By the time the Williamsburg Lady Jackets recorded their first points Saturday, Harlan senior forward Kendra Latham already had nine.

The Lady Jackets spent the remainder of the afternoon playing a game of catch up they were destined to lose because they had no answer for Latham, who finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds in Harlan's 52-42 victory.

"That's the whole idea. We wanted to come in and pound it inside to her," Harlan coach Chuck Mitchell said. "The last two and a half weeks, her practices have been better and she's really been a good leader on the court and off the court."

Williamsburg opened the game in a man-to-man defense that Latham carved up for 13 points in the opening four and a half minutes. Lady Jackets' coach Jim Rains temporarily shut Latham down after switching to a 2-3 late in the opening quarter, but Williamsburg could never pull even.

"Latham is a player," Rains said. "If she wants to keep working, she can play at the next level."

Williamsburg cut the deficit to 15-12 by the end of the third quarter as Katlin Faulkner and Shawna Lovett each hit 3-pointers after the Lady Jackets went almost five minutes without a field goal to open the game.

The Lady Jackets had a chance to take the lead in the second quarter after shutting down the Harlan offense for most of the period. Harlan went almost six minutes without scoring after Alexandria Allison's basket made it 19-12.

Williamsburg, however, could manage only five points of its own in the period, a 3-pointer and a putback by junior guard Kelly Bryant to cut the deficit to 20-17 at halftime.

"That's been our biggest weakness all year. We hit droughts offensively," Rains said. "If we could ever turn the corner to where we could score consistently we could play with people."

"I still wasn't happy with the defense," Mitchell said. "Our off the ball defense was bad. We were kind of dead defensively. We didn't get out on shooters or around screens. Communication was a big problem."

Two baskets by Britany Jones and one by Courtney Bell helped Harlan extend its lead to nine early in the third quarter. Williamsburg closed to within six on a three-point play by Faulkner with 1:53 left in the period, but a three-point play by Chassidy Lawson and a 3-pointer by Allison put Harlan back in command with a 40-27 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

"They hit a couple of shots outside and that kind of pulled the game out," Rains said. "It's hard to cover everything. We were giving them those shots, and they put them in."

Latham took over again in the fourth quarter when Williamsburg went back to its man-to-man to put more pressure on the ball. Latham hit four of six shots in the period, stretching the lead to as many as 16 points. A 3-pointer by Faulkner and a three-point play by Julia Apple sparked a late 7-0 run that got the Lady Jackets as close as nine.

Faulkner, a senior guard, scored 18 to lead Williamsburg (5-13), which plays host to Corbin on Tuesday.

Harlan (12-11) returns to action Friday at home against Cawood.

Chelsea Wilson scored nine points and Belinda Patton added eight as Harlan coasted to a 40-22 win in the junior varsity game.

Chassidy Lawson tossed in seven for Harlan (8-7). Sara Scruggs and Amanda Blakley each scored five. Cheyenne Hamblin, Kayla Johnson and Esther McMillen each added two.

Samantha Burr scored six to pace Williamsburg (3-7). Ariel Robinson, Brittani Peters and Whitney Rains each added four.