The Harlan County Lady Bears continued their dominance of the 13th Region in a 56-28 win over the Corbin Lady Redhounds on Thursday.

It didn’t take long for Harlan County to take control of the game. In what was one of their best defensive performances of the season, the Lady Bears held Corbin to their second-lowest scoring output of the season at 28 points.

Harlan County jumped out to a 20-4 lead after the fourth quarter and cruised to the win. Corbin coach Isaac Wilson said his team was never able to overcome the huge first-quarter deficit.

“It was a tough start for our team,” he said. “We have to come to each game ready to go from the start.”

Corbin continued to struggle to get much going on offense in the second quarter. Cora Bo Stevens knocked down a 3-pointer for the Lady Redhounds’ only made field goal in the period. Harlan County had seven different players score in the second as they extended their lead to 36-8 at the half.

The third and fourth quarters were much better for the Lady Redhounds. Wilson’s squad had their best minutes of the night in the third quarter. With the game out of reach, a basket and a pair of free throws from Hannah Medlin and Shelby Stewart gave Corbin some life heading into the final quarter, down 47-23.

Marisa Scott and Bailey Stewart each scored for the Redhounds in the fourth quarter. Both teams began to clear their bench to finish the game as the Lady Bears cruised to the win. Wilson said that despite the loss, he was happy with the way his team responded in the second half of the game.

“I thought in the second half we brought a lot more effort and energy and I really thought it showed,” said Wilson. “Getting this team to understand we need to begin every game from here on out with that energy is our biggest thing as a coaching staff.”

Stevens led Corbin scoring with seven points. Jayden Robertson and Shelby Stewart each scored five.

K.K. Johnson led the Lady Bears with 19 points. Breann Turner finished the game with nine.

The Lady Bears played the second half without senior guard Blair Green due to a sore ankle that forced her to miss two games recently.

Harlan County (22-2) will close its regular season schedule on Feb. 16 at home against Knox Central.

———

The Harlan County junior varsity team bounced back from a lackluster effort against Letcher Central to defeat Corbin 53-17.

Sophomore guards Hannah Wood and Morgan Blakley scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead the 9-2 Lady Bears. Freshman guard Jacey Lewis tossed in 10 points. Kassy Owens scored eight, followed by Dixie Ewing with four, Emily Long and Kelly Beth Hoskins with three each and Haley Middleton with two.

Shelby Stewart led Corbin with seven points.

———

Harlan County 56, Corbin 28

HARLAN COUNTY (22-2)

Phebe McHargue 3-9 1-2 7, K.K. Johnson 7-9 2-2 19, Blair Green 2-5 0-0 4, Lainey Cox 4-10 0-1 8, Breann Turner 4-9 1-2 9, Shelby McDaniel 3-5 0-0 6, Morgan Napier 0-1 1-4 1, Reanna Middleton 0-2 0-0 0, Hannah Wood 1-1 0-1 2, Morgan Blakley 0-1 0-0 0, Macie Napier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-52 5-12 56.

CORBIN (7-20)

Marissa Scott 1 1-2 3, Cora Stevens 2 1-1 7, Meghan Mills 1 0-1 1, Brayli Warren 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Robertson 2 1-2 5, Shelby Stewart 1 3-4 5, Bailey Stewart 1 0-0 2, Hannah Medlin 1 2-2 4, Kami Garland 0 0-0 0, Britnee Barnett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 9-13 28.

Harlan County 20 16 11 9 — 56

Corbin 4 4 15 5 — 28

3-point goals: Harlan County 3-10 (Johnson 3-4, Green 0-1, McDaniel 0-1, Middleton 0-1, McHargue 0-3), Corbin 1 (Stevens 1). Rebounds: Harlan County 35 (Cox 13, Turner 6, Morgan Napier 4, McHargue 3, Johnson 3, McDaniel 3, Blakley 2, Green 1).