NFHS 4-23-1 states that "guarding is the act of legally
placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent."
NFHS 4-10 stipulates that a closely-guarded situation
requires that a player must have control in his/her
front court and be guarded by an opponent who is within
6 feet of the player who is holding or dribbling the
ball. I need clarification on "Legal guarding position"
in this situation. What does it mean to be "in the path?"

Basically, it means that you don't have a closely guarded situation when the guard is chasing the dribbler from behind. If the guard is between the dribbler and the basket, count. But once the dribbler is by the guard and driving to the basket, the count ceases.

Let me explain my situation. Player has control of the ball about 3 feet into the front court. I have started the count for closely guarding because the defender was within 6 feet and between the player in control and the basket. The player in control pivoted so he was facing the backcourt. The defender ran around the offensive player so he was between the offensive player and the mid-court line but still within the requisite 6 feet. I stopped my count because I had interpretted "in the path" to be between the ball and the basket.

Has the player with the ball "used" his/her dribble? If so, I continue to count.

I'm with willie. If the player is holding the ball and not dribbling, there is no path because she can't move. Continue the count.