Underdog Newport knocks off No. 2 Lyon County, and Travis Perry, to advance to All ‘A’ Classic finals

By Dan Weber NKyTribune sports reporter

CORBIN – For scoring his 5,000th high school point Saturday, Lyon County’s Travis Perry, Kentucky’s all-time leading prep scorer, was presented the game ball after Saturday’s All “A” Boys Classic semifinals.

For their part in holding Lyon County, the state’s No. 2 team and unbeaten in Kentucky, nearly 40 points below their best-in-the-state scoring average of just under 90 points a game, Newport’s Wildcats went home with the game.

Newport 50, Lyon County 48.

Just the way Newport Coach Rod Snapp game-planned it. Run if you get the chance but hold on to it and slow it down unless Lyon County (20-2) came out of their zone.

“We weren’t going to budge,” Snapp said. And he had good reason. Two starters were playing on bum ankles – Taylen Kinney from two weeks ago and Deshaun Jackson from Friday’s game.

“We were going to make the other four people beat us,” Snapp said of the switching man-to-man on Perry, including his “bigs” – 6-7 sophomore James Turner and 6-8 freshman Griffin Starks, at times. But every other Wildcat would get a chance to try to stop the UK signee and almost certain Mr. Basketball, who finished with a game-high 22 points on eight-of-14 shooting with four of eight from three-point range.

But as it turned out, Perry did not beat them. His three-quarter court shot at the buzzer was short and his two missed free throws inside the 3:00-minute mark gave Newport the chance the Wildcats needed after they’d dribbled the clock down from 53.3 seconds to 9.2 before taking their final timeout.

Snapp said there were a lot of things he could do but only one that he was going to do. Give it to senior Jackson, in his first season after transferring from Cincinnati Taft, and send him to the hoop. Right into the soft center of that Lyon County zone.

Did he have an option? “No chance,” Snapp said. Make ‘em foul you or take the open shot. Jackson took the eight-footer with total confidence as the clock ticked down from 2.6 seconds to 1.2, later restored to 2.6.

“No option,” Snapp said, “foul or get a shot off.” Jackson chose the latter. And against a team known for its shot-making, Newport (20-3) made the one that mattered.

And no matter that there 2.6 seconds left. It was too late and too far away for Perry.

And all those challenges this Newport team has faced — four of the state’s top five teams now not to mention ending a two-time Ohio state champ’s two-year win streak and beating national power Huntington Prep with the nation’s top prospect — paid off.

“Confidence,” Snapp said. No need to tell this bunch to act like they’ve been there. They have.

“We did whatever we had to to win,” Kinney said after re-tweaking his sprained left ankle in a loose ball scrum. He’ll ice it tonight before going to bed and Sunday morning before the game. Same for Jackson.

“Tay just hates to lose,” Snapp said, “great leadership.”

As for Perry, the kind of national prospect that Kinney relishes going up against, he said, “He’s taking it hard,” said his dad and coach, Ryan Perry. “He’s upset. We all wanted to win this state championship.”

But only Newport has the chance now. It didn’t come easy. Starting a freshman and two sophomores against a Lyon County team with three senior starters from Sweet 16 teams the past two seasons, Newport fell behind 20-12 early in the second quarter, only to reverse course for an 11-2 run that had this one up for grabs most of the rest of the way.

Until . . . until Newport’s defense and rebounding propelled the Wildcats to an 8-0 run the first four minutes of the final period for a 45-39 lead they would not relinquish until Perry stumbled into a falling left-handed bank shot a step or so past his last dribble to tie it at 48.

“He’s really good,” Snapp said. Just not good enough on this day. Ryan Perry agreed.

“They’re (Newport) always good on defense with all those long athletes,” Perry said. “They have a bunch of D-1 guys.” And a good gameplan.

But after outrebounding Newport by 13 in last year’s 61-46 win in the Sweet 16, Perry was “disappointed in our rebounding” as Newport’s young guys up front won that battle this year by four – 21-17.

And when it counted most, against a veteran team that had beaten them decisively a year ago, these Wildcats didn’t flinch. They made the play that mattered – and all the little plays that gave them a chance.

Kinney, with his stiff ankle, and Jackson led Newport with 14 points each, while Kinney also grabbed five rebounds. And don’t forget freshman, Amontae Lowe, who came in for five points and a big assist down the stretch. And a final freshman, Starks, hit four of his five shots for eight points, every one of them contested by a physical Lyon County team.

And now Newport will catch one more ranked Kentucky team – Louisville’s defending champion Evangel Christian, a 65-62 winner over Holy Cross in the title game – in Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game. Evangel (17-4) advanced to the title game with a 61-45 win over Murray in Saturday’s second semifinal game.

SCORING SUMMARY
LYON COUNTY 18 11 7 12–48
NEWPORT 10 18 7 15—50
LYON COUNTY (20-2): Breedlove 2-2 0-0 0-0 4, Reddick 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Kirk 3-5 2-3 0-1 8, Perry 8-14 4-8 2-4 22, Collins -3 0-0 0-0 2, 4-11 2-3 2-2 12, Defew 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 18-36 8-14 4-7 48.
NEWPORT: (20-3): 4-11 2-5 4-6 14, Covington 1-6 0-2 3-3 5, Jackson 7-12 0-0 0-0 14, Turner 1-6 0-0 2-4 4, Starks 4-5 0-0 0-1 8, Silverton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Lowe 2-3 0-0 1-1 5; TOTALS: 19-43 2-7 10-15 50.

Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.