Lyon, Lenox Hold Off Hopkins
LENOX, Mass. – Chris Lyon Thursday made three clutch free throws in the last 20 seconds to secure Lenox’s 66-63 win over Hopkins Academy.
The Millionaires led the entire game after Lyon hit a 3-pointer to give his tem a 5-3 edge in the opening moments.
And when the game was on the line, Lenox coach Scott Sibley was confident with Lyon at the line.
“He’s probably one of our better foul shooters,” Sibley said. “When he goes up there, I’m pretty confident they’re going to go in the majority of the time. He’s probably like about an 80 to 85 percent shooter for us.
“When he went up there, I figured something good would come of it, and it actually did.”
Despite leading by as many as 14 points in the third quarter and by 10 with just less than two minutes to play, Lenox found itself ahead by just three, 64-61, when Lyon was fouled with 10.5 seconds on the clock.
He made both his free throws to finish with a team-high 16 points and give his team a five-point cushion.
Lenox stole the ensuing inbounds pass at half court, but then committed a turnover. The Golden Hawks got the ball to James Fitzgibbons, who drove to the basket and scored just before the horn.
After a discussion among the referees, they put 1.4 seconds on the clock. Lenox’s Jon Reinholt made the baseline inbounds pass to Lyon, who held on to run out the clock and get the Millionaires (3-3) back to .500 on the season.
“I think tonight was probably our best team effort of the season,” Sibley said. “We were looking for the extra pass, we were talking, and our rotations were much better than they have been – even as recently as Monday night against Frontier, we were a little slow getting to spots.
“But I thought tonight they did a very, very good job. I’m happy with the overall performance.”
Brandan Ward scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Ethan Fairfield scored 10, and Shaler Larmon had six points to go along with a team-high 10 boards.
Sophomore Chase Earle led Hopkins with 25 points, and 12 rebounds. He scored 11 points on three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter to give the Hawks a chance at the end.
Lenox took control of the game early as Lyon hit two of the Millionaires’ five first-quarter 3-pointers. His second triple of the game gave his team a 24-11 margin at the end of the quarter.
In the second, Hopkins rallied to draw within two points with two minutes left in the half.
But Max Shepardson (eight points) drove the lane for a basket, and Fairfield put back an offensive rebound to make it a six-point margin before Luke Gamberoni made a free throw to send Lenox to the locker room up, 33-26.
The Millionaires continued that run to start the third, going up 44-30 for a 16-4 run that spanned half-time.
Seven of those points came directly off Lenox’s press. First, a steal by Larmon led to an and-one by Shepardson to make it 38-28. Then a steal by Lyon led to his lay-in for a 12-point lead. Moments later, another Hopkins turnover against the press led to a Fairfield bucket to make it a 44-30 game.
“The third quarter has been one that has brought some worry to us over the last couple of years,” Sibley said. “And they came out tonight and picked up the pace like they did in the first quarter. I thought that was huge for us, to come out and not give [Hopkins] a chance to go on another run like they had in the second quarter.”
The Hawks did chip away, though, getting within six by the end of the third. And after Ward hit a triple with an assist from Lyon to give the Millionaires a 61-51 lead late in the fourth, the Hawks scored six of the next nine points to set the stage for Lyon’s big foul shots.
“Overall, a pretty decent game for us,” Sibley said. “And it’s satisfying. Hopkins has had our number the last couple of years. … We’ve been competitive with them. We just haven’t done enough to get over the hump. And tonight it feels pretty good, going into the Christmas break, to get a big win against a good, quality team.”