BEN HUR, VA. — Ahead 30-0 against visiting Lee, Va., after one quarter in their season opener on the way to a 46-point win, the Harlan County Lady Bears may have expected an easy time in the rematch Thursday. They soon learned that wouldn’t be the case.

Harlan County led by only six with six minutes to play when coach Debbie Green called a timeout and went to her most experienced player. Senior center Breann Turner scored on the Lady Bears’ next two possessions to start a 16-6 run to close the game. Turner, a five-year starter, led the Lady Bears with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a 61-45 victory.

“Bree usually hits those shots, but she struggled a little the first half. I think she hit three of four in the second half, which is what need from her,” Green said. ““I thought Lee played hard, but our defensive rotations weren’t very good and we didn’t shoot that well. We did some good things down the stretch to put the game away.”

Senior point guard Phebe McHargue also scored 15 for the 11-3 Lady Bears. Sophomore guard Jacey Lewis came off the bench to add seven points and six rebounds.

“I thought Jacey gave us a lift,” Green said. “We’re going to need some of the younger girls to step up like that.”

Shelbie Fannon scored 19 points and Candace Quillen added 10 for the 2-8 Lady Generals.

Fannon hit two shots, including a 3-pointer, as the Lady Generals grabbed the early lead before HCHS woke up in time to close the opening quarter with 10 straight points, sparked by two baskets each from McHargue and Reanna Middleton, to go up 13-7.

Another trey by Fannon and a basket from Quillen cut the deficit to 18-15. Two straight baskets by Turner, who had seven rebounds in the quarter, and a 3-pointer from McHargue pushed the margin back to nine, at 25-16, going into the halftime break.

“We started out in something we’ve been working on in practice, so we didn’t start in our normal pressure defense,” Green said. “That probably contributed to our bad start. We didn’t get the pace we wanted until later in the game.”

McHargue and Turner each had two baskets in the third quarter built an 18-point lead before Lee fought back, cutting the deficit to 43-33 after three quarters. Lee opened the fourth quarter with 3-pointers by Jackie Nickodam and Quillen to make it 45-39 before Turner, Morgan Blakley and Lewis answered for HCHS.

Harlan County returns to action Tuesday at Bell County in a district girls/boys doubleheader.

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Harlan County 61, Lee, Va., 45

HARLAN COUNTY (11-3)

Phebe McHargue 5-12 2-3 15, K.K. Johnson 2-6 5-7 10, Reanna Middleton 3-7 0-0 8, Morgan Blakley 2-5 2-3 6, Breann Turner 6-13 3-5 15, Jacey Lewis 2-2 3-4 7, Kassy Owens 0-0 0-2 0. Totals: 20-45 15-24 61.

LEE, VA. (2-8)

Kaitlyn Brown 0-5 0-0 0, Philly Tolentino 3-7 1-1 7, Shelbie Fannon 6-14 2-4 19, Candace Quillen 3-5 2-4 10, Baylee Cox 1-3 1-4 3, Jackie Nickodam 1-2 0-0 3, Katie Martin 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 14-37 9-17 45.

Harlan County 13 12 18 18 — 61

Lee, Va. 7 9 17 12 — 45

3-point goals: Harlan County 6-13 (McHargue 3-5, Middleton 2-5, Johnson 1-2, Blakley 0-1), Lee 8-17 (Fannon 5-8, Quillen 2-3, Nickodam 1-2, Tolentino 0-4). Rebounds: Harlan County 28 (Turner 13, Lewis 6, McHargue 3, Middleton 2, Blakley 2, Johnson 1, Owens 1), Lee 22 (Fannon 6, Quillen 5, Brown 4, Tolentino 3, Cox 2, Martin 2). Turnovers: Harlan County 14, Lee 24.