Ronnie Lyons was a 5' 10" sharpshooting, high scoring guard for the Mason County Royals from 1967 to 1970. What Lyons lacked in size he made up with quickness and uncanny shooting skills. Lyons poured in the points from long range (much longer than the current three-point arc) when there was no three-point shot. Crowds packed The Fieldhouse to watch Lyons and the Royals play. Lyons played at the University of Kentucky and was on Adolph Rupp's final team as a sophomore. Lyons was also a baseball star at Mason County. He was selected by the New York Mets in the 38th round of the 1970 First-Year Player Draft. Here are some of his basketball career highlights at Mason County and UK:
After serving as an assistant coach for seven seasons, 31 year old Gary Jefferson was named head coach of the Mason County Royals in 1973. Jefferson, a graduate of Cumberland College, coached the Royals two seasons compiling a 36-33 record. His first team suffered a heart-breaking 70-69 loss to the Fleming County Panthers in the championship game of the 1974 10th Region Tournament. Jefferson guided the Royals to a district title in 1975.
The Corde brothers- Tom and Mike- are members of the Royals' 1,000 point club and both played for the Ohio University Bobcats. Tom graduated from Mason County in 1968 after playing for coaches Herb Childers and Jim Mitchell. Mike is a 1972 graduate of Mason County High School. He played for Coach Jim Mitchell. Here are the Corde brothers' career highlights at Mason County and Ohio University: 
Gerald "Jerry" King was Mason County's first all-state basketball player. King was named third team all-state by the Lexington Herald-Leader in 1962 after he averaged 19.4 points a game his senior season. King is 47th on the Royals' all-time scoring list with 728 points. He was a junior when Mason County played its first season. King was a U.S. Marine and served in Vietnam. When he returned home, he played basketball at Morehead State University. After college, he played for several elite softball teams. King was named to the American Softball Associations' 1970 Team of Decade. He was inducted into the Legends Club at the Worth Softball Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ohio and the National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma last year. King, a former Maysville police officer, resides in Maysville.
Jim Mitchell was hired as Mason County's third head coach in May of 1966. Mitchell was a standout player at Lafayette High School in Lexington. He served in the Army in Europe from 1951-53. In 1951 Mitchell made the all-Army finals in the Olympic Trials for the 440-yard run. He lettered in basketball, baseball and track at Eastern Kentucky State College. Mitchell was a teacher and athletic director at Berea High School, then a teacher and coach at Harrodsburg High School before moving to Vevay, Indiana in 1963. Mitchell came to Mason County from Vevay and coached the Royals seven seasons compiling a 160-74 record. Six of his teams won 20 or more games. The 1971-72 team won 30 games- a school record at the time. Mitchell guided the Royals to four district titles and three runner-up finishes in the 10th Region Tournament. Mason County had its first losing season (8-21) in 1972-73 and Mitchell resigned on May 14, 1973. Mitchell had a lot of success after leaving Mason County. He was the head coach at Southwestern High School in Hanover, Indiana for two seasons and was an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati under Coach Gale Catlett for two seasons before being named head basketball coach at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan in 1976. He later served as head basketball coach and athletic director at Scott High School and was a scout for the Los Angles Clippers for many years.
Herb Childers, a 26 year old native of Pulaski County, was hired as Mason County's second coach on August 23, 1963. Former Maysville High School basketball and baseball star Allen Smith was hired as the assistant coach. Childers was a graduate of Carson Newman College. He coached one season at Burnside and four seasons at Ferguson. In three seasons as the Royals' coach, Childers had a 51-30 record. His teams won district championships in 1964 and 1966.
