Effort has not been a problem this season for the Harlan Lady Dragons, but effort can only take you so far if you can’t hit shots.

Harlan stayed close most of the way but couldn’t overcome a 27 percent (15 of 55) shooting night, which included a one-of-17 performance from beyond the 3-point line, in a 49-38 loss Monday to visiting Williamsburg.

Madison Chapman and Lilian Hall, both juniors, led the 15-13 Lady Jackets with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Chapman also had a huge game on the boards with 21 of her team’s 29 rebounds.

Payeton Charles marked Senior Night with 17-point performance. Natalee King added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

After a combined 13 misses to start the game, covering almost half the first quarter, Harlan finally broke the ice with baskets by King and Charles and led the rest of the period. Kaylee Graham had a basket late in the quarter to cut the deficit to 10-9.

Baskets by Ella Karst and King extended Harlan’s lead to three before Chapman had two straight baskets. Charles pulled Harlan even at 17 before a 3-pointer from Hall gave Williamsburg a 21-17 edge at the break.

Williamsburg started to pull away in the third quarter, building a 37-28 lead as Graham hit two shots and Chapman pulled down six rebounds.

Harlan will travel to Barbourville on Thursday and will close the regular season Friday at home against Corbin.

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Emma Owens scored 16 points as Harlan improved to 8-4 in junior varsity action with a 41-30 win over Williamsburg.

Angel Wynn and Makayla Sizemore added eight and seven points, respectively. Ella Morton scored four, followed by Raegan Jones with three, Campbell Nunez with two and Peighton Jones with one.

Gracie Lawson led Williamsburg with 10 points. Madison Prewitt added seven and was followed by Hailey Brown and Caitlin Jones with three each, and Morgan Prewitt, Zoe Brown and Heaven Warren with two each and Kaylee Graham with one.

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Williamsburg 49, Harlan 38

WILLIAMSBURG (15-13)

Lillie Hall 4-13 2-4 11, Kaylee Graham 3-8 0-0 6, Morgan Prewitt 2-4 0-0 6, Madison Chapman 5-21 1-6 13, Allison Caddell 3-8 2-2 8, Zoe Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Hailey Brown 2-5 1-2 5, Ashley Chapman 0-1 0-0 0, Caitlin Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Prewitt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-60 6-14 49.

HARLAN (7-20)

Payeton Charles 7-25 3-4 17, Ella Karst 2-4 0-0 5, Savanna Smith 0-4 2-2 2, Natalee King 5-14 2-3 10, Alli Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Angel Wynn 0-1 0-0 0, Peighton Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Raegan Jones 1-5 0-0 2, Emma Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-55 7-9 38

Williamsburg 9 12 16 12 — 49

Harlan 10 7 11 10 — 38

3-point goals: Williamsburg 3-9 (Morgan Prewitt 2-4, Hall 1-2, Chapman 0-3), Harlan 1-17 (Karst 1-3, King 0-1, Wynn 0-1, Cole 0-1, R. Jones 0-2, Smith 0-3, Charles 0-6). Rebounds: Williamsburg 39 (Chapman 21, Graham 4, Caddell 4, Hall 3, Brown 3, Morgan Prewitt 2, Williams 1, Chapman 1), Harlan 35 (King 11, R. Jones 6, Thompson 5, Charles 3, Karst 3, Smith 3, Wynn 2, P. Jones 2). Turnovers: Williamsburg 11, Harlan 13. Fouled out: None.