Wilder, Johnson leads Bell past Lady Dragons
Published 10:23 am Saturday, January 29, 2022
- Harlan's Emma Owens dribbled the basketball around Nadine Johnson of Bell County in Tuesday's district battle. Johnson scored 17 as the Lady Cats rolled to a 77-45 victory. (Photo by Jon Dickenson)
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LOG MOUNTAIN — Sophomore forward Gracie Jo Wilder scored 26 points, hitting 10 of 13 shots, to lead the Lady Cats. Nadine Johnson and Mataya Ausmus added 17 and 12 points, respectively, as Bell improved to 14-6 overall and 4-0 in district action.
Freshman forward Kylie Noe scored 19 points and freshman wing Aymanni Wynn added 11 as Harlan fell to 8-11.
Harlan turned the ball over six times in the opening quarter and had 10 more in the second as Bell’s lead grew to 46-19 at halftime. Johnson and Wilder teamed for several baskets to lead the Bell offense.
Wilder hit all four of her shots in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer with four minutes left in the period to extend the lead to 60-24 and start a running clock. Wynn hit a pair of 3-pointers as Harlan cut the deficit to 67-36 going into the final period.
Bell County travels to South Laurel on Thursday. Harlan is scheduled to play host to Middlesboro on Friday in the first game of a girls/boys doubleheader.
HC falls 62-56 at Leslie County
Leslie County hit 10 of 11 from the free throws line on Wednesday as the Lady Eagles of Leslie County held off visiting Harlan County 62-56.
The Lady Bears were down by as many as 11 points in the third quarter.
A pair of baskets by Ella Karst pulled HC within 52-50 with over four minutes to play. A 3-pointer by Taytum Griffin made it a 58-55 advantage with two minutes to play.
For the game, Leslie County connected on 23 of 31 free throws.
Junior guard Courtney Hoskins powered Leslie County with 23 points. Junior center Emma Napier scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Emily Bowling added 11 points for the Lady Eagles.
Harlan County was led in scoring by Karst with 20 points. Jaylin Smith finished with 17 points. Taylor Lunsford had seven points and six rebounds.
Leslie County outrebounded the Lady Bears 36-21. Hoskins pulled down 10 for the Lady Eagles.
Leslie jumped out to a 14-11 advantage after eight minutes. Napier scored three baskets in the period.
The Lady Bears battled back to within two at halftime, at 28-26, as Karst had two baskets, including a 3-pointer.
The Lady Eagles outscored Harlan County 16-13 in the third quarter, led by three baskets from Hoskins.
HC only committed seven turnovers for the game. The Lady Eagles had eight.
Leslie County was scheduled to host Jackson County on Monday and visit Hazard on Tuesday. The 12-7 Lady Eagles will host Harlan on Wednesday before traveling to Owsley County on Saturday.
Bell, Letcher, Knott, Estill and Belfry remain on the scheduled for Leslie County the rest of the regular season.
Leslie County 62, Harlan County 56
HARLAN COUNTY (10-10)
Ella Karst 8-16 3-4 20, Kylie Jones 1-4 3-6 5, Taytum Griffin 2-6 0-1 5, Jaylin Smith 6-10 5-7 17, Taylor Lunsford 3-7 1-4 7, Hailey Austin 1-2 0-1 2, Paige Phillips 0-2 0-0 0, Abigail Fields 0-1 0-0 0, Jaylin Preston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-48 12-22 56.
LESLIE COUNTY (11-7)
Courtney Hoskins 5-12 13-14 23, Eden Melton 4-8 0-0 8, Bailey Smith 1-1 1-2 4, Baylee Davidson 0-2 1-4 1, Emma Napier 5-7 5-6 15, Emily Bowling 4-10 3-5 11, Caroline Buckle 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Napier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-40 23-31 62.
Harlan County 11 15 13 17 — 56
Leslie County 14 14 16 18 — 62
3-point goals: Harlan County 2-4 (Griffin 1-1, Karst 1-3), Leslie County 1-5 (Smith 1-1, Bowling 0-1, Melton 0-3). Rebounds: Harlan County 21 (Lunsford 6, Karst 4, Smith 4, Griffin 3, Jones 2, Phillips 1, Fields 1), Leslie County 28 (E. Napier 10, Hoskins 8, Davidson 4, Bowling 3, Melton 2, A. Napier 1).
Sports Contributor Paul Lunsford wrote this for the Harlan Enterprise.
