The Dawson Springs Panthers came out playing uptempo with the Lyon County Lyons in their 2nd Region All A Classic game in Eddyville Tuesday night. That strategy worked for a while, a brief while. Lyon County eventually got their offense up to speed and blazed past the Panthers 104-80 to advance to the regional semfinals against UHA on Friday night.
Behind the play of Skyler Clark and Braxton Cotton, Dawson Springs bolted out to an 11-4 lead in the opening moments of the game. Lyon County came roaring back to tie the game at 11-11. With the game tied at 16-16, the Lyons went on a 7-0 run to go up 23-16.
After a pair of free throws from Braxton Cotton cut the lead to 23-18, Lyon County delivered the knockout blow. Travis Perry and Jackson Shoulders combined to score ten points in a 12-0 Lyon County run to end the first quarter at 35-18. The Lyons would add the first five points of the second quarter to extend the lead to 40-18 and cap off a 17-0 run, effectively knocking the Panthers out of the game.
In the second quarter, Shoulders and Perry were joined by Gunnar Bingham in keeping the Lyon offense clicking on all cylinders. By the end of the half, the Lyons held a 59-37 lead. Shoulders had 22 points in the first half, while Perry added 21 more.
Lyon County kept on rolling coming out of the locker room. The Lyons scored 29 more points in the third quarter, as the lead grew to 88-60 headed into the 4th quarter.
Dawson Springs could get no closer than 17 points over the final eight minutes, as the Lyons cruised on out to the 24 point win. A 3-pointer from 8th grader Jack Reddick put the Lyons over the century mark with 1:30 to go in the game.
Jackson Shoulders had a monster night for Lyon County. The big man finished with 32 points and 23 rebounds. On a night where he passed 1,000 points for his career as an 8th grader, Travis Perry also finished the game with 32. Gunnar Bingham reached double figures with 13 points.
Dawson Springs was led by Skyler Clark with 23 points. Braxton Cotton scored 15, while Logan McKnight added 13.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 10-6 on the season, while the Panthers fall to 5-10 with the loss.
Lyon County advances on to the 2nd Region All A semifinals, where they will get a rematch from last year’s semifinals against University Heights. UHA won last year’s matchup 86-63, on their way to the All A state championship.
