The Lyon County boys’ basketball team won their first 5th District championship since the 2009/2010 season last year, beating Livingston Central to cap off the tournament. The Lyons finished the season at 17-13, before losing to Webster County in the first round of the 2nd Region tournament, their seventh consecutive year without a tournament win.
After only graduating two seniors, the Lyons looked set to field a strong squad in defense of their district title. However, due to a combination of players not returning or moving away, the Lyons retain a strong nucleus, but will be forced to surround it with new faces. In addition to the two seniors that graduated, Josh Mincey and Nick Gilbert, leading scorer Peyton Martin (13.9) and leading rebounder Hayden Murphy (5.9), both of whom would have been seniors, are not with the team. That leaves senior Max Wadlington and junior Gabe Board as the only returning players with extensive varsity experience. Wadlington was the Lyons’ third-leading rebounder at 4.5 a game and Board was second in scoring at 11.5 a game and fourth in rebounding with 4 a game.
Coach Embrey expects junior Gabe Defew and senior Matthew Brown to provide help down low, while freshmen Travis Yancey, Kade Blackburn, and Clay Haines will have to adjust quickly in the Lyon backcourt. Embrey will start to get an idea of how it will all come together when the Lyons travel to Leitchfield to face Grayson County in their first scrimmage on Saturday.
