John Calipari, Kentucky players watch Travis Perry drop 28 in Lyon County win
On Wednesday night, John Calipari and several Kentucky men’s basketball players watched future Wildcat Travis Perry and No. 3 Lyon County in their 97-41 route over Bourbon County in the opening round of the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic.
Calipari was joined by the likes of Reed Sheppard, DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, and a few others at Lexington Catholic High School. All were there to get a look at Perry, who committed to UK in November. It wasn’t exactly a close contest, but Perry still put on a show for his audience.
Lyon County’s Domination
Lyon County is coming off representing Kentucky in the famous City of Palms Classic last week. Perry lit Fort Myers ablaze with 40 points in the championship to lead the Lyons to a 93-64 victory over Buckhorn (AL) in front of all of the national media. This caused Perry to explode on X, including a tweet (or an X? Still haven’t figured that one out) from ESPN’s Paul Biancardi, a recruiting director with almost 100,000 followers on the website.
National media is starting to see what John Calipari, Chris Beard, Dennis Gates, and others saw all along. The four-star guard has been shooting at an insanely efficient clip, along with his supreme playmaking abilities. Perry is the all-time leading scorer in the state, and this season’s average of 30 will only make that record harder to reach in the future.
Lyons blowout Bourbon County in first round
With all of the momentum from their tournament win, Lyon County took on Bourbon County on Wednesday night. It was their first-round matchup of the 2023 White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic.
Lyon County routed Bourbon County 97-41, a blowout from the get-go. Perry finished the night with 28 points on 11/17 shooting and 4/8 from behind the arc. He also added four rebounds and five assists.
Co-stars Brady Shoulders and Jack Reddick continued to show what makes Lyon County the number three team in the state.
Shoulders finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Reddick dominated with 11 points and nine assists. In the second quarter, Reddick entered the fast break with Shoulders trailing, instead of laying the ball in for himself, the senior threw the ball off the backboard. Shoulders then sailed into the air and finished with two hands. Later in the third quarter, Reddick made a sweet behind-the-back pass to Isaac Defew for an easy layup. There is some excellent chemistry built on this team.
Lyon County and the field
After the game, Reddick spoke on his connection with Shoulders and Perry. He said, “We all do everything so well together. We are the leaders so we have to set good examples to our younger teammates.” He continued, “How well all three of us play together, we have been playing together since second grade. So we know what every one of us is going to do without thinking.”
Lyon County will look to prove they are the best team in the state with great teams lurking in this tournament. No. 17 Washington County (7-2) and Gabe Weis are also in the field, with Weis leading the Commanders to a victory over Fleming County earlier on Wednesday. The Lyons will face No. 10 DeSales on Thursday night at Lexington Catholic at 7:30 p.m. EST.
The 2023 White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic tournament began on Tuesday morning and will continue through Saturday at Lexington Catholic High School. Our friends over at PrepSpin will broadcast each game live too. Click the link here to purchase a day pass for $14.95. If you want to watch the games in person, you can purchase a ticket here.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard