PINEVILLE — Lacking both size and experience, the Harlan County Lady Bears have to make up for it with heart and hustle. They showed plenty of both Friday in earning their first victory of the season with a 62-48 victory at Pineville.
“I thought we did a good job of getting ball pressure and with our traps. We made them throw some cross-court passes that we were able to get to,” Harlan County coach Gary Greer said. “We played extremely hard and got the 50-50 balls and rebounds. We have to do that to get where we want to go.”
Even with their defense focused on keeping standout Pineville center Rachel Howard, one of the 13th Region’s top players, under control, the Lady Bears were also able to cause problems for the young Lady Lions’ guard with their press. Pineville turned the ball over six times in the opening quarter as HCHS grabbed the momentum early. The Lady Bears also got several second shots with their hustle on the boards, leading to a 32-24 rebounding advantage.
“I told them at halftime the difference in the game was them beating us on the boards,” Pineville coach Elgie Green said. “They wanted the ball more than we did and went and got it. We didn’t the things in our press offense we worked on in practice. We threw the tough pass too many times instead of the easy one.”
Howard led the 1-3 Lady Lions with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s always good to get a win on the road. Pineville is a good team and well coached. Both of the Greens (Elgie and Debbie) have done a tremendous job everywhere they have been,” Greer said. “Howard is a very good player. We had a difficult time guarding her, but we made her work for it. We had some different things we were trying to do. They did a good job of getting her the ball.”
Another big factor in the win for Harlan County was the play of freshman point guard Jaycee Simpson, who finished with 27 points with five 3-pointers.
“We do have young guards, but so does Harlan County, and their guards outplayed us,” Green said. “Other than offensive rebounds and turnovers, I thought Jaycee Simpson was the biggest difference in the game. She made things happen.”
“Jaycee works extremely hard. She’s an excellent defender who gets her hands on a lot of balls,” Greer said. “She was down on herself after the South Laurel game (a 67-33 loss Tuesday), but she bounced back tonight. She showed a lot of toughness, and I’m really proud of her.”
Freshman guard Reagan Clem added 10 points for the 1-3 Lady Bears. Senior center Lacey Robinson chipped in with nine points.
The Lady Bears’ pressure was effective early against Pineville’s young guards as HCHS took a 13-6 lead midway through the opening period as Simpson hit two 3-pointers and Robinson added one. After two timeouts by Green, the Lady Lions had more success getting into their offense and cut the deficit to 19-15 at the break with the help of two treys by Hannah Abner.
Another Abner 3 and a trey from Katie Hammontree gave Pineville its first lead at 23-22. The lead changed hands six times over the final five minutes of the half. Two baskets by Kylee Runions helped HC close with a 7-0 run to go up 36-30 at halftime.
Simpson and Jaylee Cochran each hit 3s early in the third quarter as the Lady Bears extended the lead to 10. Simpson had three of the four HC baskets in the period as the lead was still at 10 (49-39) going into the final period.
Howard and Madison Johnson pulled Pineville within six with 5:30 to play, but Simpson came up big with another 3. Taylynn Napier also added a 3 as the Lady Bears moved ahead by 11 with 3:30 left. Howard had three of the Lady Lions’ four baskets in the quarter, but HC was able to maintain a comfortable advantage down the stretch with only one turnover in the last quarter and nine for the game.
Harlan County returns to action Tuesday at home against defending 13th Region champ North Laurel. Pineville plays host to Middlesboro on Tuesday.
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Kenadee Sturgill scored 15 points and Taylynn Napier added 11 as Harlan County coasted to a 51-23 win in junior varsity action.
Kelsie Middleton tossed in seven points for the 2-2 Lady Bears and was followed by Raegan Landa with six, Shasta Brackett with five, Vanessa Griffith with three and Khloe Carr and Natalie Moore with two each.
Allison Fugate led Pineville with 13 points. Jacklynn Patrick, Whitley Miracle and Addison Fugate scored three each. Olivia Warren added one.