On a night when Lyon County managed to hold Madisonville’s Kenny White and Ksuan Casey relatively in check, it was Deljuan Johnson that came up big for the Maroons. Johnson poured in 27 points as Madisonville-North Hopkins remained unbeaten against 2nd Region foes this season with a 71-64 triumph Monday night as Jason White Gymnasium in Eddyville.
Madisonville (16-3), the defending regional champion and ranked in the state’s Top 10 this season, led much of the night.
But Lyon (10-8) wouldn’t go away.
Down as much as 14 in the fourth quarter, the Lyons battled back to within 65-61 when Jackson Shoulders scored on a drive to the basket with still 1:08 left in the game.
However, Johnson got loose inside at the other end to push the Maroon advantage back to six at 67-61 with 47 seconds to go.
Johnson hit two free throws at the 0:23 mark to give Madisonville a 69-62 advantage.
Another Shoulders bucket had Lyon within 69-64, but that came with just 11 seconds to play.
Keshawn Stone hit two free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining to ice the game for the Maroons.
White finished with 14 points and Casey had 11 for Madisonville.
Travis Perry scored 26 points for Lyon while Shoulders tallied 20.
The seven-point margin was the closest anyone in the 2nd Region has played Madisonville this season.
The Maroons led 17-15 after one quarter and 35-30 at halftime.
Lyon twice got as close as four points in the second half.
Madisonville’s biggest lead came at 62-48 with 4:38 left in the game.
Madisonville 17 18 13 23 — 71
Lyon County 15 15 13 21— 64
Madisonville-North Hopkins (16-3) — Johnson 27, White 14, Casey 11, Tow 6, Vaughn 5, Stone 4, Parker 4.
Lyon County (10-8) — Perry 26, Shoulders 20, Whalin 9, Bingham 7, Hawkins 2.
