Sports Editor

CUMBERLAND — The gym at Cumberland High School has been a pit of horrors over the years for both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams at Middlesboro.

Friday night the Lady Jackets exorcised those demons as they routed Harlan 73-37 in the 52nd District title game. It was the final high school game to be played at Cumberland and Middlesboro’s first district championship since 2001.

“It feels great. That’s been one of the things that I’ve wanted to accomplish as a coach. We’ve had a couple of shots at it and fell short,” Lady Jacket coach Elgie Green said. “This group of kids have been focused all year, this is a special bunch.

“We’ve got two regional Class A championships, went to the quarterfinals of the Class A state, won 20 games a couple of times in the last four years. This is one thing that’s eluded us. This is a big monkey off our back and we’re going to enjoy it.”

Middlesboro bounced back from a tougher-than-expected 51-48 semifinal victory over Cumberland that wasn’t determined until the final seconds. Friday night they scored the game’s first eight points and never looked back.

The Lady Jackets led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter, 37-15 at the half and 57-29 after three.

“Both games I thought our defense played well and we had really good defensive pressure,” Green said. “Tonight our kids just seemed more relaxed.

“We’ve never played well in this gym for some reason and I knew with the seedings that we’s probably had our toughest game in the semis — facing Cumberland in what was possibly their last game.”

Middlesboro took control of the championship game in classic Lady Jacket style. They forced Harlan into 36 turnovers and capitalized on offense with balanced scoring.

All five starters reached double figures led by senior center Brooklynn Jimison’s 15 points. Ashley Williams and Samantha Coleman scored 12 each and Sophie Robinson added 11. The tournament MVP went to junior Shaleesha Coleman who turned in a spectacular all-around game Friday with 14 points, 11 steals, five assists and three rebounds.

“I thought Shaleesha was the big turning point inthe Cumberland game with some big free throws down the stretch. She got a couple of steals and made a real good decision after getting a rebound to pull it out and start running some clock off,” Green said. “She constantly puts defensive pressure the point guard and takes them out of their game. She never hangs her head, never gets down on herself, she just keeps playing hard.”

Coleman said she thought they had called the wrong name when she was named MVP.

“I thought they got our names mixed up. I don’t normally get the MVP, Sam’s a better player and she played strong. I personally thought that she deserved it, but I’ll take it. It means a lot,” she said.

Coleman added that capturing the district title was special because the team has been so close to winning it in years past.

“Every year that I’ve played we should have won and should have blown them out like we did this one,” she said. “My eighth-grade year we lost to Pineville — that was a heart-breaker — and my freshman year we lost to Bell County after beating them the week before.

“I wasn’t here last year, but we deserved it every year that I’ve played and I’m just glad that we finally did it this year.”

The Lady Jackets took advantage of a Harlan team that was missing their top two ball-handlers. Chasidy Lawson was out after spraining an ankle in practice Thursday and Belinda Patton was serving a one-game suspension.

Middlesboro pressed from the outset and forced the Lady Dragons into six turnovers in their first seven possessions. Baskets by Jimison and Samantha Coleman and four points from Williams gave the Lady Jackets an 8-0 lead to start the game.

“Our defensive pressure with two of their ball-handlers being out just wore them down,” Green said. “We made it tough for them to get the ball up the court and were able to score some easy baskets off turnovers.”

Anne Corey Johnson got Harlan on the board with 3:35 to play in the first, but the Lady Dragons were held to just four shots in the period.

Middlesboro put the game out of reach in the second quarter as they forced 11 more turnovers and hit 11-of-19 shots. Shaleesha Coleman scored seven points, while Jimison and Robinson added six each as the Lady Jackets opened up a 22-point lead by halftime.

Alex Allison hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter to lead Harlan with nine points. Cheyene Hamblin scored seven and senior center Courtney Bell was held to just six points, five of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“Bell has been scoring close to 20 points over their last couple of games and I figured she’d be their go-to person with the guards out of the game,” Green said. “Ashley Williams did an excellent job of fronting her and not letting her catch the basketball and Jimison did a real good job on the weak side not letting her catch a lob. When she did catch it they did a good job of going straight up and making her go over the top and shoot the basketball.”

Middlesboro (26-3) and Harlan (17-13) will both advance to the 13th Region tournament, which begins Monday at Knox Central. The draw will take place Sunday.

As a first place team, Middlesboro will face either Barbourville, Whitley County or North Laurel. As a second place team, Harlan will go up against either Clay County, Lynn Camp or South Laurel.

The Lady Jackets have done well against the other top contenders in the region with two wins over Whitley County, one over South Laurel and a two-point loss at Clay County that came down to the final possession.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good draw and have a good first game. You’ve got to be ready to play,” Green said. “You’ve got to have a little luck and get a break here and there. The kids have got to come in focused and bring their ‘A’ game.

“We’re not going in now thinking that with a little luck, if we play hard and the other team plays bad, we might have a shot to win. This time, I like our chances and I know my kids are confident that they can play with anybody.”

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In addition to Shaleesha Coleman, the all-tournament team included: Middlesboro’s Brooklynn Jimison, Ashley Williams, Sophie Robinson and Samantha Coleman; Harlan’s Courtney Bell, Alex Allison, Sarah Scruggs and Anne Corey Johnson; Cawood’s Emily Boggs and Miranda Davenport; Cumberland’s Kendra Russell and Whitney Gilliam; Bell County’s Jenna Lefevers; and Evarts’ Porche Carr.

Bell County won the cheerleading competition, with Harlan placing second.

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Green was recently named the KABC’s 13th Region coach of the year.

“That’s special. It takes these kids working hard and playing hard for you — You’re a good coach when there winning 20-some game for you, you’re a bad coach when they’re not winning,” he said. “I just thank these kids and love these kids for the hard work they’ve put in to get to where we are right now.

“Being named that by your fellow coaches is special. It’s shows that they respect you. That’s one trophy that we’ll hang on my shelf at home, but what’s improtant is these kids winning the district championship and hopefully a 13th Region title next week.”

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Harlan 4 11 14 8 — 37

Middlesboro 12 25 20 16 — 73

HARLAN (37): Alex Allison 9, Cheyenne Hamblin 7, Courtney Bell 6, Anne Corey Johnson 5, Ester McMillen 4, Chelsea Wilson 4, Sarah Scruggs 1, Ashley Mullins 1, Madison Ball 0, Chelsea Burchfield 0, Mimi Boggs 0, Katlyn Estep 0, Amanda Blakely 0.

MIDDLESBORO (73): Brooklynn Jimison 15, Shaleesha Coleman 14, Samantha Coleman 12, Ashley Williams 12, Sophie Robinson 11, Daven Hart 3, Shanice Gilbert 2, Ashley Mason 2, Carissa Overbay 2, Katie Maiden 0, Taylor Hatchell 0, Whitney Ellis 0, Kristen Davis 0, Sidni Schneider 0.

Photo: The Middlesboro Lady Jackets are the 2008 58th District Champions after defeating Harlan 73-37 in the title game Friday night at Cumberland. Now 26-3 on the season, the Lady Jackets are one of the top seeds for next week’s 13th Region tournament. (JAY COMPTON/Daily News)