Lyon County Glides Past Adair County; Sets Up Semifinal Showdown with No. 1 Great Crossing
The second quarterfinal match-up of the Sweet 16 on Friday was a close one starting out, but it took a turn for the worse for one school after halftime.
No. 3 Lyon County faced red-hot Adair County to see who would move on to play No. 1 Great Crossing, led by four-star junior center Malachi Moreno, in the Kentucky state tournament semifinals set for Saturday morning. The last time these two teams met in mid-February, Lyon County crushed the Indians by 50 points, 98-48. Round two was closer early on, but the game was ultimately decided by the third period.
Powered by 21 points from Kentucky commit and Lyon County senior Travis Perry, it was the Lyons who cruised in the second half, pulling off the 80-65 win over Adair County in Rupp Arena.
Perry’s three-pointer with seven seconds left before the half pushed Lyon County ahead by 10. A dominant 26-12 third-quarter stretch by the Lyons then shut down Adair County for good.
At the start of the first quarter, Adair County got on the board first with a quick jumper. However, Lyon County senior Brady Shoulders drove down the court to find a jumper of his own and tie things up at 2-2. Thanks to Shoulders and the six points he got in the paint in the first quarter, his team maintained a 12-10 lead heading into the second.
Perry was quiet in the first quarter as he had no points on the board but that quickly changed in the second. The sharpshooter hit the aforementioned three right before the buzzer to head into halftime with seven points and a double-digit lead for the Lyons. Adair County held their own until late in the second and found themselves down 30-20. Shoulders went into the locker room with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Coming out of the half, Lyon County’s Bray Kirk hit three big shots to increase his team’s lead to 35-20. Kirk’s run continued into the second quarter as he had Lyon County’s first seven points of the half. A behind-the-back stealthy pass to Shoulders, courtesy of Florida Gulf Coast commit Jack Reddick for Lyon County, made it a 41-20 game with a little under six minutes left in the third.
The Lyons started heating up later in the third with Perry and Reddick both hitting from deep. Perry hit another one from deep at the buzzer to get his team the 56-32 lead going into the final quarter.
Heading into the fourth, Adair County came out and got a quick bucket to cut their deficit down to 58-34. Another quick steal allowed the Indians to drive down and get the and-one basket. With a little over five minutes to go, Adair cut it to 62-46.
But Perry shut the scoring run down fast as he banked a three of his own to make it a 20-point deficit once again.
In the end shooting and rebounding allowed Lyon County to get the 80-65 win over Adair County. Perry finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points while Shoulders had 18 points and 13 boards. Kirk added 18 points and nine rebounds of his own.
The No. 3 Lyons will go up against No. 1 Great Crossing on Saturday, March 23, at 11:00 a.m. EST in the Sweet 16 semifinals.
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