Lady Bears rout Breathitt despite shooting woes

Published 1:35 am Saturday, December 21, 2019

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RICHMOND — Sometimes winning is more about who you play than how you play.

The Harlan County Lady Bears shot only 29 percent (22 of 77) from the field on Friday in the Jack Burford Classic at Madison Central High School. That was good enough against a Breathitt County team that shot 23 percent (seven of 30) and turned the ball over 31 times. HCHS held the Lady Cats to single digit scoring in all four quarters on the way to a 58-24 win.

“We had a hard time putting the ball in the basket in the first half after having easy looks,” Harlan County coach Debbie Green said. “But sometimes you can do that when they’re easy and you’re rushing. But we came out the second half and shot much better. It was a good game to get everyone on the floor and build some more varsity experience. We are playing hard and getting better each game.

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Junior guard Kelly Beth Hoskins continued to provide a threat from the perimeter with 13 points on four 3-pointers. Senior forward Morgan Blakley added 12 points.

Hoskins supplied most of the HCHS offense in an otherwise ugly first quarter, hitting three of three from behind the 3-point line to take a 16-6 lead after one period. The Lady Cats turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter but Harlan County was rarely able to capitalize with numerous missed layups.

Wood took over as the Lady Bears’ 3-point shooter in the second quarter and hit two straight for a 24-6 lead before the HCHS offense went to sleep again. A 3-pointer by Jaylin Preston and basket by Blakley pushed the lead to 31-12 at halftime.

The Lady Bears did a better job of finishing in the third quarter as Smith had two early layups. Another 3 by Hoskins and baskets by Smith and Blakley extended the HCHS lead to 46-17 going into the final period.

Harlan County will play Henry Clay on Saturday at 2:45 and Madison Central on Sunday at 1 to conclude tournament play.

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Harlan County 58, Breathitt County 24

BREATHITT COUNTY (1-5)

Riley Bush 3-9 0-1 6, Kaylee Clemons 1-5 0-0 2, Kaylea Ritchie 0-4 2-4 2, Emalee Watts 0-3 0-0 0, Alexis Francis 1-2 3-4 5, Adreonna Schutz 2-4 2-5 6, Holly Collins 0-1 1-2 1, Brenley Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Haddix 0-2 0-0 0, Maddy Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Kelli White 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Back 0-0 1-3 1, Abigail Noble 0-0 0-0 0, Bayleigh Miller 0-0 1-2 1. Total: 7-30 10-21 24.

HARLAN COUNTY (2-2)

Hannah Wood 3-12 0-2 8, Kelly Beth Hoskins 4-9 1-2 13, Jaylin Smith 4-11 0-2 8, Morgan Blakley 5-17 2-2 12, Kassy Owens 1-7 0-0 2, Jaylin Preston 1-4 0-0 3, Dixie Ewing 0-1 0-2 0, Taytum Griffin 2-4 0-0 5, Taylor Lunsford 0-4 3-6 3, Hailey Austin 1-1 0-0 2, Haley Middleton 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Noe 1-6 0-0 2, Paige Phillips 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-77 6-16 58.

Breathitt County 6 6 5 7 — 24

Harlan County 16 15 15 12 — 58

3-point goals: Breathitt County 0-7 (Clemons 0-1, Collins 0-1, Bush 0-2, Watts 0-3), Harlan County 8-26 (Hoskins 4-7, Wood 2-11, Griffin 1-1 Preston 1-4, Owens 0-1, Blakley 0-1, Phillips 0-1). Rebounds: Breathitt County 35 (Shutz 9, Bush 7, Ritchie 4, Francis 4, Miller 2, Clemons 1, Haddix 1, Back 1), Harlan County 56 (Blakley 9, Owens 7, Lunsford 7, Wood 6, Hoskins 4, Smith 4, Griffin 3, Ewing 2, Middleton 2, Noe 2, Phillips 2, Preston 1, team 7). Turnovers: Breathitt County 31, Harlan County 14. Assists: Breathitt County 3 (Ritchie 2, Schutz 1), Harlan County 16 (Wood 8, Smith 2, Owens 2, Phillips 2, Blakley 1, Preston 1). Fouled out: None.