[lillianhidgepork]

Final.

[E's Army]

Whitley County is stumbling to the finish line. I hope they can right the ship before next week.

[RunItUpTheGut]

^
A 10 point loss to the best player of all time without four of your players isnt to bad nicker:

[RunItUpTheGut]

Nobody posted HC's two point win over Whitley, lol.

[hoops_town]

Will Whitley Co. be fully healthy for the district game against South Laurel?

[RunItUpTheGut]

^
They'll never be fully healthy.
Powers is back, but playing on a torn ACL and Jones is back but not 100%.
Smith should be back, along with Craig, who made her return.

If Craig plays, and is fully healthy, IMO, Whitley will not have any problem with South.

[HDE]

Everybody played against Harlan County except Smith:

Lady Bears hold off Whitley's comeback to end skid
By JOHN HENSON
Harlan County Sports.com
Anthony Nolan had to feel a sense of deja vu as Whitley County cut a 15-point Harlan County lead to two in the final minute Wednesday with a 13-0 run. Nolan had seen this show before, twice in the past week to be exact, and both ended with one-point losses — to Corbin on Friday and Somerset on Saturday.
The Lady Bears were able to find a happy ending this time as Harlan County stopped its first losing streak of the season at two with a 39-36 win.
"I was really proud of the effort the last two games. We just didn't close like we needed to," Nolan said. "The main thing for us is get 100 percent next week and go into the tournament with confidence."
Senior forward Maria Johnson sparked the Whitley comeback with eight points in the run, including 3-pointers on two successive trips down the floor that pulled the Lady Colonels within two with 1:10 to play.
Whitley had a chance to take its first lead of the night after Kaitlyn Stittums missed at the free throw line, but Whitley's Taylor Dingess missed a 3-point attempt with 31 seconds left. Harlan County guards Lauren Lee and Brooklyn Massingill put the game away by hitting two free throws each before Johnson hit another trey at the buzzer for the final margin.
"The biggest reason was we had kids who passed up shots in the fourth quarter. We have to have kids willing to make plays. That's what we're lacking now," Nolan said. "They have some good shooters, and we didn't close out. We knew the Johnson girl could hit. All but one of theirs played tonight. I thought we played really good defense for three quarters. To hold them under 40, with the type of weapons and experience they have, is pretty good. We still have to do a better job of putting teams away. I thought tonight we found a way to gut it out."
Whitley County coach Larry Anderson entered the game with even bigger problems, playing without their top three players and four of their top six during a recent skid. Junior center Kandace Craig (hand) and senior guard Bethany Powers (knee) both came off the bench for their first action in a while, but senior guard Brandi Smith remains out until next week's 50th District Tournament due to illness. Sixth man Hallie Jones also returned from an injury and started in Smith's spot.
"It's been like coaching two or three different teams this year," Whitley County coach Larry Anderson said. "We got Bethany, Kandace and Hallie Jo back tonight, and I didn't know what to do with him. We had to change all our offense after they went down. I was awful the first half. The rotation was pathetic. I didn't know what to call offensively, and I had the wrong combinations in at times. We did a good job hanging on the first half until we got going the second half."
Massingill overcame a slow start to lead the 23-5 Lady Bears with 17 points.
Johnson scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to pace the 18-8 Lady Colonels.
Two baskets by senior center Sarah Evans, who missed the last two games with a sore hamstring, gave Harlan County an early 4-0 lead, but Whitley pulled even at 6-6 by the end of the period on baskets by Taylor Dingess and Sierra Feltner.
A 3-pointer by Maria Johnson gave Whitley its first lead at 9-8. Craig scored with 5:20 left in the half as Whitley led 11-10 before Lauren Lee ignited the 8-0 run with a 3-pointer. Stittums scored off a drive and Massingill buried a 3-pointer to help the Lady Bears take an 18-11 lead at halftime.
WIth the lead at four midway through the third quarter, Harlan County began to pull away. Massingill had three baskets, including a 3-pointer, in a 9-0 run to close the period, giving the Lady Bears a 31-18 advantage.
"We had a chance to win at the end, and that's all you can ask right now," Anderson said. "I agreed to come up here because we needed to make up the game, but also because we needed a game. It was good for us. I was pleased with what we did tonight. I thought it was a good start for us."
Anderson said the run of injuries and illness was the worst he's experienced in 31 years of coaching.
"I've never had this many impact players out at one time," he said. "We're hoping we get Brandi back Monday."
Harlan County closes its regular season schedule Friday at home against Knox Central. Whitley County plays at Bell County on Friday.
———
Freshman guard Lindsay Branson scored 11 points to lead the Harlan County junior varsity team to a 34-30 victory.
Becky Freeman and Lauren Smith added seven and six points, respectively. Bridgette Bennett and McKenzie Farley each scored four. Kaitlin Evans contributed two.
Lauren Elliott scored nine and Madison Centers tossed in seven to lead the 6-5 Lady Colonels. Johnna Dopel chipped in with five. Heather Partin, Sierra Feltner, Emily Vanderpool and Destiny Kinder added two each. Sherry Johnson scored one.
———
WHITLEY COUNTY (18-8)
Hallie Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Savanna Sizemore 0-1 0-0 0, Maria Johnson 6-9 0-0 17, Taylor Dingess 2-9 3-4 7, Sabrina SIzemore 0-0 0-0 0, Kandace Craig 2-4 0-0 4, Bethany Powers 0-2 0-0 0, Sierra Feltner 1-2 0-0 2, Madison Centers 2-2 0-0 4, Lauren Elliott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-34 3-4 36.
HARLAN COUNTY (23-5)
Kaitlyn Stittums 1-6 0-1 2, Lauren Lee 2-3 2-2 7, Brooklyn Massingill 6-15 3-4 17, Madison Cornett 0-3 2-2 2, Sarah Evans 4-4 0-0 8, Bella Noe 0-3 0-0 0, Keisha Mimes 1-6 0-0 2, Shauntae Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-40 7-9 39.
Whitley County 6 5 7 18 — 36
Harlan County 6 12 13 8 — 39
3-point goals: Whitley County 5-16 (Johnson 5-8, Powers 0-1, Feltner 0-1, Dingess 0-6), Harlan County 3-12 (Massingill 2-7, Lee 1-1, Stittums 0-1, Cornett 0-1, Noe 0-2). Rebounds: Whitley County 10 (Jones 2, Craig 2, Feltner 2, Dingess 1, Savanna Sizemore 1, Sabrina Sizemore 1, Elliott 1), Harlan County 23 (Mimes 7, Lee 4, Cornett 4, Evans 4, Massingill 2, Stittums 1, Massingill 1). Turnovers: Whitley County 12, Harlan County 10. Fouled out: None.

