Both in the middle of a.transition season that hasn’t started very well, Whitley County and Harlan hoped to turn the momentum in the first game of 2019 on Thursday at Harlan.

Whitley County (4-10) pulled away in the fourth quarter by hitting 11 of 11 at the free throw line to claim a 57-44 victory.

“We have struggled against a really difficult schedule, so it’s good for these kids’ confidence to come over here and pick up a win,” Whitley County coach David Halcomb said. “We were without two starters, so it gave some other kids an opportunity to step up. I thought they answered the call. We do have the material to be pretty good when we get it all together.”

Both teams were short-handed going into the game as Harlan played without junior forward Natalee King and Whitley was without junior forward Lyndi Kate Lawson and junior guard Lindsey Shope.

Junior forward Mackenzie Smith scored 14 points to lead the Lady Colonels, who hit 22 of 28 at the line for the game.

“That is something we’ve worked really hard on and an area where we have struggled early in the year,” Halcomb said. “It was a big deal for us to hit those in pressure situations.”

Harlan (4-12) was led by senior guard Payeton Charles with 12 points and seventh-grade guard Ella Karst with 11.

The Lady Dragons struggled to hit shots, but outrebonded Whitley 46-37, led by Kaylee Leslie with 14 and Alli Thompson and Savanna Smith with eight each.

“When we play defense and rebound like that we’re going to be in ballgames,” Harlan coach Tiffany Hamm said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get kids to buy into that when you aren’t winning, but they have played hard. If we can get some offense these are winnable games.”

Harlan returns to action Monday at Red Bird in the 13th Region All “A” Classic. The Lady Dragons will take on Oneida Baptist at 6 p.m. Whitley County will play Casey County on Saturday.

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Natalie Moses and Callie Housley each scored 12 points to lead Whitley County to a 49-26 win in junior varsity action.

Emma Owens led Harlan with 10 points. Angel Wynn scored four. Ella Morton and Makayla Sizemore added three each. Peighton Jones, Faith Hoskins and Campbell Nunez contributed two each.

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Whitley County 57, Harlan 44

WHITLEY COUNTY (4-10)

Reis Anderson 2-14 4-4 8, Kaelie Frazier 2-5 0-0 5, Sarah Bolton 1-4 0-0 2, Mikkah Siler 3-7 3-6 9, Mackenzie Smith 6-9 2-2 14, Sabrina Lewis 1-4 0-0 2, Jaycee Monhollen 0-5 1-2 1, Natalie Moses 1-1 0-0 2, Callie Housley 1-7 12-14 14. Totals: 17-56 22-28 57.

HARLAN (4-12)

Payeton Charles 5-28 2-4 12, Ella Karst 5-11 1-3 11, Savanna Smith 0-6 1-3 1, Kaylee Leslie 3-5 1-4 7, Alli Thompson 1-5 4-4 6, Angel Wynn 2-7 0-0 5, Peighton Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Makayla Sizemore 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Cole 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Owens 0-2 0-0 0, Ella Morton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-66 9-18 44.

Whitley County 13 12 15 17 — 57

Harlan 11 8 15 10 — 44

3-point goals: Whitley County 1-8 (Frazier 1-2, Lewis 0-1, Housley 0-1, Anderson 0-2, Bolton 0-2), Harlan 1-16 (Wynn 1-2, Karst 0-2, Smith 0-4, Charles 0-8). Rebounds: Whitley County 37 (Smith 10, Frazier 6, Monhollen 6, Housley 5, Siler 4, Anderson 3, Bolton 1, Lewis 1, Moses 1), Harlan 46 (Leslie 14, Smith 8, Thompson 8, Charles 5, Karst 4, Wynn 4, Owens 1, Jones 1, Sizemore 1). Turnovers: Whitley County 14, Harlan 18, Fouled out: Harlan (Karst).