CORBIN — With visiting Harlan coming off a huge 84-74 win over North Laurel just a day before, Dinky Phipps knew his Lynn Camp Wildcats would have to turn in a solid effort to beat the upstart Green Dragons. The Wildcats put up a valiant effort, leading by as many as nine points before falling to Harlan, 56-54.

“We did have a chance to win tonight,” Phipps said. “I had a couple of kids that had to sit out a a couple of quarters due to disciplinary reasons, but I thought we played well and we had our chances. I thought we came out ready to play. Harlan has a nice team.”

Phipps’ squad led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, and eventually built a nine-point cushion before the play of Harlan’s Killian Ledford and Jordan Akal got the Green Dragons back into the game. By the time halftime rolled around, Lynn Camp trailed 29-24.

“We came out in the second quarter and led by as many as nine points, but then we had some turnovers and missed shots, and that allowed them to get back in the game,” Phipps said. “They started hitting some shots and we were down five at halftime.”

Lynn Camp didn’t quit, though. The Wildcats chipped away at Harlan’s lead in the third quarter, and found themselves only trailing 40-38 heading into the final period of play. The game remained close during the game’s final eight minutes as Lynn Camp took a slim two point lead before seeing Harlan pick up a two-point victory.

“Like I said, we had our chances,” Phipps said. “We had two of our starters out during the first half, and still had a chance to win. “I’m not happy where we are right now. We have one more game until district, and we need to be picking things up. We should be more focused in what we are doing. We are not playing with any heart. We missed too many layups and shots tonight. It’s the week before district, and we need to be playing better than what we are.”

Lynn Camp is scheduled to be back in action on Friday with a road game against Middlesboro before facing off against Barbourville next week during semifinal action of the 51st District Tournament.

“We’ve got get back to do what we were doing when we were winning,” Phipps said. “We’ve got to play team ball, and we’ve got to play hard. “We’ve got play Middlesboro Friday night and then worry Barbourville on Saturday. We need to go to Middlesboro and play a good game. We need to go and play hard.”