LOG MOUNTAIN — The Bell County Bobcats shot 50 percent from the field on Monday to overpower visiting Harlan 67-41 in 52nd District action.

The game got very physical in the fourth quarter as Bell pulled away. The Bobcats hit 11 of 15 shots in the period.

“When they came out in the second half and just really got physical, we struggled,” said Harlan coach Casey Lester. “We’ve got to keep our composure when that happens and tonight, we didn’t do that.”

Junior guard John Dudley Hilton powered Bell County (11-11). Senior forward Bryan Robbins contributed 14 points and nine rebounds while sophomore guard Kyle Lee scored 11.

“Robbins played a little more minutes tonight and he’s moving a little bit better,” said Bell County coach Lewis Morris. “Hopefully, here in the next couple of weeks, he’ll be alright.

“I thought Harlan played hard. They stayed at us, but we’ve got a little size advantage on them. I’ve got 230-pound kids out there and I told them we would guard man-to-man tonight. We did and got a foul trouble every possession and had to go zone.”

Philip Ely and Brandon led Harlan (6-13) with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Green Dragons played without sophomore guard Chris Begley for the third straight game.

“He goes back for an evaluation on Wednesday. We’re hoping at the worst by district tournament,” said Lester.

Keith Lowe had two baskets and Justin Patterson nailed a 3-pointer as Bell County jumped out to an 11-5 advantage. Tyler Grubbs and Tony Spurlock each hit jumpers as the Dragons pulled within 13-9 after one quarter.

Robbins scored five straight points as the Bobcats began to pull away. Hilton nailed a 3-pointer at the 2:28 mark to give Bell a 27-16 advantage.

Hilton had two baskets to start the second quarter, including a trey as the lead swelled to 36-20. Harlan didn’t score in the third quarter until Ely hit two free throws with 3:12 left in the period. Bell County took a 44-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

Harlan got as close as 14 points in the final quarter. The Bobcats outscored Harlan 13-5 in the final four minutes of the game as Lee and Hilton tallied four apiece.

“We played well in spurts tonight,” said Lester. “We’ve got to become more consistent around the baskets. We missed, I don’t know how many shots, under the baskets. We got good looks, we’ve just got to make them.”

“The game got a little physical and got a little rough and that’s the way Bell County liked to play, but we fell apart.”

Harlan returns to action this evening at 6:30 p.m. at home against Pineville. Bell County travels to Knox Central on Friday.

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Tanner Lefevers tossed in 10 points as Bell County claimed a 40-26 win in the junior varsity game.

Kyle Lee scored nine points for the Bobcats.

Cody Logan led Harlan (3-11) with nine points. Ryan Jones and Eric Hampton each scored six while Dakota Morris added three. Zach Chitwood finished with two.

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HARLAN (6-13)

Ty Saragas 1-6 1-3 3, Philip Ely 2-10 7-8 12, Zach Chitwood 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Taylor 3-7 4-5 10, Tyler Grubbs 2-9 0-2 4, Steven Couch 3-7 0-0 6, Tony Spurlock 3-7 0-1 6, Dakota Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Baltimore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-47 12-19 41.

BELL COUNTY (11-11)

Ben Madon 1-5 0-1 2, John Dudley Hilton 7-13 0-0 16, Kyle Lee 5-14 1-2 11, Justin Patterson 3-5 0-0 7, Keith Lowe 4-5 0-2 8, Tanner Lefevers 2-5 0-0 5, Bryan Robbins 5-6 4-8 14, Matt Raines 0-1 0-0 0, Jon Collett 1-2 0-0 2, Ricky Pletcher 0-1 0-0 0, Corey Oslanian 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-58 5-13 67.

Harlan 9 11 9 12 — 41

Bell County 13 18 13 23 — 67

3-point goals: Harlan 1-14 (Ely 1-6, Taylor 0-1, Saragas 0-2, Couch 0-2, Spurlock 0-3), Bell County 4-12 (Hilton 2-5, Patterson 1-2, Lefevers 1-2, Madon 0-1, Lee 0-2). Rebounds: Harlan 27 (Grubbs 7), Bell County 36 (Robbins 9). Assists: Harlan 7 (Saragas 4), Bell County 15 (Madon 6). Turnovers: Harlan 20, Bell County 18. Fouled out: Harlan (Chitwood).