For the first time in a while, Harlan guard Peyshaunce Wynn looked like her old self in her return from an ankle injury that sidelined her for several weeks.
Unfortunately, for the Lady Dragons, Whitley County forward Madisyn Hopkins played like her old self also as her 32-point night was the difference in a hard-fought 62-58 win Monday at Harlan.
The Lady Dragons led 49-47 after a 3 by Wynn with 5:30 left before Whitley went on a 9-0 run on baskets by Jonna Rice and Aubrey Fore followed by a 3 and then a jumper from Jaylee Cox. Cheyenne Rhymer, who led Harlan with 21 points, cut the deficit to four with a 3 of her own. Hopkins took over from there with consecutive baskets off strong drives to push the lead back to seven. A Wynn 3 got Harlan as close as four again, and the Lady Dragons had chances to get closer but missed three straight 3-point attempts, Hopkins rejected the last try and ran down the loose ball to clinch the win.
“(Hopkins) is a tough player,” Harlan coach Mackenzie Varner said. “She is aggressive to the rim and is strong. You have to have a game plan for her. We made adjustments, but there were times we lost her in transition or the help defense wasn’t there.”
Cox added 11 points for the 11-11 Lady Colonels, who trailed 17-14 after one quarter and 28-27 at halftime as Harlan stayed close all the way.
“We thought this was one of the best games we’ve played. Whitley is a top five team in the region, or at least close to it, and I thought we played with them,” Varner said. “If we’re making it hard on the other team we’re doing a good job. We had two with 20-plus and others close to 10, so that’s going to be hard to beat. We hope to use this momentum for the rest of the week.”
Wynn scored 20 points, including two 3s in the fourth quarter, and showed more aggressiveness and confidence with the ball.
“I was very proud of her. She played a lot of good basketball today,” Varner said. “She was aggressive to the rim and kept her composure when things got a little heated. She was a general on the floor, and that’s what we need from her all the time. I think her ankle had been giving her trouble, and it’s been a huge adjustments from last year to this year to play without Kylie (Noe) and Aymanni (Wynn). This is a good time for her to have that coming out game.”
The 7-15 Lady Dragons return to action Tuesday at home against Lynn Camp.
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Whitley County (62) — Jonna Rice 9, Madisyn Hopkins 32, Jaylee Cox 11, Aubrey Fore 8, Cristen Siler 0, Lydia Hale 2.
Harlan (58) — Peyshaunce Wynn 20, Addison Campbell 9, Cheyenne Rhymer 21, Raegan Goodman 7, Shelby Doan 1.

Whitley County 14 13 16 19 — 62
Harlan 17 10 15 16 — 58