Lyon County’s Travis Perry had a storybook ending to a Kentucky high school career that has no equal.

 

Already the state’s all-time scoring king and Mr. Basketball, he can now add state champion and Sweet 16 MVP to his accomplishments. The Lyons defeated Harlan County, 67-58, Saturday night in the UK Healthcare Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena.

Lyon County, a school with 277 students, proved again that good things come in small packages in Kentucky high school basketball. The Lyons (36-3) knocked off top-ranked Great Crossing 58-49 in Saturday morning’s semifinals.

It was a long and satisfying day for Perry, who was able to win the elusive state title with his father, Ryan, as the head coach on the Lyon County bench.

What a story.

Perry scored 24 in the hard-fought semifinal and then 27 points in the championship game win over Harlan County that went down to the wire. The Lyons led by as many as 16 points before the Black Bears rallied.

Lyon County’s Perry, Jack Reddick and Brady Shoulders, teammates since second grade, had the greatest finish of all. The past two years the Lyons won the region but bowed out in the quarterfinals to Covington Catholic (2022) and George Rogers Clark (2023).

The closest game of this Sweet 16 came in the opening round against Ashland, a nail-biting 45-43 victory. The Lyons defeated Adair County 80-65 and then Great Crossing and Harlan County on an eventful Saturday.

Reddick scored 16 and Shoulders collected 15 points and seven rebounds.

Perry, who surpassed King Kelly Coleman as the state scoring king last season, finished his career with 5,481 points, a mark that is likely to stand for a long time.

Maddox Huff scored 22 points and South Carolina signee Trent Noah added 17 to lead No. 12 Harlan County (34-5).