Down by eight points in the second half, Harlan County closed strong in the finals of the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic to defeat tournament host Gatlinburg-Pittman 77-69 on Friday.
The 10-3 Black Bears had three players reach the 20-point mark, led by Maddox Huff with 26 points, followed by Daniel Carmical with 21 points on seven 3-popinters and Trent Noah with 20 points and 20 rebounds.
“We played a really good physical basketball team on their home court tonight,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “I felt like they was more aggressive than us the first half. We became the aggressor midway through the second half and that was the difference.”
After playing to an 18-18 tie after one quarter, Gatlinburg-Pittman took a 38-32 halftime lead. HCHS cut the deficit to two going into the final period and pulled away despite losing three players to fouls. Daniel Carmical put the Bears ahead to stay with a 3-pointer. Huff followed with another for a four-point lead as he scored 11 points in the quarter. Noah hit four of six at the line in the quarter to put the game away.
Sophomore guard Ty Glasper scored 33 points to lead the 13-2 Highlanders. Junior guard Carlos Orr added 18 points.
Harlan County will return to action Thursday at home against South Laurel.
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Harlan County (77) — Maddox Huff 26, Trent Noah 20, Daniel Carmical 21, Jonah Swanner 6, Jaycee Carter 2, Caleb Johnson 2, Brody Napier 0, Reggie Cottrell 0.
Gatlinburg-Pittman (69) — Seth Sutton 3, Carlos Orr 18, Whitman Whaley 2, Ty Glasper 33, Jackson Desear 6, Wade Whaley 5, Cam Richardson 2.

Harlan County 18 14 21 24 — 77
Gatlinburg-Pittman 18 20 17 14 — 69
3-point goals: Harlan County 10 (Carmical 7, Huff 3), Gatlinburg-Pittman 4 (Glosper 3, Sutton 1).