Locked in a 37-37 duel with five minutes to play Thursday against visiting Clay County, the Harlan County Lady Bears executed when it mattered most.

Senior center Breann Turner took a pass from Phebe McHargue on a perfecty executed play and put the Lady Bears ahead to stay. Reanna Middleton added her sixth 3-pointer to push the lead to five. then Morgan Blakley scored off a steal to put the game away in a 48-41 victory.

“We wanted to be patient tonight and turn our offense over, and we did a great job of that tonight,” Harlan County coach Debbie Green said. “We really broke our offense down in practice after our loss (Monday to Letcher Central), and I think we had a better understanding of what we’re trying to do tonight.”

While the Lady Bears were at their best when it mattered most, Clay continued to struggle coming off an upset loss to Knox Central. The Lady Tigers missed seven of eight shots in the fourth quarter and didn’t have a field goal after Summer Parker’s basket tied the game with 4:52 to play.

“It was typical. We don’t finish games,” Clay County coach James Burchell said. “We’ve played like this all year. We had a lead in the fourth quarter against North Laurel twice and lost.”

Both teams were without key players. Clay County has been without junior point guard Taylor Asher due to a knee injury suffered early in the season. Harlan County played without senior guard K.K. Johnson, who is serving a two-game suspension after being ejected against Letcher Central.

“Hannah Wood hit some big shots filling in for K.K. and Ree had a big game with 22 points,” Green said. “K.K. is an emotional leader for us, especially on defense. We had some girls really step up tonight and we played real well on the defensive end.”

Senior center Breann Turner had a huge game for the 18-5 Lady Bears as she finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in a battle matching two of the region’s top post players. Parker finished with 10 points for Clay.

“Bree had a big game. She really worked hard on defense,” Green said.

Junior guard Kaylee Mathis led the 15-11 Lady Tigers with 20 points.

Harlan County returns to action Tuesday at home against Leslie County in a 6 p.m. game before the HCHS boys play Cordia. Clay County plays at Corbin on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

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Jaylin Smith scored a game-high 13 points, including all six of her team’s points in overtime, as Harlan County won 29-26 in junior varsity action.

Jacey Lewis and Jaylin Preston added five each for the 4-8 Lady Bears. Kassy Owens scored four. Kelly Beth Hoskins scored two.

Jaylen Combs scored nine and Chandler Rice added seven for Clay County. Allie Rose Phillips tossed in five, followed by Maddie Curry with three and Mackenzie Sizemore with two.

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Harlan County 48, Clay County 41

CLAY COUNTY (15-11)

Kaylee Mathis 6-15 7-7 20, Kim Mills 2-4 2-2 7, Shelby Phillips 0-5 0-0 0, Courtney Jones 2-2 0-0 4, Summer Parker 4-15 2-2 10, Allie Rose Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Chandler Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-41 11-11 41.

HARLAN COUNTY (18-5)

Phebe McHargue 1-8 0-0 2, Hannah Wood 2-4 0-0 6, Reanna Middleton 8-14 0-0 22, Morgan Blakley 3-3 0-0 6, Breann Turner 5-9 2-3 12, Jacey Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-38 2-3 48.

Clay County 15 9 11 6 — 41

Harlan County 15 11 11 11 — 48

3-point goals: Clay County 2-12 (Mills 1-2, Mathis 1-5, Phillips 0-4, Parker 0-1), Harlan County 8-19 (Middleton 6-12, Wood 2-3, McHargue 0-4). Rebounds: Clay County 14 (Parker 5, C. Jones 5, Mills 2, Mathis 1, Phillips 1), Harlan County 24 (Turner 11, Wood 5, McHargue 4, Middleton 4). Turnovers: Clay County 6, Harlan County 16. Fouled out: None.

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Letcher Central pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring visiting Harlan County 21-10, for a 73-64 victory Monday over the Lady Bears.

Junior center Emma Maggard scored 25 points to lead the 13-7 Lady Cougars. Kaylie Banks added 14 points.

Harlan County was led by senior guards Phebe McHargue and K.K. Johnson with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Jacey Lewis came off the bench to add 11. Reanna Middleton and Breann Turner chipped in with 10 points each.

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Kera Couch scored 19 points and Cammie Collins added 12 to lead Letcher Central in a 37-36 junior varsity victory. Tori Halcomb rounded out the scoring with six.

Freshman forward Jaylin Smith led the 3-8 Lady Bears with 13 points. Jacey Lewis scored nine, followed by Kelly Beth Hoskins with six and Kassy Owens and Jaylin Preston with four each.

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HARLAN COUNTY (17-5)

Phebe McHargue 6 0-2 16, K.K. Johnson 3 7-9 14, Reanna Middleton 3 1-1 10, Morgan Blakley 2 0-0 4, Breann Turner 5 0-0 10, Hannah Wood 0 0-0 0, Jacey Lewis 3 2-5 11, Kassy Owens 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 10-17 64.

LETCHER CENTRAL (13-7)

Brooklyn Collins 2 0-0 8, Kenzie Craft 3 0-0 8, Brooke Bates 4 4-7 13, Loren Boggs 1 3-3 5, Emma Maggard 11 3-4 25, Kaylie Banks 6 2-5 14. Totals: 28 12-19 73.

Harlan County 14 23 10 17 — 64

Letcher Central 13 25 21 14 — 73

Harlan County 10 (McHargue 3, Middleton 3, Lewis 3, Johnson 1), Letcher Central 5 (Collins 2, Craft 2, Bates 1).