t’s only a matter of time before the 13th Region discovers that leaving seventh grader Reagan Clem open is a really bad idea if you’re trying to beat the Harlan County Lady Bears.
Clay County learned Saturday afternoon as Clem hit five 3-pointers in a 19-point effort to help the Lady Bears win 69-49.
The Lady Tigers, like many teams, focused their defensive efforts on senior guard Ella Karst, who still managed a 28-point performance.
“She’s a great shooter, but she’s also attacking the lane more,” Harlan County coach Anthony Nolan said of Clem. “That balance is something we were lacking early. We’re getting contributions from other people now. They were chasing Ella all night. I was proud of how they were able to bounce back from playing a district game last night.”
With the win, the Lady Bears evened their record for the season at 9-9 and continued to pick up momentum after a slow start with four starters graduating.
“We’ve played most of the teams rated ahead of us, sometimes twice, so we’re battled-tested now, and I can see kids growing up,” Nolan said. “We’ve still got some areas that need improvement, including our help-side defense. We also still need to be more aggressive against pressure, but I think our kids are looking for each other better and we’re becoming more consistent. This was a quick turnaround from last night, but I was happy to see Paige (Phillips) and Whitley (Teague) crash the boards. Reagan is stretching the defense, and Ella is looking for her teammates.
Freshman forward Madison Penland scored 19 points and senior guard Sidney Jones added 14 to lead the Lady Tigers.
After a slow start a night earlier against Middlesboro, the Lady Bears raced to 15-2 lead against Clay as the Lady Tigers turned the ball over eight times in the opening period. Karst had three baskets in the opening quarter while Teague and Phillips added two each as Harlan County built a 19-7 lead.
The Lady Bears hit only four of 13 shots in the second quarter as Clay won the period 12-11 and trailed 30-19 at the break. Karst carried the HC offense with three baskets.
Harlan County’s lead grew to 43-30 after three quarters before Clem took over in the final period with four straight 3-pointers followed by a driving jumper. Karst had two baskets in the quarter while Cheyenne Rhymer added three as part of a nine-of-16 shooting performance in the final period.
Harlan County returns to action Tuesday at home against Lynn Camp.
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Kylee Runions scored 17 points and Jaylee Cochran added 12 as Harlan County improved to 7-1 in junior varsity action with a 46-18 win. Lacey Robinson scored six, followed by Jaycee Simpson with five, Whitney Noe with four and Allie Adams with two.
Zoey Feltner paced Clay County with nine points. Kalynne Jones added three. Ella Samples, Kaylee Ruth and Lexie Swafford scored two each each.
Harlan County suffered its first junior loss last week at South Laurel, falling 41-30.
Cochran scored 12 for the Lady Bears. Robinson added six, while Reagan Clem and Runions added four each. Noe and Simpson scored two each.
Kenna Anders led South Laurel with 17 points.