The McLean County Lady Cougars used a 13-0 second quarter run to take control of the game and then had to hold on tight to pick up a 46-40 win over the Lyon County Lady Lyons Thursday night. The Lady Cougars were able to get the win despite the Lyon County defense limiting them to just two points in the final quarter.
The Lady Lyons however missed some key opportunities and some open looks from the field that kept them from pulling off the improbable rally.
Early on in the game it was turnovers that put Lyon County in a hole that it would spend the rest of the night trying to dig out of.
In the opening quarter, the teams battled back and forth through the early going. With the score tied at 10-10, McLean County scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 16-10 lead.
Gracen Wynn opened the second quarter with a three to cut the McLean County lead to 16-13. However, that would be the last field goal of the opening half for Lyon County.
The Lady Lyons turnover issues became more pronounced in the second quarter, and the Lady Cougars were able to make them pay for the mistakes. McLean County ripped off 13 unanswered points to move the lead out to 29-13. The lead would be 32-15 as the teams headed back to the locker rooms at the break.
Lyon County’s 18 turnovers were the story of the first sixteen minutes of the contest. The combination of leading to McLean County baskets and not allowing the Lady Lyons to find any offensive flow was a huge factor in the Lady Cougars’ big halfime lead.
Senior Kamryn McMahon had a big first half for McLean County, equaling the Lady Lyons offensive output with 15 points of her own.
After falling behind by 19 points at 38-19 early in the third quarter, the Lady Lyons began to work at chipping away at the lead. Led by strong efforts from Ella Defew, Calista Collins, and Hadlie Butler, Lyon County would trim the lead down to 13 points at 44-31 heading into the final quarter.
In the final eight minutes, the Lady Lyon defense did everything it could do to bring them back into the game. The offense just could not quite make it happen. Lyon County had numerous open looks at the basket in the 4th quarter, with several of them coming down in the paint, but could not get enough of them to fall to pull off a big time rally. They would get to within the final margin of six points, but that was as close as it would get coming down the stretch.
Gracen Wynn was the top scorer for the Lady Lyons, finishing with 11 points. Ella Defew also reached double figures with 10. Calista Collins only had five points, but was a beast on the boards, finishing with 16 rebounds.
For McLean County, who dressed only seven players due to COVID-19 protocols, Kamryn McMahon led the way with 15 points. However, the Lady Lyons were able to shut her out in the second half. Natalie Patterson chipped in with 14 points for the Lady Cougars.
Lyon County drops to 3-3 on the season. The Lady Lyons return to action Saturday afternoon at 1:30 when they host Paducah Tilghman.
McLean County, in their first game since January 12, improves to 2-3.
MCHS — 16 16 12 2 – 46
LCHS — 10 5 16 9 – 40
McLean County (2-3) – McMahon 15, Patterson 14, Galloway 7, Walker 6, Christian 2, Rush-Owen 2
Lyon County (3-3) – Wynn 11, Defew 10, Butler 6, Matthews 6, Collins 5, Perry 2
