With Brad Marsee at the point and Kyle Engle in the post, the Barbourville Tigers’ two-man senior class proved to be the difference Monday in a 60-49 win at Harlan.

Marsee had 20 points and seven rebounds and Engle added 17 points and nine rebounds to carry the Tigers to their second win in two games.

“This is really Kyle Engle’s first time playing, and we’ve played two games and he’s really been a big boost for us inside,” Barbourville coach Dinky Phipps said. “I thought Brad was more under control tonight than he was the last time (a win over Middlesboro to open the season).

“We just have to keep our confidence up and play hard. Josh Hildebrand and Darrin Mills had off nights, and we were still able to win. We just have to get better because it’s going to get rougher for us.”

Senior guard Tony Spurlock came off the bench to lead Harlan (1-2) with 12 points, hitting four of five 3-point attempts.

Barbourville scored the first seven points of the game, and Harlan spent the rest of the evening trying to catch up. The Dragons got as close as one point in the second quarter, two in the third quarter and three in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers were able to answer each Harlan run.

“They wanted it more than we did. I thought they outplayed us,” Harlan coach Casey Leser said. “Most of the loose balls and long rebounds, I looked out there and they had three or four people going after it and we had one.”

The Dragons’ inexperience showed on the offensive side as they often appeared tentative against Barbourville’s 2-3 zone, with no one wanting to shoot at times.

“I’m not trying to be negative. I still think we’re going to improve, but some of these starters will have to produce,” Lester said. “They have to start coming ready to play because I have a couple of kids sitting on the bench dying to play, and they played well tonight.”

Marsee had two 3-pointers and Engle had a pair of baskets as Barbourville outscored Harlan 15-8 in the first quarter.

Sparked by a pair of treys by Spurlock and a jumper by freshman point guard Ty Saragas, the Dragons cut the Tigers’ lead to 21-20 with 3:40 left in the second quarter. Engle and Marsee answered to push the Barbourville advantage back to five before Chris Begley hit a shot to beat the buzzer and pull the Dragons within 27-24 at the break.

Harlan got as close as two in the third quarter as Spurlock’s third 3-pointer made the score 39-37. Engle and Mills had baskets, both off offensive rebounds, as the Tigers moved ahead 43-39 at the end of the period.

Spurlock’s fourth trey cut the deficit to 47-44 with 5:15 left, but Harlan went ice cold at that point and didn’t score again until Zach Chitwood’s basket with 50 seconds to play. By that point, Barbourville had put the game away with a 13-1 run.

Harlan returns to action Dec. 15 at Middlesboro in a girls/boys district doubleheader.

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Eighth-grade forward Zach Chitwood scored 13 points and junior guard Eric Hampton added 12 as Harlan won 43-38 in the junior varsity game.

Cody Logan tossed in 11 for Harlan (1-1). Aaron Hampton and Ryan Jones each scored three. Dakota Morris added one.

Barbourville (0-2) was led by junior center Micah Corey with 15 points.

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BARBOURVILLE (2-0)

Brad Marsee 6-10 6-7 20, Garrett Vaughn 4-9 0-0 8, Josh Hildebrand 3-14 3-4 10, Darrin Mills 2-7 1-2 5, Kyle Engle 8-11 1-2 17, Micah Corey 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler Tye 0-1 0-0 0, Steven Rudd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-55 11-15 60.

HARLAN (1-2)

Ty Saragas 2-10 0-0 4, Philip Ely 1-8 3-4 6, Chris Begley 3-9 0-0 6, Brandon Taylor 4-7 0-0 8, Tyler Grubbs 3-5 1-2 7, Zach Chitwood 2-5 2-2 6, Tony Spurlock 4-6 0-0 12, Eric Hampton 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Sizemore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-52 6-8 49.

Barbourville 15 12 16 17 —60

Harlan 8 16 15 10 —49

3-point goals: Barbourville 3-12 (Marsee 2-5, Hildebrand 1-4, Corey 0-1, Mills 0-2), Harlan 5-21 (Spurlock 4-5, Ely 1-5, Taylor 0-1, Grubbs 0-1, Chitwood 0-1, Hampton 0-1, Begley 0-3, Saragas 0-4). Rebounds: Barbourville 31 (Engle 9), Harlan 29 (Begley 7) Turnovers: Barbourville 11, Harlan 19. Fouled out: None.