and top-100 prospect in the country — driving into the lane for the go-ahead shot. Shoulders was fouled on the attempt and then knocked in both freebies.
Ashland had a chance to win the game outright in the final seconds, but Carter’s off-balance three-pointer came up short. The Tomcats’ season comes to an end with a 23-10 record, winners of the 16th Region, and a sixth straight trip to Rupp Arena.
“I’m just thankful for the coaching staff, for these teammates, my brothers, man,” Carter said. “We hate that it didn’t go our way, but that’s just how life goes sometimes.”
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