Bell County senior Kairi Lamb established command of the painted area from the outset Tuesday night against host Harlan and led the Lady Cats to a 59-37 52nd District victory.
Lamb scored 13 of Bell County’s 16 first-quarter points and grabbed eight of her game-high 18 rebounds during the opening eight minutes to help propel the visitors to their 14th win in 18 outings.
Lamb finished with a game-high 26 points and drew the praise of coach David Teague.
“Big effort from senior center Kairi Lamb,” Teague said. “She faces a lot of double teams, and I felt like tonight we did a good job of getting her the ball in good situations.”
After a 3-point basket by Harlan sophomore Addison Campbell tied the score at 3-3, the Lady Cats scored 11 unanswered points, 10 of which came from close range by Lamb.
Bell County led 16-8 after one quarter.
The Lady Cats opened the second quarter on a 9-2 scoring run that was capped by a long 3-point basket by senior Neveah Allen and Bell County led 29-14 at halftime.
Bell County scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and led by as many as 24 points, 40-16, before Campbell and senior Cheyanne Rhymer combined for an 8-3 Harlan scoring run. The Lady Dragons trailed 44-24 heading into the final eight minutes.
Consecutive triples by Allen and freshman Bristal Jordan, along with an inside basket by Lamb, established Bell County’s largest lead of the evening at 54-27.
“Good district win on the road for our team,” Teague said. “I was proud of our effort and thought the girls did a great job of doing the things we had been discussing in practice.  We defended well and went to the offensive boards well. We must continue to do those things.”
Allen was the lone other Bell County player to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points. Allen knocked down three 3-point shots.
Harlan got a team-high 12 points from Campbell, while Rhymer added nine points.
Next up for Harlan (7-9) is a game at Harlan County on Jan. 30, while Bell County will play host to Corbin on Friday.
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Bell County (59) — Kairi Lamb 26, Nevaeh Allen 15, Lyla Scearse 3, Aubree Miracle 4, Bristal Jordan 3, Mattie Hatfield 2, Brylee Redmond 3, Karley Foster 0, Amelia Riddings 0, Jaelyn Reeder 2, Olivia Brown 0.
Harlan (37) – Addison Campbell 12, Cheyanne Rhymer 9, Shelby Doan 2, Peyshaunce Wynn 3, Raegan Goodman 7, Jerrah Phillips 4.

Bell County 16-14-14-15–59
Harlan 8-6-10-13–37