BARBOURVILLE —Going up against a team that beat them by an average of 34 points in two meetings a season ago, the Harlan County Lady Bears showed Tuesday they may be growing up. Harlan County led by as many as six points in the fourth quarter at Knox Central against a Lady Panthers’ squad that advanced to last year’s 13th Region Tournament final four and enters this season ranked third. The Lady Bears were still up by two with less than two minutes left before Knox reeled off nine unanswered points on the way to a 67-62 win.
“We lost five seniors, but we have a good core group coming back. We handled it pretty well late in the game, but we struggled all night long and a lot of the credit goes to coach (Gary) Greer and his team,” Knox Central coach Steve Warren said.
Harlan County hit 12 of 28 from beyond the 3-point line, helping them stay in the game all night.
“We knew that coming in,” Warren said of the Lady Bears’ shooting. “We lost shooters at time and had lapses on defense.”
Junior guard McKenzie Hensley led the Lady Panthers’ late run with 10 of her team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Shelbie Mills and Kaylynn Smith each added 17 points.
Jaycee Simpson led a balanced Harlan County attack with 17 points. Reagan Clem chipped in with 14 points, followed by Kylee Runions with 11 and Jaylee Cochran with 10.
“We competed and we played hard, and I am proud of the effort,” Greer said. “We made some mistakes at crucial times but it is expected early in the season. I tell them it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. We’re just trying to get better every day. Once they took the lead we had to gamble. We made some mistakes, but we will go back to work tomorrow.”
Two Mills 3s gave Knox an 8-6 lead midway through the first quarter, but Taylynn Napier provided a lift off the bench for HC with two baskets followed by two free throws from Raegan Landa to put the Lady Bears up 12-10 after one quarter.’
Hensley had eight points, including a three-point play, as Knox opened the second period with 14 straight points.
After Greer expressed his displeasure during a timeout with how his Lady Bears were handling Knox Central’s pressure, Harlan County responded with a 14-0 run of its own sparked by two Cochran treys and one by Clem to go up 27-26 before two free throws by Mills to close the half gave the Lady Panthers a 27-26 lead at the break.
“We struggled early, then built an 11- or 12-point lead, then just relaxed,” Warren said, “Coach Greer had his bunch ready to play, and they fought all night. We were really lucky to win.”
Simpson hit two 3s as she reeled off 10 points as part of a 13-4 run capped by Runions’ trey to put the Lady Bears up 40-34 with 3:43 left in the third quarter. A Hensley 3 helped Knox cut the deficit to 44-41 heading into the final period.
“Once we settled down and ran our trap offense the way we were supposed to we got to the middle of the floor and kicked it out. We shot the ball pretty well tonight,” Greer said.
Harlan County returns to action Thursday at Johnson Central before opening its home schedule Friday against Knott Central. Knox Central will play Floyd Central on Dec. 10 in the first round of the WYMT Mountain Classic at Knott Central.
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Freshman guard Kailey Gambrel-Garrison scored 17 points and eighth-grade forward Charis Frederick added 11 as Knox Central won 49-31 in junior varsity action.
Eighth-grade guard Taylynn Napier led the Lady Bears with 13 points. Freshman guard Kenadee Sturgill added 10. Vanessa Griffith scored three. Raegan Landa and Shasta Brackett contributed two each. Natalie Moore chipped in with one.