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Regional champions only five years ago, the Corbin Lady Hounds are working to become relevant again in the 13th Region after three straight losing seasons. They are off to a good start on that goal, following a win Monday over Pineville with a 69-53 victory Tuesday at Harlan.

“We didn’t have our best game, but we found a way to win,” Corbin coach Isaac Wilson said. “It was ugly. I’m glad we don’t have to draw a picture.”

The Lady Hounds won with defense, forcing Harlan into 29 turnovers.

“We are 2-0, and I’m proud of a young team,” Wilson said. “They came out with a lot of energy and punched us in the mouth pretty much all night. I feel late in the third and early in the fourth we woke up and started creating turnovers that gave us some buckets in transition. We needed that because our offense wasn’t here tonight.”

The problem was familiar for the young Lady Dragons, who struggled with turnovers all of last season. Harlan had only three turnovers in the opening period, but Corbin had success with a trap in the second half.

“I thought we were rolling with our effort and energy in the first half,” Harlan coach Tiffany Hamm said. “The turnovers started compiling on us, and when Nat (King) goes out she is such a big, strong target for our guards. We had a hard time with that.”

King, the Lady Dragons’ senior forward, was ejected early in the third quarter, along with Corbin’s Lauren Sutton, when they went to the ground fighting.

The game was tied at that point, then Harlan took the lead twice on Ella Karst baskets.A basket by Harlan’s Aymanni Wynn tied the game at 39 with 3:10 left in the third quarter. Corbin closed with an 11-1 run to go up by nine heading into the final period, then continued to pull away. The Lady Hounds opened the fourth quarter with an 18-3 run to lead by as many as 24 points.

Junior guard Shelby Stewart sparked the Lady Hounds’ second-half surge and led Corbin (2-0) with 25 points. Freshman guard Bailey Stewart added 11 points.

Karst, an eighth-grade point guard, led Harlan (0-1) with 16 points. King scored 12.

Corbin hit only three of 17 shots in the first quarter as Harlan took a 12-8 lead on baskets by Emma Owens and Aymanni Wynn to close the period.

King helped Harlan push the lead to 17-9 early in the second quarter as the Lady Dragons’ defense, led by Alli Thompson, seemed to fluster Corbin for a time. After five lead changes, the Lady Hounds were able to take a four-point lead into the break when Sutton closed the half with a 3-pointer.

Harlan returns to action Friday at home against Middlesboro. Corbin plays Pulaski County on Thursday.

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Corbin pulled away with a 10-0 run to start the second half on the way to a 35-18 win in junior varsity action.

Reagan Walker scored nine and Halle Grubb and Erica Angel each added six to lead the Lady Hounds.

Faith Hoskins paced the Lady Dragons with seven points. Emma Owens scored six. Addison Jackson added three. Peighton Jones scored two.

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Corbin 69, Harlan 53

CORBIN (2-0)

Hannah Medlin 1-8 2-4 4, Marissa Scott 4-14 4-4 12, Lauren Sutton 1-3 0-0 3, Bailey Stewart 3-5 4-6 11, Shelby Stewart 7-19 8-10 25, Halle Grubb 0-2 0-0 0, Kaila Stidham 3-5 6-8 12, Kami Garland 0-1 2-4 2, Emma Ashurst 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsay Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Erica Angel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-58 26-36 69.

HARLAN (0-1)

Ella Karst 5-11 3-4 16, Angel Wynn 3-12 1-5 7, Alll Thompson 2-6 0-2 4, Natalee King 4-6 4-6 12, Kaylee Leslie 1-4 1-2 3, Aymanni Wynn 2-4 1-2 5, Emma Owens 3-8 0-2 6 Peighton Jones 0-0 0-2 0, Faith Hoskins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-52 11-25 53.

Corbin 8 25 17 19 — 69

Harlan 12 17 12 12 — 53

3-point goals: Corbin 5-17 (S Stewart 3-7, Sutton 1-1, B. Stewart 1-2, Stidham 0-1, Scott 0-2, Medlin 0-4), Harlan 4-17 (Karst 3-7, Angel Wynn 1-8, Owens 0-2). Rebounds: Corbin 34 (S. Stewart 12, B. Stewart 8, Scott 7, Medlin 2, Stidham 2, Sutton 1, Grubb 1, Angel 1), Harlan 40 (Karst 8, Leslie 8, Thompson 7, Ayrmanni Wynn 6, Angel Wynn 5, King 2, P. Jones 2, Owens 1, Hoskins 1). Turnovers: Corbin 17, Harlan 29. Fouled out: Corbin (B. Stewart), Harlan (Aymanni Wynn, Leslie, Thompson).