On the same floor where the first girls 52nd District Tournament was played 50 years ago, the Harlan County Lady Bears added another chapter to the tournament’s storied history — this one filed under “upsets.”
Bell County’s run of five straight district titles came to a shocking end at the hands of the youngest Harlan County team in program history. The fourth-seeded Lady Bears hit 12 3-pointers and held off a fourth-quarter comeback to win 59-51 and earn a spot in Thursday’s championship game.
“Our little group believed,” Harlan County coach Gary Greer said. “We thought if we could rebound and hit shots, we could win. We did a really good job rebounding and hit some big shots.”
Despite a lineup featuring two eighth graders and two freshmen, the Lady Bears won the turnover battle, 19-16.
“It was almost like we were playing completely different roles, like we were the young team and they were the older team,” Bell County coach David Teague said. “I haven’t looked at any stats, but I’d hate to see how many turnovers we had. We talked about valuing the basketball in the haflcourt and make sure we locate shooters. I thought we played hard, but we didn’t do a good job of locating shooters. Give them credit for making shots.”
Greer had said earlier the Lady Bears had to have a big night from the 3-point line to beat good teams, and the Lady Bears responded by hitting 12 of 25.
“We felt if we could hit 10-plus 3s we could win,” Greer said. “These kids have worked their butts off. They accepted me and showed up and worked hard every day. Some people get really caught up in wins and losses, but we’ve just focused on working hard and developing. I’m tickled to death. They beat a really good team with some of the region’s top players. I have the utmost respect for coach Teague and his program. He’s ran this district for several years. This says a lot about our girls’ character and will to win. We probably would have folded earlier in the year when they came back and took the lead, but these girls have grown so much, and I am happy to be their coach.”
All four HCHS guards reached double figures in scoring, led by eighth-grade guards Reagan Clem, with five 3-pointers and 17 points, and Jaycee Simpson with three 3-pointers and 14 points. Kylee Runions hit two 3s and scored 11, while Jaylee Cochran added one trey and 10 points.
All but two of Bell County’s 19 field goals came from two players as 6-3 junior center Kairi Lamb had 25 points and 17 rebounds while senior guard Lauren McGeorge added 19 points and eight rebounds.
McGeorge had three baskets in the first quarter and Lamb added two as Bell took a 13-8 advantage after one period. Bell still led by five midway through the second quarter when the Lady Bears got hot from the perimeter. Simpson hit two 3s while Clem and Taylynn Napier added one each in a 15-4 run as HCHS took a 27-21 lead at the break.
Gracie Barton’s three-point play pulled Bell within two in the third quarter. A Runions basket and Clem 3 pushed the lead back to eight before Lamb hit two free throws and a 3 to close the period and cut the deficit to 38-37.
Lamb gave Bell the lead for the first time since the second quarter with her basket to open the fourth period. The lead changed hands two more times before Cochran’s 3 with six minutes left put the Lady Bears ahead to stay. McGeorge cut the deficit to one twice with 3s, but Simpson started an 8-0 run with a 3 of her own followed by five straight points from Clem to stretch the lead to nine with 1:15 left. The Lady Bears were able to spread the floor at that point and run out the final minute with Runions and Cochran each hitting free throws.
“The longer you let them hang around like that, the more confidence they get,” Teague said. “The rim seems to get smaller and you start pressing a little bit. We made that run, and I thought we had the momentum, but then we didn’t do a good job rotating and they hit a 3. We never did recover from there.”
Harlan County will play Harlan at 7 on Thursday in the 52nd District finals. The county rivals played in the finals three times previously, all from 2016 to 2018 when the two reeled off three straight 13th Region Tournament titles.
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Harlan County 59, Bell County 51
HARLAN COUNTY (9-21)
Jaycee Simpson 4-8 3-4 14, Reagan Clem 6-12 0-0 17, Jaylee Cochran 3-10 3-4 10, Kylee Runions 4-14 1-2 11, Lacey Robinson 2-4 0-0 4, Raegan Landa 0-2 0-0 0, Jaylynn Napier 1-4 0-0 3, Lauren Lewis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-55 7-10 59.
BELL COUNTY (19-9)
Lauren McGeorge 7-18 2-4 19, Lyla Scearse 1-3 0-0 3, Gracie Barton 1-9 2-3 4, Neveah Allen 0-5 0-0 0, Kairi Lamb 10-16 4-9 25, Kylee Greer-Gann 0-1 0-0 0, Kelsie Middleton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-52 8-16 51.

Harlan County 8 19 11 21 — 59
Bell County 13 8 16 14 — 51
3-point goals: Harlan County 12-25 (Clem 5-8, Simpson 3-4, Runions 2-4, Napier 1-2, Cochran 1-7), Bell County 5-23 (McGeorge 3-11, Lamb 1-2, Scearse 1-3, Allen 0-3, Barton 0-4). Rebounds: Harlan County 30 (Cochran 8, Robinson 6, Simpson 5, Landa 5, Clem 3, Napier 2, Runions 1), Bell County 35 (Lamb 17, McGeorge 8, Scearse 4, Barton 3, Allen 3). Turnovers: Harlan County 16, Bell County 19. Fouled out: None.