LEXINGTON — Whether it was the six losses to begin the season or the three wins that followed, the Harlan Lady Dragons have played much the same way every night.

The Lady Dragons have found a way to play hard every night and have kept every game, with the exception of Clay County and Harlan County, very competitive. Harlan saw its three-game winning streak come to an end Friday but not before throwing a scare into Henry County in the Jim Lankster Classic at Lexington Sayre.

Harlan trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter, then lost standout forward Natalee King to five fouls, but somehow found a way to tie Henry County in the final minute before falling 51-48.

“It’s fun to coach this team because these girls play hard. We just have to find a way to clean up mistakes,” Harlan coach Tiffany Hamm said. “I felt our pressure gave them trouble. We just went through a stretch in the third quarter when we had trouble scoring and couldn’t get in the press, but even then we battled back and got back in the game.”

Senior center Madison Dockter was a matchup problem for Harlan with a 26-point, 17-rebound effort to lead the 5-3 Lady Cats.

“We did a lot better job on her in the second half,” Hamm said. “We stayed tight on her and slowed her down the second half.”

Senior guard Payeton Charles led the 3-7 Lady Dragons with 20 points. Seventh-grade guard Ella Karst added 14 points. Charles and Karst led the comeback in the fourth quarter, combining for four of five Harlan baskets in the period. With Harlan down by five, Charles hit a 3-pointer and Karst lofted the tying basket over the 6-foot Dockter with one minute left.

Dockter followed her miss with a basket for Henry County with 30 seconds to play. Harlan had two opportunities to answer but turned the ball over both times. Ella White hit one of two at the line with 7.3 seconds left for a three-point lead. Charles’ 3-point shot at the buzzer was off the mark.

Harlan (3-8) closed tournament play on Saturday, falling 67-45 to Frankfort. No scoring information was available at press time.

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Henry County 51, Harlan 48

HARLAN (3-7)

Payeton Charles 5-20 6-9 20, Ella Karst 5-11 2-5 14, Savanna Smith 2-3 0-0 6, Natalee King 2-4 1-2 5, Alli Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Angel Wynn 1-6 0-0 2, Reagan Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Peighton Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Kaylee Leslie 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Cole 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-49 11-18 48.

HENRY COUNTY (5-3)

Jasey Thompson 0-7 3-4 3, Rylee Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Ella White 2-8 1-5 6, Kaylee Tingle 3-8 2-4 8, Madison Docktry 10-20 6-12 26, Bridgette Keeling 2-3 1-6 5, Lizzy Young 1-4 1-2 3. Totals: 18-51 14-33 51.

Harlan 13 7 11 17 — 48

Henry County 9 15 17 10 — 51

3-point goals: Harlan 7-22 (Charles 4-12, Smith 2-3, Karst 1-3, R. Jones 0-1, Cole 0-1, Wynn 0-2), Henry County 1-7 (White 1-3, Mitchell 0-1, Thompson 0-3). Rebounds: Harlan 28 (King 9, Wynn 6, Karst 5, Thompson 4, Leslie 4), Henry County 41 (Dockter 17). Turnovers: Harlan 16, Henry County 17. Fouled out: Harlan (King).