An Enterprise Staff Report

The Harlan County Lady Bears advanced to the Candy Cane Classic Championship with a victory over cross-town rival Harlan on Saturday. Harlan County held the Lady Dragons to their lowest scoring output of the season in a 47-31 win.

“We wanted to make sure we played hard defensively, and I rotated a lot of people. We tried some things we hadn’t worked on in practice yet,” Harlan County coach Anthony Nolan said. “We were looking at different things. I thought we played well defensively, but offensively we were sluggish.”

Harlan County capitalized on its size advantage in the post as 6-foot senior center Sarah Evans continued to play a big role in the offense with 12 points and nine rebounds. Guards Brooklyn Massingill and Bella Noe added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Sophomore forward Torri Mitchell led the 6-6 Lady Dragons with nine points.

Harlan struggled to score until breaking loose for 14 points in the final period. The Lady Dragons took over half their shots from beyond the 3-point line and were limited to five baskets over the first three quarters.

The two teams will meet again on Thursday in a 52nd District contest.

Harlan County will play Somerset for the tournament championship today at 4 p.m. The Lady Bears edged Somerset 52-48 on Friday. Harlan will play Upperman, Tenn., at 2 p.m. for fifth place. The Lady Dragons defeated Upperman 53-44 on Thursday.

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Harlan County (47) —Kaitlyn Stittums 4, Lauren Lee 2, Brooklyn Massingill 11, Madison Cornett 4, Sarah Evans 12, Keisha Mimes 0, Bella Noe 10, Bridgette Bennett 0, Becky Freeman 0, Kaitlin Evans 0, Leah Evans 0, McKenzie Farley 0, Lauren Smith 4, Lindsay Branson 0.

Harlan (31) — Jordan Brock 2, Jourdan Ledford 6, Torri Mitchell 9, Masie Charles 6, Emma Bianchi 2, Kelly Cox 3, Shanae Thomas 3, Kaitlin Jenkins 0, Mackenzie King 0, Katie King 0, Callie WIlson 0, Jesse Cochran 0, Madelynn Henson 0.