The Bell County girls basketball team was never in any danger of losing Monday’s game against Lee, Virginia. The Lady Cats limited the Lady Generals to two single-digit quarters en route to a 56-31 victory.

Lee had trouble finding a rhythm against Bell’s strong defense. The Lady Cats had 17 steals during the game. The Lady Generals also found trouble scoring in the paint with Brittney Cupp’s height altering several of Lee’s shots.

“I thought our pressure really got to them,” said Bell County coach David Teague. “One of the things we talked about before the game was to get out and extend our defense a little bit, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that early. It was a good win for us.”

Brittany Davis and Cupp paced the Lady Cats during the game. Davis finished the night with a team-high 19 points, seven rebounds, two steals and four assists. Cupp registered a double-double putting up 14 points to go along with her 18 rebounds.

Karlee Cox led the team in steals with seven while also grabbing eight rebounds and tallying seven points. Abby Harris chipped in eight points. Lindsay Bryant led the team in assists with five.

Alexis Tabor’s scoring ability was one of the only bright spots for the Lady Generals during the game. She tied for a game-high 19 points while hitting eight baskets from the field. Sheridan Herron added seven points to the final tally.

Bell County set the tone early outscoring Lee 20-2 in the opening quarter. The Lady Cats started things off with a 7-0 run that extended halfway through the first. Harris sparked the run with a layup to start the game.

Herron ended Lee’s scoring drought with a basket at the 4:27 mark in the first to cut the lead to 7-2. The Lady Cats ended the quarter on a 13-0 run that was capped off by a Cupp jumper at the buzzer that gave Bell an 18-point lead heading into the second.

The Lady Cats’ momentum continued early in the second quarter with back-to-back baskets from Brea Browning and Davis extending the lead to 25-2. Tabor ended the nearly seven-minute scoring drought for Lee with a basket to narrow the margins to 25-4 with 6:11 to go in the half.

After consecutive baskets from Bell, Tabor hit a jumper to cut the lead to 23 before a pair of free throws from Whitney Ely narrowed the score to 30-9 with 2:55 remaining in the second.

The Lady Generals capped their 9-0 run with free throws from Ely and a jumper by Tabor to cut the deficit to 30-13. Cupp ended the half with a free throw to give Bell a 31-13 lead heading into halftime.

The Lady Cats extended their lead to as much as 28 in the third quarter when Davis hit a jumper midway through the frame to give Bell a 43-15 lead. A basket by Herron and a 3-pointer by Tabor helped narrow the margins to 45-20.

A jumper by Harlie Pannell ended the third with Bell leading 47-20.

Lee outscored the Lady Cats 11-9 in the fourth quarter, but it was Bell County who left the floor with a 25-point victory.

Up Next

Bell County (14-8) looks to extend its four-game winning streak against rival Middlesboro (8-10) at 6 p.m. on Friday.

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Bell County 56, Lee, Va. 31

BELL COUNTY (14-8)

Brittany Davis 8 2-3 19, Lindsay Bryant 0 0-0 0, Brittney Cupp 5 4-8 14, Abby Harris 3 0-2 8, Karlee Cox 3 0-3 7, Brea Browning 2 0-0 4, Harlie Pannell 1 0-0 2, MaKenzie Griffin 0 2-2 2. Totals: 22 8-18 56.

LEE, VA.

Alexis Tabor 8 0-0 19, Arielle Tritt 0 1-2 1, Sheridan Herron 3 1-2 7, Whitney Ely 0 4-6 4, Shelbie Fannon 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-10 31.

Bell County 20 11 16 9 — 56

Lee, Va. 2 11 7 11 — 31

3-point goals: Bell 4 (Harris 2, Davis 1, Cox 1), Lee 3 (Tabor 3).

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN