The Lyon County girls’ basketball team suffered a narrow 50-49 loss to the visiting Livingston Central Lady Cardinals on Thursday night, seeing a potential game-winning shot miss wide at the horn. Livingston Central improve to 10-9, 5-0 in the 5th District, while the Lady Lyons slip to 9-5 and 3-3 in district play.
With 3:38 to play in the first quarter, a layup by junior power forward Allison Murphy gave the Lady Lyons a 7-4 lead. The Lady Cardinals battled back, and after back-to-back three-pointers, took a 13-9 lead. As the teams headed into the second quarter, Livingston Central led 15-12.
Lyon regained the lead early in the second frame, when senior forward Hannah Holloman hit a three-pointer for a 18-17 score. For the rest of the half, the teams went back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than 3 and the Lady Cardinals leading 30-29 at the halftime break.
For Lyon County, Holloman and Murphy combined to score 24 of their team’s 29 first half points, with each posting 12. Senior forward Tabby Padon led Livingston County with 16, followed by senior guard Hailey Stafford’s 10.
The Lady Lyons began the second half with a three-point play by Murphy to take a 32-30 lead, but wouldn’t score again for five and a half minutes, finding themselves trailing 40-34. The third quarter ended with the Lady Cardinals maintaining their 6-point lead at 43-37.
A minute into the fourth quarter, Livingston Central took their largest lead of the game at 47-39, and seemed in control until two Holloman free throws cut the margin to 3 at 50-47 with :28 to play. With :6.3 seconds left, the Lady Lyons stole an inbounds pass and Holloman was fouled. She knocked down both free throws, leaving the Lady Cardinals clinging to a 1-point lead. Lyon County sent Livingston to the line with :4.1 left, and they missed the front end of the one-and-one, setting up a final shot for the Lady Lyons. Murphy dribbled over halfcourt and let fly as time expired, but the shot failed to find its mark, giving the Lady Cardinals the narrowest of wins.
Murphy had a huge night, leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 21 and 17. Holloman followed with 16 and 11, senior guard Sophie Bingham scored 9, and freshman guard Kenttavia Matthews had 3. Padon poured in 25 to lead Livingston Central, with Stafford finishing with 19.
Next up for the Lady Lyons, weather permitting, is a Saturday trip to post to face the Fort Campbell Lady Falcons (0-12). Lyon County will begin play in the 2nd Region All “A” Classic on Monday at Caldwell County, squaring off with Crittenden County (9-7).