[RunItUpTheGut]

^
You can have all the players back you want, it doesnt mean there 100%.
However, with Smith averaging around 18 or 19 points this year, does that mean this could have been a 20 point win with her?

[HDE]

You're welcome.
You said they were out, so I provided a little information you missed.
I didn't say they were 100 percent. I listed all their injuries in the story.
Playing without Smith is a big blow and there's no way Powers can be close to 100 percent with her injury. She must be a very tough young lady.
I think South played Whitley tough when they had everyone, so I wouldn't count it as a win yet.

[RunItUpTheGut]

You're welcome.
You said they were out, so I provided a little information you missed.
I didn't say they were 100 percent. I listed all their injuries in the story.
Playing without Smith is a big blow and there's no way Powers can be close to 100 percent with her injury. She must be a very tough young lady.
I think South played Whitley tough when they had everyone, so I wouldn't count it as a win yet.

Actually, when Whitley has everyone healthy, they dominated South. I believe they won by like 25 or something.
If Craig plays and is fully healthy, she'll shut down Arthur. After that, theres not a lot to see from South.

[HDE]

Yeah, you're right it was 23 the first time and six the second. Arthur did score 23 in the first game though. I guess they shut everyone else down. I still think it will be a close game. Whitley isn't all the way back yet.

[skyhawk14]

South won the 2nd game by 6 at Whitley and Arthur had 27.... Craig was the only one who didn't play in that game.

[RunItUpTheGut]

South won the 2nd game by 6 at Whitley and Arthur had 27.... Craig was the only one who didn't play in that game.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Yeah, you're right it was 23 the first time and six the second. Arthur did score 23 in the first game though. I guess they shut everyone else down. I still think it will be a close game. Whitley isn't all the way back yet.

I believe in that first game Craig had a double double though, which makes a huge difference, I agree that it could be a close game, and Whitley still isnt a 100%, but id love to see Whitley have everyone back, healthy, or atleast as healthy as they can be, and be able to finish out the year strong.
I hate seeing injuries for anyone, but when you had as many as Whitley has, its almost unfair.

[lillianhidgepork]

This is the week the tears flow......for alot.

[Hitters_Count]

Dont underestimate Taylor Arthur is all im going to say. She has been playing very well as of late.