Regional champions in 2015, the Bell County Lady Cats have watched both Harlan and Harlan County displace them at the top of both the 52nd District and 13th Region over the past three years.

The Lady Cats began what they hope will be a climb back to the top on Friday with a 56-42 victory over visiting Harlan in the Lady Cats’ district opener.

“Your district games are always important with seeding, and it’s always good to get a district win,” Bell County coach David Teague said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but I liked how they kept fighting and battling. It’s a big game for us.”

Harlan (0-4) experienced some familiar problems in the loss with 25 turnovers and a bad night shooting, including 26 percent from both the field (17 of 65) and free throw line (five of 19).

“That’s a good veteran ballclub and they preserved their lead even without their best player (Abby Harris) out a while due to fouls,” Harlan coach Tiffany Hamm said. “We fought back. Effort is not an issue with this team, but I told them we still have to start executing better and making some free throws.”

Despite her foul problems, Harris led the 3-1 Lady Cats with 17 points. Ashley Middleton and Abigail Cornett added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Harlan was led by Natalee King with 14 points and Payeton Charles with 11.

The Lady Dragons got up 11 shots in the first three minutes with their fast-paced attack, but they missed them all as Bell took a 6-0 lead. The Lady Dragons hit only three of 18 shots in the period and turned the ball over six times. Bell built a 15-7 advantage as Middleton and Ashtyn Meyers each had two baskets for the Lady Cats.

The Lady Dragons’ offensive problems continued in the second quarter with eight missed in their first nine shots, along with eight more turnovers. Bell’s lead grew to 16, at 27-11, as Meyers and Brea Browning each had baskets in a 6-0 run.

Harlan hit three of 17 shots in the quarter, including a basket by Reagan Jones that closed the quarter to cut the deficit to 31-16 at halftime.

Madison Cole and Charles each hit 3-pointers to ignite a Harlan comeback in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 11. Two baskets by King and one by Charles in a 6-0 run pulled Harlan within seven before Middleton broke the Bell drought with a basket. A steal and layup by Savanna Smith and free throw by Ella Karst pulled Harlan within six, at 39-33, going into the final period.

Harlan got as close as five in the fourth quarter and still trailed by only seven when Harris returned to the game with 3:15 left after going to the bench earlier with her fourth foul. Harris, a junior guard who is the Lady Cats’ only returning starter, helped put the game away with two straight baskets on strong moves to the basket, including a three-point play, as the lead grew to 14.

“Both teams are young, so you’ll see things look good for a while, then not so good,” Teague said. “We played well defensively the first half, then their defense forced us into mistakes the second half, but we did enough to hold on for the win.”

Harlan will travel to Knox Central on Tuesday. Bell County will be at Harlan County on Tuesday for a girls/boys district doubleheader.

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Sophomore guard Sarah Kidwell scored 15 points to lead Bell County past Harlan 49-29 in junior varsity action. Ashtyn Meyers added nine for the 2-0 Lady Cats, followed by Lenia Miracle with eight, Taliyah McQueen with seven, Nadene Johnson with six, and Mary-Kate Smith and Makenzie Napier added two each.

Emma Owens led the 0-2 Lady Dragons with seven points. Angel Wynn scored five. Reagan Jones, Campbell Nunez and Aymani Wynn added four each. Peighton Jones tossed in three. Makayla Sizemore added two.

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Bell County 56, Harlan 42

HARLAN (0-4)

Payeton Charles 5-21 0-1 11, Ella Karst 0-7 1-2 1, Savanna Smith 1-5 0-3 2, Natalee King 6-17 2-8 14, Alli Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Madison Cole 2-5 0-0 6, Angel Wynn 0-2 2-2 2, Reagan Jones 2-4 0-1 4, Peighton Jones 1-2 0-1 2, Emma Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-65 5-19 42.

BELL COUNTY (3-1)

Abby Harris 4-13 9-11 17, Ashtyn Meyers 2-9 1-4 5, Abigail Cornett 5-8 0-2 10, Brea Browning 3-8 2-4 8, Ashley Middleton 5-10 3-4 13, Sarah Kidwell 0-3 0-0 0, Mackenzie Griffin 0-0 2-4 2, Lenia Miracle 0-2 1-2 1, Mary-Kate Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-53 18-31 56

Harlan 7 9 17 9 — 42

Bell County 15 16 8 17 — 56

3-point goals: Harlan 3-19 (Cole 2-4 Charles 1-8, Karst 0-1, King 0-1, Wynn 0-2, Smith 0-3), Bell County 0-6 (Meyers 0-1, Cornett 0-1, Middleton 0-1, Miracle 0-1, Harris 0-2). Rebounds: Harlan 44 (King 11, Charles 7, Smith 6, R. Jones 5, P. Jones 5 Thompson 4, Karst 3, Cole 2, Owens 1), Bell County 34 (Harris 9, Browning 9, Middleton 4, Smith 4, Cornett 3, Meyers 2, Kidwell 2, Griffin 1). Turnovers: Harlan 25, Bell County 21. Fouled out: Harlan (Thompson, R. Jones, Karst).