FAIRDALE — Harlan County’s six wins coming into Monday’s matchup against Male in the King of the Bluegrass tournament were all rather comfortable with the closest being an 11-point victory over Bell County.
The Bears’ two losses, three points to Lyon County and two against Perry Central, were the only two close games they had played to this point.
It was clear from the start of Monday’s game at Fairdale High School against the defending 7th Region champs, the Bears would have to show they could win a close game or go home from one of the state’s most prestigious tournament.
Harlan County overcame a 12-point deficit in the third quarter and didn’t take their first lead of the night until Maddox Huff hit a 3-pointer with 81 seconds left. Huff and Trent Noah each hit two free throws in the final 18 seconds, plus the Bears came up with several clutch defensive stops to earn a berth in the tournament’s fifth-place game with a 62-59 victory.
“We were down double digits three different times and we kept battling back. These kids played extremely hard tonight. It was a gutsy effort by all of them,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “We made some adjustments at halftime. They executed at the end of the game and made free throws. That’s what you have to do to win games in the district and regional tournament.”
Huff had perhaps the biggest game of his high school career with 28 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter when the Bears stormed back from seven down to earn a spot opposite Trinity or DeSales on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Noah and Daniel Carmical added 14 and 12 points, respectively, as Harlan County improved to 7-2 on the season.
“They were doubling Trent every time he caught it, and Maddox went to work,” Jones said. “We start putting Trent in our ball screen where they couldn’t double it early, and we had Daniel (Carmical) coming off a pin down. That’s lethal when you have those three guys and you’re spreading them out.”
Freshman guard Cole Edelen hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 27 points to lead the 3-6 Bulldogs. Jayson Gaseway and Jack Edelen added 10 points each.
White and Cole Edelen each had two baskets in the first quarter as Male raced to a 9-0 lead. Huff and Carmical supplied most of the HCHS offense with two 3-pointers each, but the Bears trailed 18-13 after one quarter.
Cole Edelen hit two more 3s in the second quarter and Gasaway added three baskets as Male moved out to a 10-point lead before Carmical brought the Bears back with two more treys, cutting the deficit to 31-27 at halftime.
By hitting five of seven shots in the third quarter, Edelen almost put the game out of reach as the lead reached 12, at 46-34, with 3:15 left in the period. Huff hit two straight 3-pointers and Jonah Swanner scored off a steal as the Bears pulled within five going into the final quarter.
Two straight Huff 3-pointers cut the deficit to one. Huff’s third trey of the quarter, this one coming after Swanner ran down a rebound and passed it back out, gave the Bears their first lead of the night. After Edelen missed a shot, Huff hit two free throws for a three-point lead. Demetris White drove in for a layup to cut the deficit to one with eight seconds remaining. Two Noah free throws closed the scoring with six seconds left. Edelen was unable to connect on a shot from 30-feet away as time expired.