Travis Perry leads Lyon County to first Sweet 16 win, has sights on state scoring record
EDDYVILLE, Ky. (BVM) – The Lyon County Lyons boys basketball team had a record–breaking season this past winter with the team going 29-7 and winning the Region 2 championship. With the regional title, the Lyons earned just their second spot in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association boys basketball tournament in program history and their first since 1951. Once in the tournament, Lyon County did what the program had never done before, beating John Hardin 82-65 in the tournament’s first round before being bounced in the second round by Covington Catholic.
“Going up to Rupp, the support stayed the same there,” the team’s starting point guard Travis Perry said. “People followed us up there and you’d think a small school with 260 people wouldn’t have many people up there but the whole town was there. They shut down the courthouse. It was awesome.”
Though the historic season didn’t end in a state title, for a team to get further into a campaign than any other team in the past, it takes a group of remarkable players and coaches. Fortunately for the Lyon County team, it has the advantage of having one of the state’s best players in sophomore Perry.
“It was really crazy is probably one word to describe it and fun is two words to describe it definitely,” Perry said. “We were kind of motivated all year and we kind of caught our stride in about midway through the season after the All-A state tournament we started playing well, playing motivated as a team. That just catapulted us to a great postseason, we had all 20-point wins pretty much in the postseason and made it to the tournament and that was an atmosphere unlike any other so it was a really fun, good team season we had.”
Perry has been a standout for the Lyons since he joined the team as only a 7th grader in 2019. The son of head coach Ryan Perry, Travis has established himself as one of the best shooters the area, and the state, has ever seen.
In his four seasons for Lyon County, Travis has been on a record pace for both the school and KHSAA scoring marks. After scoring 638 in seventh grade, 852 in eighth grade and 709 as a freshman, Travis exploded for 990 points this past season, scoring the third most total points in the state and having the ninth most points per game with 27.5. In the postseason, Travis continued his high scoring ways with 26 points and 21 points in the team’s two games and earned all-tournament honors.
Though his individual talents are undeniable, Travis was quick to credit the team’s success for why he was able to excel this year.
“I really think it was the success of our team and how much better our team got as a whole,” Travis said. “That helped a lot having so many weapons and so many options. Also, the confidence our team had. Everybody knows that if you’re missing shots it doesn’t matter, the one shot you make can turn around a game.”
Congratulations to Lyon County's Travis Perry on being named to the All-Tournament Team of the 2022 @uk_healthcare KHSAA Boys' Sweet Sixteen® #KHSAASweet16 pic.twitter.com/Qe9aSVmzjQ
— KHSAA Events (@khsaaevents) March 19, 2022
During the season, Travis would break the 3,000 career point plateau, becoming one of just 37 players in KHSAA history to eclipse the record. Now, sitting with 3,189 points, Travis is No. 18 on the all-time list and closing in on the record. He’s only 458 points from taking second place and just 1,149 points from the state record of 4,337.
“It’s definitely a great honor, a really humbling experience,” Travis said. “It’s a cool thing that not many people get to experience. It’s really cool and fun, but I’m not really worried about that right now, I’m worried about getting wins.”
🦁Lyons & Lady Lyons 🏀
It isn’t often a high school program gets to recognize big time accomplishments‼️Over 7k career points between these 4, pretty amazing stuff‼️
Rose Smith – 1k pts
Jackson Shoulders – 2k pts & 1k reb
Calista Collins – 1k pts & 1k reb
Travis Perry 3k pts pic.twitter.com/KDcUeCzL19— Lyon County Athletics (@Lyoncoathletics) February 23, 2022
While he has over 3,000 points, Travis amazingly hasn’t broken the Lyon County program record yet, that belongs to former Lyon and Western Kentucky Hilltopper Ty Rogers, who sits at 3,300 points. With only 111 points separating the two scorers, it is practically guaranteed that Travis will surpass the school record next season and leave his mark on the program’s history even more so than he already has.
“I wouldn’t really say I aim for it but I’ve definitely heard about it a lot…I’m just worried about getting wins,” Travis said. “It’s about more than that in the community, people are worried about how you’re doing as a person, not just on the basketball court so that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Congratulations to Lyon County on an incredible season, the best in school history! The Lyons finished 29-7 and won a state tournament game at Rupp for the first time ever. Thanks for representing our small, but mighty community with class all year long. So proud of my hometown!
— Ty R. Rogers (@tyrussellrogers) March 19, 2022
Much like the player currently ahead of him on the scoring list, Travis also has Division I basketball aspirations. Though only a sophomore, the young guard has earned three DI offers so far from Creighton, University of New Orleans and Ole Miss. Just prior to this season, Travis visited Belmont, Cincinnati and Western Kentucky showing that there will likely be more offers coming for the guard.
“It’s been really fun, it started off early and I got a couple of early offers,” Travis said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of people, Virginia, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa, Western Kentucky, Murray State. It’s been fun and I’m just trying to soak it all in and enjoy it while I have it.”
Enjoyed my unofficial visit to Belmont University. Thank you to @CaseyAlexander_ and the rest of the coaching staff for the time spent and showing me around your campus and facilities. @CoachRutigs @coachbrianayers pic.twitter.com/AakFzv7SJW
— Travis Perry (@Travis_Perry11) October 13, 2021
Always holding onto the team mindset, Travis will hold the team’s environment as the main focus for his next destination.
“I’m definitely going to look for somewhere that has a good culture, fits what I like to play, fits my playstyle, a good coach and a lot of supportive people that help you keep getting better and keep progressing,” Travis said. “But culture is the main thing. A good culture that helps you grow.”
Aiming for both records and scholarships, expect Travis to continue playing basketball unlike anything Kentuckians have seen before. Having already led the Lyon County program deeper in the postseason than they’ve ever been and with two more seasons left, Travis will help the Lyons be a strong contender for a state title over the next couple years.
“The one thing that I can say will stay constant is that we’re going to play hard,” Travis said. “We’re going to go out no matter who we’re against and give it our all. If you play like that, no matter what the talent difference is, the height difference, you can always win games. We’re definitely going to work hard this offseason and try to get back to where we were because once you’re up there you don’t want to end the season anywhere else.”
