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By John Henson
Sports Writer

A Bell County girls basketball program that has won five straight 52nd District Tournament titles was in danger of starting the 2024-2025 season 0-2 in district action as the Lady Cats found themselves locked in a battle at Harlan on Tuesday only four nights after an upset loss at Middlesboro.
Neither team could manage more than a four-point lead until the Lady Cats scored the game’s final five points in a 55-50 victory.
“I was proud of our effort even though it wasn’t always pretty,” Bell County coach David Teague said. “Games like this are possession by possession and we still have kids who haven’t been in those moments are still learning. I think our district right now is pretty balanced, and you have to show up and play every night. Games will be like this. I hope we can learn from this and keep improving.”
Kairi Lamb, a 6-foot-3 junior center, proved to be the difference for the 4-1 Lady Cats as she finished with a 22-point, 18-rebound performance.
“I knew she had a big game. If she’s not the best, she’s one of the best post players in the region. She had 20 points and 18 rebounds the other night in a loss,” Teague said. “She will see double teams, but the kids do a good job of finding her. We try to do a good job of playing off her.”
“She’s tough. When you don’t have anyone above 6-foot she’s hard to guard,” Harlan coach Mackenzie Varner said. “Abbi (Fields) and Aymanni (Wynn) did the best they could. I think we’ll have a different game plan next time after watching today.”
Senior guard Lauren McGeorge added 19 points for the Lady Cats.
The 3-3 Lady Dragons were led by senior forward Kylie Noe with 16 points and 16 guard Aymanni Wynn with 10.
The game was tied at 44, 46, 48 and 50 as the teams traded buckets until Noe found Cheyenne Rhymer with 2:42 left to tie the game for the final time at 50-50.
Lamb hit two free throws at the two-minute mark to pull Bell ahead for good. Wynn missed a 3 10 seconds later, then Lyla Scearse missed for Bell. Another Wynn miss was followed by a Bell turnover as Teague tried to get his team to slow down. Peyshaunce Wynn then missed before Gracie Barton failed to connect on two free throws with 28.7 seconds remaining. Bell got the ball back on a jump, and then Lamb hit one of two at the line. After a Harlan turnover, Neveah Allen finally put the game away by hitting two at the line with 17.1 seconds left.
“We played a hard game and everyone did their job,” Varner said. “Our role players played well. We just couldn’t get the lead late in the game.”
Harlan (3-3) will play Wayne County on Friday at 6 in the Corbin Christmas Bash. Bell County (4-1) will play in the Mike Bromagen Lady Cat Classic at Bath County starting Saturday.
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Bell County 55, Harlan 50

BELL COUNTY (4-1)
Neveah Allen 1-7 4-4 7, Lauren McGeorge 7-22 3-4 19, Gracie Barton 0-2 0-2 0, Lyla Scearse 3-8 0-0 7, Kairi Lamb 8-15 5-7 22, Rachel Redmond 0-0 0-0 0, Kaitlynn Middleton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-55 12-17 55.
HARLAN (3-3)
Peyshaunce Wynn 2-7 0-0 4, Aymanni Wynn 3-17 1-2 10, Addison Campbell 2-7 3-4 7, Cheyenne Rhymer 3-6 0-0 7, Kylie Noe 7-16 2-2 16, Abbi Fields 3-4 0-0 6, Raegan Goodman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 20-59 6-8 50.

Bell County 14 14 16 11 — 55
Harlan 16 11 15 8 — 50
3-point goals: Bell County 5-21 (McGeorge 2-9, Lamb 1-1, Searse 1-4, Allen 1-5, Barton 0-1, Middleton 0-1), Harlan 4-21 (A. Wynn 3-10, Rhymer 1-3, Goodman 0-1, Campbell 0-3, P. Wynn 0-4). Rebounds: Bell County 38 (Lamb 18), Harlan 26 (A. Wynn 6, Campbell 6, Noe 6, Fields 6, Rhymer 1, Goodman 1), Turnovers: Bell County 13, Harlan 7. Fouled out: None.