Jack Leasure Shooting and Skills Camp Preview: Lyons and Global Concepts to battle for spot in state semifinal

One squad looks to advance to its second state semifinal in the last three years. The other is making its first state-tournament appearance in program history. Lyons and Global Concepts clash on Saturday to determine the NYS Class C Far West Regional winner. Here’s the breakdown:

LYONS LIONS 
(23-2 / Wayne County / No. 4 NYSSWA)
vs.
GLOBAL CONCEPTS GATORS 
(18-4 / ECIC V / No. 5 NYSSWA)
Saturday, Buffalo State, 4:30 p.m.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM STEVEN TWARDZIK.

How they arrived here: Lyons beat Red Jacket (116-51), Bloomfield (90-47), Gananda (72-58) and Geneseo (87-59) to claim the Section V Class C1 title. The Lions then defeated Honeoye in the Class C regional qualifier 70-56 to reach the state quarterfinal. Global Concepts dropped Chautauqua Lake (73-44), Ellicottville (56-50) and Westfield (53-45) to win the Section VI Class C title and advance to this game.

Scoring offense: Lyons (82.3), Global Concepts (67.5)

Scoring defense: Lyons (52.7), Global Concepts (46.8)

Trends: Lyons has won eight straight and 18 of its last 19 games. Global Concepts came out victorious in its last five games.

Players to watch for Lyons: JJ Johnson Sr. (18.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG); Contrell Parker Jr. Sr. (14.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 3.0 SPG); Steven LeBrecht Sr. (14.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG); Jah Jah Smith So. (10.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.0 APG); Kaywon Butler So. (9.2 PPG); Stavell LeBrecht Sr. (5.0 PPG, 3.0 APG)

Players to watch for Global Concepts: Eric Davis Jr. Sr. F (18.3 PPG); Jose Castro Jr. So. G (14.1 PPG); Josiah Clay Jr. G (11.4 PPG); Juan Pagan Sr. G (7.8 PPG); Jaiden Bennefield So. F (7.4 PPG)

Coaches: Zac Young (Lyons), Joe Scarsella (Global Concepts)

History 101: Lyons is playing in the Far West Regional for the third time in the last four years and is looking to advance to the state semifinals for the second time in the last three years. The Lions fell in the FWR to eventual NYS Class C champion Randolph 57-47 in 2023 and in the state semifinal to, again, the eventual NYS Class C champion Moravia 56-45 in 2024. Lyons is making a Section V-best 13th regional appearance and is 6-6 in state quarterfinal matchups. Global Concepts is making its first appearance in the state tournament this year after claiming its first sectional title in program history.

What’s at stake: A spot in the NYS Class C semifinal against either Notre Dame (IV) or Cooperstown (III) on Saturday, March 21.