‘Shot out of a cannon.’ Lyon County rides huge third quarter to Sweet 16 quarterfinal win.
Lyon County led Adair County by 10 at the half of its 80-65 victory in the 2024 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 quarterfinals, secured by a smooth 3-pointer at the buzzer by UK signee and 2024 Mr. Kentucky Basketball and the state’s all-time leading scorer, Travis Perry.
Lyon County (34-3) head coach Ryan Perry said the moment was “huge” for the Lyons’ momentum, but also gave the team the extra push it needed to “go a little bit harder.”
”We got lucky and got a good spot that we could run something and get Travis isolated, and he bounced off that handoff and just made a really good shot for us right there and that was big going into the half,” Ryan Perry said. “It’s always big, and Travis hasn’t had a very good offensive game at the state tournament yet; we’re hoping that those are going to come tomorrow. But the guys, obviously, when they see Travis start stroking it a little bit, then they kick into gear and go a little bit harder.”
In the first half, only senior Brady Shoulders had reached double figures, scoring 12 of his 18 points and pulling in 10 of his 13 rebounds in the first 16 minutes. But in the second half, sophomore guard Bray Kirk stepped up in a big way — and picked up right where Perry left off.
How about a quick 5 points from @BrayKirk10 to start the second half? He made another layup while I typed this up. @Lyoncoathletics leads Adair County 37-20 with 6:25 left in 3Q. pic.twitter.com/JFUbASyTEF
— Caroline Makauskas (@cmakauskas) March 22, 2024
After scoring just three points in the first half, Kirk opened the third quarter with nine consecutive, unanswered points to hoist the Lyons’ lead from 10 to 19. And when Shoulders continued the scoring run with a clutch layup, Lyon County’s confidence — and lead — swelled.
“Bray came out just like we uncaged an animal out there,” Ryan Perry said. “He shot out of a cannon, he ran it up ... for us really, really quick. So I was obviously super excited, super happy for him because he’s got it in there. I mean, he’s gonna be elite, and in that few minutes right there he was elite. On the biggest stage in high school basketball in Kentucky.”
Kirk finished with 18 points, two assists and one steal, and he added nine of the Lyons’ 42 total rebounds. Lyon County outrebounded Adair County (29-8) by eight, and Kirk said the team set out to win on the glass.
“It was big-time because (Adair County’s Isaiah Cochran), he’s a really big dude,” Kirk said. “And that was kind of our game plan coming into it. Just rebound the ball, and we did that. We executed that very well.”
Travis Perry joined Kirk and Shoulders in double figures with 21 points. He added two rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Adair County had four in double figures, led by Connor Loy and Dawson Gilbert with 14 points each. Lane Grant added 11 and Carter White 10.
Lyon County was to face 11th Region champion Great Crossing (36-1) in Saturday’s semifinals at 11 a.m. Ryan Perry praised all that the Warhawks — who are undefeated in the state of Kentucky — have achieved, but guaranteed that Lyon County “expects to win that game.”
“Great Crossing’s elite. I mean, they’re just a really good high school basketball team,” Ryan Perry said. “One of the best ones I’ve seen in the state in a while. They’re really, really good. They have so many matchup problems, they’re so well-coached. They’ve got everything you want to have defensively, everything you want to have offensively …We’re gonna show up tomorrow, we’re gonna play really, really fast, really, really hard, We’re gonna shoot a lot of shots. And when that thing tips off tomorrow, everybody in the Lyon County locker room 100% expects to win the basketball game. And some people say that because it’s lip service, but every player in that locker room expects to win that game tomorrow. And that’s how it’ll be attacked. It should be a good game. You know, they’re really really good. But we think that we can play those guys.”
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