CORBIN — Trent Noah wasn’t ready to get started on his college basketball career just yet.
Noah, Harlan County’s all-state senior guard, took over midway through the third quarter in the 13th Region Tournament semifinals, just when it appeared the Bears’ season was in danger of ending. Clay County led by as many as nine points in the second half before Noah brought the Bears back with one of the most clutch performances in tournament history. Noah’s 43-point, 15-rebound afternoon helped HCHS advance to a championship showdown on Monday against Corbin with a hard-fought 66-60 victory.
“We didn’t want this to be the last one. We’re not done yet. My teammates and coaches gave all they had, and it’s just awesome to get the win,” Noah said.
“He’s the best player in this state,” said Harlan County coach Kyle Jones. “We knew we had to get stronger after losing to last year Corbin in the regional. To play two teams like have over here this year just shows how far we’ve come. And we have another one Monday night.”
Noah scored 16 of the Bears’ 19 points in the fourth quarter as Harlan County outscored Clay 19-9 in the period despite losing three players to fouls and with sophomore guard Reggie Cottrell basically playing with one hand after suffering a possible broken wrist during the game. Noah’s performance stole the show in what had previous been billed as a battle of brothers with Clay County led by Michael Jones and Harlan County led by Kyle Jones. Both are sons of former coach Mike Jones, who won four 13th Region titles and two All “A” Classic state championships in his storied career.
“We had some unfortunate things happen down the stretch with fouls, but I’m confident in our guys 1 through 15 that they will do the job,” added Noah.
Clay missed its first seven shots from the field in the final quarter and hit only one of eight as Elijah Bundy scored with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit to two points. Noah put the game away from there with a basket, four free throws and a smothering block under the basket when he basically took the ball away from Clay senior forward Hayden Harris on a shot attempt.
Junior guard Maddox Huff finished with 11 points, including perhaps the biggest shot of the night with a 3-pointer with 64 seconds left that pushed a one-point lead to four.
“I’m just so proud of these kids,” said Jones as he was overcome with emotion after the game. “He hadn’t been shooting as well as usual, but he’s shot that shot a million times and has confidence he will hit it. That was huge.”
Freshman forward Adon Grubb led the 24-9 Tigers with 15 points. Harris scored 14 and junior point guard Jerrod Roark added 13.
Two Bundy baskets inside gave Clay an early 4-0 lead, but Huff hit a 3 and Noah dunked off a steal as the Bears took a lead they maintained throughout the opening quarter. Noah scored nine points in the period as the Bears built a 14-11 advantage.
Clay hit seven of its first 10 shots in the second quarter, highlighted by three 3s from Roark, to build a 29-21 lead. HCHS cut the deficit to 36-30 by halftime on baskets by Huff and Jaycee Carter.
Two baskets by Grubb and a 3-pointer from Ethan Jackson helped Clay extend its lead to 43-34 with 4:08 left in the third quarter. Noah and Jaycee Carter sparked a 13-4 run as the Bears cut the deficit to 51-47 going into the final period.
HCHS will play Corbin on Monday at 7 p.m. for the 13th Region championship and a trip to the state tournament.