The Middlesboro Lady Jackets had a tougher than expected time with Barbourville Monday in the opening round of the 13th Region All “A” Classic. But they came through at crunch time and pulled away in the second half for a 57-39 win.

“I thought Barbourville played pretty well. They were ready to play tonight,” Lady Jacket coach Elgie Green said. “We took real good care of the basketball, made good decisions on offense, made the extra pass. It was a good team win.”

Seior forward Ashley Banfield scored a game-high 24 points to keep the Lady Tigers close for most of three quarters. But the Lady Jackets stayed patient on offense and hit 11 3-pointers on their way to the 18-point win.

Senior guard Shaleesha Coleman and sophomore wing Carissa Overbay hit four 3-pointers each. Coleman led Middlesboro with 18 points, Overbay and Samantha Coleman both finished with 14 and senior point guard Sophie Robinson added six points while handing out 10 assists.

After Barbourville led in the early going, Overbay hit a 3-pointer and Samantha Coleman scored on a put-back to put the Lady Jackets on top 12-10. Shaleesha Coleman’s 3 and a layup by Sam Coleman gave Middlesboro a 17-12 lead at the end of the first.

A 15-0 run continued into the second quarter as Shaleesha turned a steal into a layup hit two more threes to put MHS up 27-12 with about five minutes to play in the first half.

“Shaleesha Coleman played a heck of a game. She was coming off a game at Tate’s Creek she rebounded the ball well, but her offense hasn’t been there,” Green said. “She hit a couple of threes in a row, didn’t try to over dribble and played within herself.”

Teena Grubb scored inside for Barbourville to end a long scoring drought. Banfield and Neysa Kelly hit 3-pointers and Kelly went coast-to-coast for a layup after stealing an in-bounds pass from under the Middlesboro basket as the Lady Tigers got back to within 30-24 at halftime.

Banfield scored two quick baskets to start the third quarter and make it a two-point game, 30-28. But the Lady Jackets were soon back in control.

“I knew that they would make a little bit of a run, but there was never really any point where I was worried that we would lose the game,” Green said. “We were under control. The kids came out focused, and defensively they were doing what we asked them to do.”

Samantha Coleman scored four straight points and Robinson’s 3-pointer put Middlesboro back up by six, 39-33 with a little under two minutes to play in the third.

Baskets from Sam and Shaleesha Coleman put the Lady Jackets up by ten early in the third. Robinson hit a 3 and then found Shaleesha open in the corner for another to pretty much put the game away. Middlesboro led 51-35 with 3:40 to play.

Ashley Mason and Overbay added 3-pointers down the stretch to round out the scoring for the Lady Jackets as they won 57-39.

Kelly finished with 12 points for Barbourville and Grubb was the only other Lady Tiger to make the scoring column with three points.

Barbourville (4-9) will play at Jackson County on Saturday while Middlesboro (8-7) will host Williamsburg in the All “A” semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Williamsburg (10-5) defeated Oneida Baptist 95-32 in Monday’s other first round game.

Williamsburg has been playing well recently with wins over South Laurel and Corbin in January.

“There not someone we can overlook. We’re going to have to play awfully hard and play awfully well,” Green said. “It’s going to be a tough game and we need to get some people in the stands. These kids play hard and they’re a great bunch of kids to coach. They’re exciting to watch and if we can get some people in here to make a little noise they’ll play even harder.”

The tournament continues at Middlesboro High School tonight with Pineville playing Red Bird at 6 p.m. and Harlan taking on Lynn Camp at 7:30 p.m.

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13th Region All ‘A’ Classic

First Roud

Barbourville 12 12 9 6 — 39

Middlesboro 17 13 11 16 — 57

BARBOURVILLE (39): Ashley Banfield 24, Neysa Kelly 12, Teena Grubbs 3, Kelsey Smith 0, Caty Duerr 0, Amber Johnson 0.

MIDDLESBORO (57): Shaleesha Coleman 18, Samantha Coleman 14, Carissa Overbay 14, Sophie Robinson 6, Ashley Mason 5, Shanice Gilbert 0, Taylor Hatchell 0.

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Williamsburg 26 22 22 25 — 95

Oneida Baptist 8 10 8 6 — 32

WILLIAMSBURG (95): Sam Burr 18, Alyssa Siler 17, Kat Hoffman 16, Cecily Sears 10, Whitney Rains 7, Taylor Haynes 5, Megan Stohner 4, Lakin Ayers 4, Chelsea Jones 4, Eleanor Croley 4, Lan Yang 3, Kristin Sears 2, Jessica Ball 0.

ONEIDA BAPTIST (32): Kayla Sizemore 18, Zunilda Lynch 7, Kyra McCarley 4, Setea Kahsay 2, Yordanos Sharew 1, Shelby Lynch 0, Kiana McCarley 0, Elizabeth Sieh 0, Beimnet Kebede 0.