These two programs have combined to win three state titles One squad is making a second state semifinal appearance in three years and seventh overall. The other is looking to making a third trip to the state final. Lyons and Cooperstown will meet on Saturday with a spot in the NYS Class C championship game on the line. Here’s the breakdown:
LYONS LIONS
24-2 / Wayne County / No. 4 NYSSWA
vs.
COOPERSTOWN HAWKEYES
25-0 Center State Conference Division III
Section III/ No. 1 NYSSWA
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
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 and Section VI champion Global Concepts (76-43) to reach the state semifinal.
Cooperstown opened the postseason with a 98-66 win over Citizenship Academy before beating Onondaga (89-47), Dolgeville (62-49), Cato-Meridian (74-51) and Notre Dame-Elmira (60-57) to reach Saturday’s matchup.
Scoring offense: Lyons (82.3), Cooperstown (81.4)
Scoring defense: Lyons (52.7), Cooperstown (55.0)
Trends: Lyons has won nine straight and 19 of 20 games. Cooperstown has 22 double-digit wins this season. The Hawkeyes have held 15 opponents under 60 points this season including in each of the last four 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 Cooperstown: Cooper Coleman Sr. G (6.5 PPG); Jackson Crisman Sr. F (17.5 PPG, 12.0 RPG); Christian Lawson Sr. G (10.9 PPG); Brody Murdock Jr. G (10.0 PPG); Miles Nelen Sr. G (26.7 PPG, 4.2 APG).
Coaches: Zac Young (Lyons), John Lambert (Cooperstown)
History 101: Lyons is making its seventh state semifinal appearance with wins in 1980, ’82, ’89 and ’97. The Lions won NYS Class C titles in 1980 and ’89. The ’89 team also won the Federation championship. Lyons lost in the 2024 Class C semifinal game. Cooperstown won the 2019 NYS Class C title. That championship came at the end of a stretch that saw the Hawkeyes lose back-to-back regional championships in 2016 and 2017. A year ago, an unbeaten Cooperstown squad lost in the state quarterfinals.
More history: With 29 state championships, Section V ranks fourth all-time behind Section I (33), Section III (33) and Section 2 (32). Local squads have won 21 small-school titles: Avoca-Prattsburgh (’23 and ’22 Class D), Bishop Kearney (’09 B), Avon (’09 C), C.G. Finney (’07 and ’06 Class D), Campbell-Savona (’06 Class C), Palmyra-Macedon (’05 Class B), Sodus (’05 Class C), Notre Dame-Batavia (’01 Class D), Clyde-Savannah (’93 Class D), Mynderse (’92 Class C), Notre Dame-Batavia (’92 Class D), Prattsburgh (’91 Class D), Avoca (’89 Class D), Wilson Magnet (’86 Class C), Charlotte (’84 and ’83 Class C) and Cuba (’79 Class C) along with the two titles for Lyons in 1980 and 1989.
What’s at stake: A spot in the NYS Class C final against either Berne-Knox-Westerlo (II/ 20-6 No. 3 NYSSWA) or North Salem (I/15-8 No. 4 NYSSWA).
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