Stage is Set: Travis Perry, Lyon County vs. Trent Noah, Harlan County in Sweet 16 championship

The storylines ahead of tonight’s 2024 UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 Tournament championship game are the stuff Hollywood makes movies out of. Future SEC guards battling it out. A pair of rural county schools going head-to-head. Two areas from nearly completely opposite ends of the state meeting with one common goal in Lexington.

This is what the Sweet 16 is all about.

Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EST inside Rupp Arena, No. 3 Lyon County (34-3) and No. 9 Harlan County (33-4) will fight for the right to be known as 2024 Kentucky state champions. 13th Region vs. 2nd Region. Kentucky commit Travis Perry vs. South Carolina commit Trent Noah — two of the top scorers the Bluegrass has ever seen.

This matchup will feature plenty of firsts on both sides. While this is the fourth Sweet 16 appearance for Lyon County and the third in a row, this will be the school’s first-ever championship game. As for Harlan County, this is just the second-ever Sweet 16 berth (2017) for the Black Bears’ and also the first championship appearance. There will be plenty on the line.

Tonight is going to be fun pic.twitter.com/HF20SMd3l3

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 23, 2024

Judging by the massive crowds both schools brought to Rupp Arena in Saturday’s semifinals — Lyon County a roughly four-hour drive, Harlan County around three — it could be tough to find an open seat tonight. Fans from all over the state will converge in Lexington for a potentially special championship.

All eyes will be on Perry and Noah, too — and for good reason. Perry is the state’s all-time leading high school scorer, a top 100 recruit, and Mr. Basketball, while Noah is an equally talented scorer, a nationally-ranked prospect, and a fellow top-three scorer in the state’s history. Both players come into this game averaging over 29 points per game, ranking among the top five in the entire state this season.

But Noah, in particular, has been putting on a show this week.

The 6-foot-6 future Gamecock is averaging 37.3 points per game in this tournament so far, including 48 (fourth-most ever in a Sweet 16 game) in the quarterfinals against Campbell County. He’s shooting 58.2 percent overall (32-55), 64 percent from deep (16-25), and 88.9 percent from the line (32-36) while averaging 10 rebounds and two assists per outing.

Perry’s efficiency hasn’t been up to his usual standards through the first three games of this event, but when the end result is a win, it’s tough to argue against his play.

The 6-foot-2 future Wildcat is averaging 20.3 points per contest, improving his point total in all three games. He’s also chipping in 3.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. His shooting splits of 37.7 percent from the field (20-53), 33.3 percent from deep (9-27), and 75 percent from the line (12-16) leave some to be desired. But all that can change in the biggest game of his life up to this point.

Noah and Perry aren’t doing this all by themselves though.

For Harlan County, junior Maddox Huff has been Noah’s right-hand man throughout the Sweet 16. Huff has been the second-leading scorer behind Noah in all three games. Additionally, sophomore Reggie Cottrell has stepped up and made several big plays for the Black Bears.

For Lyon County, seniors Jack Reddick (FGCU commit) and Brady Shoulders (multiple DI offers) serve as the perfect complementary pieces to Perry. Reddick has reached double-figures in two of three Sweet 16 games while Shoulders has done so in all three. It was Shoulders, not Perry, who powered the Lyons to a win over Ashland Blazer in the opening round. Don’t sleep on sophomore Kirk Bray, either.

Good luck finding an open seat at Rupp Arena tonight.