HAZARD — One of the few drawbacks to a deep state tournament run like the one made by the Harlan County Black Bears last season is the big target it puts on your back for opponents.
Much like a hard-fought win Saturday against Betsy Layne, the Bears found themselves locked in a battle Monday in the first round of the WYMT Mountain Classic at Perry Central as they held a two-point lead at halftime against Knott Central.
The Bears were able to match Knott’s intensity in the second half and pulled away for a 68-53 victory as they opened defense of their title from last season.
“That was the best I’ve seen them play this season. They got after us pretty hard, and I have a lot of respect for (Knott coach) Casey Huff. I’ve known him a long time,” Harlan County coach Maddox Huff said. “We took some quick shots the first half. We settled down in the second half and played better.”
With all-state senior guard Maddox Huff experiencing a rare off night with his shooting early, junior guard Reggie Cottrell responded with the best game of his career as he scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“Reggie told me they couldn’t guard him off the dribble,” Jones said. “We turned him loose and he made a lot of big plays for us tonight.”
Huff found success getting to the basket in the second half as he hit five of 10 shots and finished with 22 points.
“Maddox got going in the second half and made big plays for us,” Jones said.
Junior guard Chance Amburgey scored 17 points to lead the 1-2 Patriots. Talon Osborne added 10 points.
Knott hit seven of 12 shots in the first quarter, compared to three of 11 for HCHS, and took a 13-12 lead.
A Huff basket followed by a steal and layup from Cottrell put the Bears ahead to stay in the opening minute of the second quarter. Two baskets by Brody Napier stretched the lead to six, but the Patriots closed the half with a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 28-26 at halftime.
Huff took control in the third period with eight points, back by 3s from Cottrell and Trent Cole, to push the Bears’ lead to 44-38 heading into the final period.
The Bears hit six of nine shots in the fourth quarter to pull away. Huff and Cole hit back-to-back 3s from opposite corners to all but put the game out of reach as the lead grew to 15 with three minutes left.
Harlan County will play Clay County on Friday at 6:30 in the semifinals in a rematch of last year’s 13th Region Tournament semifinals.