MOUNT VERNON — While their record going into Saturday’s game against Harlan County was not all that impressive, the Madison Central Indians brought no shortage of talent or size to the Rocket Classic at Rockcastle County High School.
The Black Bears fell behind by 10 in the first quarter and were never able to overcome a bad shooting night in a 70-46 loss.
Madison Central (11-11), ranked fifth in the always tough 11th Region, dominated the game with its size and shooting. Robby Todd, a 6-foot-8 senior center headed for Eastern Kentucky University, scored 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting while adding 12 rebounds and blocking numerous HCHS shots. Jaylen Davis, a 6-5 senior wing, added 13 points. Landon Ray, a sophomore, hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points as part of the Indians’ 10 of 20 hight from behind the 3-point line. Junior guard Eli Steele had 10 points.
“I’ve been telling these kids to not listen to outside noise and that their record is not that great, but they’ve played some of the best teams in the state and have some great athletes, including one who has signed with Eastern,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said.
The Bears, who fell to 17-4, were held to 27 percent (16 of 59) shooting from the field and 28 percent (seven of 25) from behind the 3-point line.
“We got a lot of good looks, but we just didn’t make them,” Jones said. “I thought we tried to battle them on the boards, but we were undersized. I don’t want to make any excuses. It still came down to making shots. They had some kids making shots we haven’t seen them making on film.”
Maddox Huff scored 18 points and Daniel Carmical added 15 for the Bears, who played without all-state guard Trent Noah due to illness.
After being held to nine points in the opening quarter, the Bears’ offense picked up in the second and third quarters and HCHS was within 13 points early in the fourth quarter on a Carmical trey before Central closed with a 16-5 run.
Harlan County returns to action Tuesday at Pineville before the district showdown Thursday at Harlan.