As the 13th Region’s top ranked senior, Bell County 6-foot-3 center Kairi Lamb has been a matchup nightmare through much of her high school career. She was too much for the Harlan County Lady Bears on Wednesday with a 26-point, 14-rebound performance in Bell’s 60-42 win.
“I told the girls in practice yesterday that we have to play through Kairi,” Bell County coach David Teague said. “I thought the girls did a really good job of finding her, and she did a good job of kicking the ball out. We had several other kids step up and do some things.”
Despite losing junior guard Gracie Barton to a season-ending injury and two reserves leaving the team, the Lady Cats have all but clinched the district’s top seed with a 4-0 district mark along with a 15-5 record overall.
“We hit a pretty tough stretch of games when we lost some kids, and we had some girls who had to grow up quickly,” Teague said. “A lot of teams are in that boat, but I told the girls tonight I was very proud of how they executed, both offensively and on the defensive end of the floor. These district wins are huge, and we have a couple more coming up.”
Senior guard Nevaeh Allen added 15 points for the Lady Cats.
Freshman guard Jaycee Simpson led the Lady Bears with 14 points. Harlan County fell to 8-9 overall and 0-2 in district action with their fifth loss in the last seven games.
“We’re not shooting the ball very well right now,” Harlan County coach Gary Greer said. “We did a better job of getting down in the lane tonight for some floaters before Lamb got to us, but they just aren’t going in. When you miss a few shots that leads to taking bad shots and over penetrating. We’re in a slump right now and it’s obvious. I’m going to keep working at it and demand they keep working at it so we can turn this thing around.
“We’ve not played well since the Gatlinburg tournament except for spurts against Belfry and Leslie County. We’re in a funk right now. Lamb is a great player, but I thought we made her work and did a good job rebounding. We had our opportunities to make a run but we’re missing shots, including at the free throw line. I’m not quitting though. I will continue to work at it and demand anyone who plays for me continues to work or they won’t play.”
Both teams will play in district doubleheaders Friday with Bell County at Middlesboro and Harlan County at home against Harlan.