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PINEVILLE — In the space of one basketball game Thursday at the Chain Rock Classic, the Harlan County Lady Bears demonstrated both how bad and how good they could be.
Harlan County missed its first 10 shots from the field, including at least half of the air ball variety, in falling behind 9-0 against Cumberland Gap, Tenn.
But just when it appeared the young Lady Bears were hopeless, they found a way — first by hitting five 3-pointers in the second quarter to take a six-point halftime lead. Then the Lady Bears found a halfcourt attack that had been missing all season on the way to posting a 53-40 victory.
“We haven’t been getting anything out of our halfcourt offense, and I felt today we looked better than we have all season. We’ve worked on it the last few days,” Harlan County coach Gary Greer said. “We mixed it up a lot better today. I don’t mind the 3s, especially if it’s off penetration and kick, but sometimes they aren’t going, and you have to be able to score in the halfcourt. We got to the rim a few times, and that opened up some things for us.”
Eighth-grade guard Reagan Clem hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead the 4-7 Lady Bears. Freshman guard Jaylee Cochran provided a mid-range attack with 15 points.
Hayden Beeler, a 6-foot senior forward, led the 4-5 Lady Panthers with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Beeler and 6-2 junior center Jenna Middleton dominated the paint in the early going as Cumberland Gap took a 9-0 lead despite missing its first six shots as neither team scored in the opening three-plus minutes, Cochran finally ended the drought for HCHS with two baskets in the final minute of the period to cut the deficit to 9-4.
“We weren’t ready to play,” Greer said of the bad start. “I don’t know if it was the early start or the holiday.”
Clem hit three 3s and Jaycee Simpson and Taylynn Napier added one each as HCHS outscored the Lady Panthers 20-9 in the second quarter to take a 24-18 halftime advantage.
The Lady Bears led by eight early in the second quarter when Cumberland Gap went to a press and reeled off eight straight points to pull even. The lead changed hands several times and was tied at 34 when Cochran and Clem put together a 7-0 run in the final 27 seconds to put HCHS up 41-34.
Harlan County’s press began to pay dividends in the fourth quarter as the tiring Lady Panthers hit only one of eight shots and turned the ball over five times. Simpson, Kylee Runions and Cochran each had baskets as HCHS built its lead to as many as 15 points down the stretch.
“We did a really good job of pressuring the ball and taking away the middle. We got some deflections that led to some transition layups,” Greer said. “If you start doing things like that, it seems like the rim gets bigger. We are playing better lately. We have to build on that and continue working.”
Tournament action continues Friday with Harlan County taking on Pineville at 5 and Cumberland Gap playing Letcher Central at 1.
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Harlan County 53, Cumberland Gap 40

CUMBERLAND GAP, TENN. (4-5)
Jayla Bailey 2-5 1-2 6, Callie Hoskins 1-3 1-2 3, Ashlynn Roberts 2-7 0-0 4, Hayden Beeler 8-16 4-10 21, Jenna Middleton 1-8 0-0 2, Kelly Hatfield 1-3 0-0 2, Abby Peters 0-1 0-0 0, Audrey Turpin 0-4 0-0 0, Natalee Davis 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 15-47 8-16 40.
HARLAN COUNTY (3-7)
Reagan Clem 5-10 3-4 17, Jaylee Cochran 5-16 4-4 14, Kylee Runions 3-9 2-2 8, Whitney Noe 0-4 0-0 0, Lacey Robinson 2-4 0-2 4, Jaycee Simpson 3-7 0-0 7, Taylynn Napier 1-4 0-0 3, Raegan Landa 0-0 0-0 0, Trinity Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-54 9-12 53.

Cumberland Gap 9 9 16 6 — 40
Harlan County 4 20 17 12 — 53
3-point goals: Cumberland Gap 2-15 (Bailey 1-2, Beeler 1-3, Roberts 0-1, Hatfield 0-1, Hoskins 0-2, Middleton 0-2, Turpin 0-4), Harlan County 6-21 (Clem 4-8, Simpson 1-1, Napier 1-2, Noe 0-2, Runions 0-3, Cochran 0-5). Rebounds: Cumberland Gap 31 (Beeler 11, Middleton 7, Roberts 6, Hoskins 2, Bailey 2, Peters 2, Turpin 1), Harlan County 28 (Runions 9, Robinson 7, Cochran 4, Clem 2, Noe 2, Simpson 2, Napier 1, Landa 1). Turnovers: Cumberland Gap 16, Harlan County 10. Fouled out: Harlan County (Noe).