By John Henson

Contributing writer

An anticipated showdown for 52nd District supremacy on Tuesday at Harlan County High School turned into a showcase for the talents of Bell County’s Gracie Jo Wilder and her teammates. Wilder, a 6-1 senior, dominated the net, just as the Lady Cats did in the match most of the night, in a 25-12, 25-13, 25-23 victory.

Bell County improved to 20-6 overall and clinched the district’s top seed with the win to improve to 5-0 in district action, including two wins over the Lady Bears.

Wilder and 6-3 sophomore Kairi Lamb helped Bell dominated around the net and seemed to intimidate the Lady Bears from attacking as they have through much of the season. Harlan County showed more grit in the third set, battling from behind to tie it at 20-20 before Bell finished off its second three-set victory over HC.

Wilder led the Cats with 22 kills to go with 10 digs, one service ace and three blocks. Lamb had 11 kills, along with four aces, four digs and one block. Emma Winkler contributed 21 assists and 11 digs. Kamryn Burnett added 12 digs and one ace. Neveah Allen had 11 assists, two digs and one ace.

Harlan County fell to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in district action. No statistics were available tor the Lady Bears.

The Lady Bears return to district action Thursday at home against Middlesboro. The Lady Cats play host to Clay County on Thursday.

Harlan County won 21-17, 21-17 in freshman action and 14-21, 21-17, 21-12 in junior varsity action.

Bell County sweeps Lynn Camp

Bell County rolled to a 25-8, 25-8, 25-16 win on Monday over Lynn Camp.

Michaela Dye led the Lady Cats with 10 service aces, along with one kill and one dig. Neveah Allen added seven assists, four digs, three aces and three kills. Wilder had five kills and four digs in only one set. Burnett added five digs and four aces.

Pineville falls to Walker

Pineville fell 24-26, 25-10, 25-10, 25-14 to Thomas Walker (Virginia) on Monday.

Ava Arnett led the LadyLions with 13 kills eight blocks and three digs. Kamryn Biliter had eight assists, seven digs, one kill and one ace. Brynlee Sizemore added five digs, five assists, three aces and two blocks.