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BARBOURVILLE — With full-court pressure from start to finish the last several weeks of the regular season, the Harlan Lady Dragons’ path to success is focused on forcing turnovers and turning them into points.

The Lady Dragons were successful on half of that formula Thursday in a 59-57 loss at Barbourville. Harlan forced 25 turnovers but struggled to score, shooting 26 percent (18 of 68) from the field and 11 percent (two of 19) from the 3-point line.

“I felt we caused a lot of havoc but didn’t reap any rewards from it, It seemed like we were a little tired or something. We were zero from nine from 3 in the first half and only shot about 30 percent,” Harlan coach Tiffany Hamm said. “I didn’t think we were taking bad shots, but we weren’t hitting anything.”

The Lady Tigers’ offense improved as the game progressed as they hit six of 10 shots in the fourth quarter in building a seven-point lead.

“We did a better job of attacking the second half,” Barbourville coach Andrea Hillard said. “We’re not the best shooting team, so we have to attack the basket and get to the free throw line as much as we can to be successful.”

Senior guard Abbagail Smith scored 24 points to lead the 9-15 Lady Tigers. Sophomore forward Aimee Woolum added 14 points.

“I thought Abba, my senior guard, stepped up big tonight and carried us,” Hillard said. “We had some young girls really stepped up and played their roles well when we got in some foul trouble.”

“I thought (Smith) did an excellent job of turning the corner and getting to the rim. She got to the free throw line a ton, and that’s a credit to her,” Hamm said.

Ella Karst scored 14 points and Natalee King added 13 for the 11-16 Lady Dragons

Barbourville led 51-44 when Karst ended a zero-for-16 streak from the 3-point line for Harlan with a 3 from the corner. Aymanni Wynn followed with a basket and Karst hit another 3 to make the score 55-53 with 1:11 left.

A controversial call with 22.4 seconds left went against the Lady Dragons as an official called a five-second violation on Barbourville, but he was overruled by another official who granted a timeout. Aimee Woolum followed with two free throws for Barbourville. After a basket by Harlan’s Alli Thompson cut the deficit back to two, Smith hit two free throws with 16.6 seconds to play. Harlan’s Emma Owens scored to cut the deficit back to two just before time expired.

Harlan closes its regular season schedule Friday at Corbin. Barbourville plays host to McCreary Central on Friday.

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Barbourville won 52-39 in junior varsity action as Aimee Woolum led the Lady Tigers with 18 points. Aubrey Woolum and Lauren Smith added 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Faith Hoskins poured in 22 points for Harlan (2-9). Peighton Jones and Abbie Jones scored five each. Marissa Marlowe added four. Ella Lisenbee scored two. Abbi Fields contributed one.

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Barbourville 59, Harlan 57

HARLAN (11-16)

Ella Karst 5-20 2-2 14, Angel Wynn 2-9 0-0 4, Aymanni Wynn 3-11 3-7 9, Natalee King 4-13 5-7 13, Emma Owens 1-3 6-8 8, Faith Hoskins 1-2 1-2 3, Peighton Jones 1-7 2-2 4, Kaylee Leslie 0-1 0-0 0, Abbi Fields 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-68 19-28 57.

BARBOURVILLE (9-15)

Abba Smith 6-12 11-16 24, Grace Jones 3-9 0-2 6, Lucy Robinson 0-5 0-0 0, Aimee Woolum 6-12 2-3 14, Breanna Gallagher 3-8 2-3 8. Aubrey Woolum 0-2 2-4 2, Lauren Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Tessa Hillard 1-1 0-0 3, Laura Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-50 17-28 59.

Harlan 10 14 14 19 — 57

Barbourville 10 17 14 18 — 59

3-point goals: Harlan 2-19 (Karst 2-10, Owens 0-1, Hoskins 0-1, Aymanni Wynn 0-2, Angel Wynn 0-5), Barbourville 2-9 (Hillard 1-1, Smith 1-4, Aubrey Woolum 0-1, Jones 0-3). Rebounds: Harlan 34 (Karst 8, King 8, Jones 6, Aymanni Wynn 3, Hoskins 3, Angel Wynn 2, Thompson 2, Owens 1, Fields 1), Barbourville 45 (Aimee Woolum 15, Abba Smith 10, Robinson 7, Gallagher 7, Jones 3, Laura Smith 2, Woolum 1). Turnovers: Harlan 11, Barbourville 25. Fouled out: Harlan (Thompson, Aymanni Wynn), Barbourville (Gallagher).