The Lyon County Lady Lyons have had their struggles putting the ball in the basket this season. Monday night, those struggles cost the Lady Lyons a chance to repeat as All A regional champions. Dawson Springs scored the final 8 points of the game and Allison Murphy’s 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim, as the Lady Panthers edged out Lyon County 29-27 in quarterfinal play at Eddyville.
The game began in a promising fashion for Lyon County. The Lady Lyon defense limited Dawson Springs to one field goal and one free throw in the opening quarter, as Lyon County got out to an 8-3 lead.
Behind the play of Calista Collins, Lyon County extended the lead to 15-7 early in the second quarter. After a basket by Ashlyn Doom late in the half, the Lady Lyons held their biggest lead of the game at 19-9. The Lady Panthers were able to score a pair of buckets late in the half to cut the lead to 19-13 at the break.
Coming out of the locker room Erin Orten and Brooklyn Clark began to assert themselves for the Lady Panthers. The duo scored all eight of Dawson Springs’ points in the 3rd quarter, as the Lady Panthers trimmed the Lyon County lead to 25-21 after three.
The 4th quarter began with Allison Murphy hitting a runner in the lane to give Lyon County a 27-21 lead with 7:00 to go in the game. The offensive struggles for the Lady Lyons were then crucial down the stretch, as Lyon County failed to score for the rest of the game.
Brooklyn Clark hit a three with 2:05 left in the game to put Dawson Springs up 29-27. The Lady Panthers had their chances to salt the game away, but went 1-5 at the line in the final quarter. Lyon County had chances to tie or take the lead, but just could not get the ball in the basket, including Murphy’s missed three at the horn.
Calista Collins led Lyon County with 6 points and 7 rebounds. Allison Murphy, who was recognized before the game for 1,000 career rebounds, had 4 points and 13 rebounds. Cathryn Brown also had 4 points for Lyon County.
Erin Orten had a double-double for Dawson Springs with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Brooklyn Clark had 8 points, including the game-winning three pointer.
Dawson Springs moves on to the All A regional semifinals and will take on UHA Thursday night in the first game at Crittenden County.