Gallery • 3 Photos

Kim Henson

Harlan County point guard Ella Karst drove the baseline against Knox Central's Halle Collins in Thursday's game. Karst led the Lady Bears with 23 points, but Collins had 26 to lead Knox to an 81-60 victory.

Led by perhaps the 13th Region’s most talented player in 5-11 sophomore forward Halle Collins, the Knox Central Lady Panthers present a tough challenge for opponents by just trying to slow down a post attack that features Collins and 6-1 senior Emily Mills.
When the Lady Panthers are providing a perimeter complement as they did Thursday with nine-of-16 shooting from beyond the 3-point line, they are pretty close to impossible to stop as Harlan County discovered during an 81-60 loss that featured some tournament-style aggressiveness on both sides.
Collins led the 1-0 Lady Panthers with a 26-point, 13-rebound night. Sophomore guard Timberly Frederick added 15 points on five 3-pointers. McKenzie Hensley came off the bench to score 13, while Mills added 10.
“Collins is a great player who uses her body well and can get it out to their shooters. They hit some big shots tonight, and that makes them very hard to guard,” Harlan County coach Anthony Nolan said. “They are a very scrappy team and we did our best to stay with them, but we just missed too many layups and free throws. That just killed our momentum.”
Junior guard Ella Karst did her best to keep the Lady Bears In the game with 23 points. Senior guard Hailey Austin added 12 as HCHS fell to 1-1.
Harlan County will play at Clay Count on Saturday in a 4:30 p.m. game. Knox Central will play host to Harlan on Monday.
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Led by 12 points from sophomore forward Aubrey Jones, Knox Central coasted to a 39-16 win in junior varsity action.
Cheyenne Rhymer paced the 0-2 Lady Bears with seven points. Maddi Middleton scored three. Whitley Teague and Jaylee Cochran scored two each. Alley Stewart and Kylee Runions added one each.