Trigg County went from worst to first to win the 2009 girls’ Fifth District basketball title. History repeated itself Friday as the Lady Wildcats beat Lyon County 46-41 to win their first district championship in a decade.
The Lady Wildcats entered the season having lost 45 straight district games and hadn’t won a district tourney game since that 2009 championship. Trigg County snapped the streak in their first district game of the season and erased a decade of futility with their title Friday.
Both teams struggled to find their way early as they combined to miss 16 of their first 21 shots from the field. Trigg led 8-6 after one quarter.
Lyon County’s shooting woes continued in the second quarter, but Trigg could never fully take advantage. The Lady Lyons hit just 3-of-29 shots in the first half but only trailed 15-12 at halftime as Trigg managed to male just 2-of-15 shots in the second frame.
In their semifinal win over Livingston Central Tuesday, Lyon used a 20-3 run out of the halftime break to take control to advance to the title game. It looked like history was going to repeat itself as Allison Murphy scored seven straight points out of the half to put Lyon County ahead 19-15. However, Trigg County answered with a 10-0 run as four different players scored buckets to give Trigg a 25-19 lead they would not relinquish.
Ahead 30-23 toward the end of the third quarter, Katelyn Slone splashed a 3-pointer to give Trigg a 33-23 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Wildcats led by 12 points on two different occasions before Lyon began to chip away at the lead. Each time, Bethany Stallons knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the Lady Lyons at bay.
Murphy, Cathryn Brown, and Calista Collins combined to score the last nine points for Lyon County as they cut the lead to three points inside the final minute. Rylee Bush hit two free throws with 23 seconds left for what proved to be the final margin.
Adri Phillips led Trigg County with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Bush added eight points and four rebounds, and Stallons added seven points. Freshman Marleigh Reynolds had six points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Murphy led Lyon County with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Kenttavia Matthews added seven points and six rebounds, and Brown scored eight points.
Lyon County (15-11) scored 17 points off 20 Trigg turnovers but shot just 23-percent from the field.
The Trigg win snapped a 26-game losing streak to Lyon County that dated back to 2009 in what was only the second meeting between the schools in the championship game.
The district title is just the fifth for Trigg in program history and the second in 28 years. They improved to 16-15 – their most wins in a season since 1991.
Both teams will advance to the Second Region Tournament that begins Wednesday at Crittenden County High School.