BARBOURVILLE — From four wins in 2023 to 22 in 2024, the Knox Central Panthers and coach Mitchell Madden know all about hungry, young teams with nothing to lose.
Knox Central was on the other side as a big favorite Monday and watched as a Harlan squad with four freshmen and only one win built a 19-point lead with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter. Knox Central finally found a way to rattle the young Dragons and stormed back, outscoring Harlan 30-11 in the fourth period to rally for an 81-75 victory.
“We got down 19 in the third quarter and I told them we could lose by 30 or we could chip away,” said Knox Central’s Mitchell Madden, last year’s 13th Region coach of the year. “Hats off to them because they shot the lights out. Some of them were open, but we were right on them on others. We started trapping and cheating on defense in the second half, and we weren’t doing that in the first half. We adjusted that and it changed the game.
“We’ve got a young team, and we have to learn to win those games,” Harlan coach Derrick Akal said. “Knox Central did a good job of crashing the boards. Murphy’s Law hit us. We talked at halftime about the 50-50 balls, not turning it over and offensive rebounds. They got all the loose balls and rebounds after that and turned us over. That’s a recipe for disaster on the road.”
Freshman guard Grayson Burton led the comeback as he finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for the 4-1 Panthers. Senior guard Auston Bargo added 21 points.
Freshman guards Jaxson Perry and Izack Saylor led the 1-5 Dragons with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Kobe Noe added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Knox built a 24-22 lead after one quarter despite missing 18 of 28 shots. The Panthers capitalized on nine Harlan turnovers in the quarter.
Perry heated up in the second period, hitting all four of his shots to spark a 22-6 run to close the half. Saylor added two more 3s after two in the first quarter to help Harlan take a 49-35 lead at the break.
The Panthers were getting plenty of shots but missed 11 of 15, including numerous attempts under the basket after offensive rebounds.
“We missed 17 3-foot shots, and if you miss 17 3-foot shots you shouldn’t be in a game,” Madden said. “We were playing hard, and I kept telling them they would start going. I told them if they didn’t think we could win they could sit over here with me. Our kids didn’t quit.”
Harlan’s lead grew to 62-43 with two minutes left in the third quarter as Perry hit three of five shots and Noe added two baskets. Knox cut the deficit to 13 by the end of the period.
Knox pulled within four with 3:30 left as Harlan was held scoreless until Saylor hit a 3 and then followed with a basket to push the lead back to nine. The Panthers responded with six points in a 22-second span to close within three. Knox took the lead on Evan Hubbard;s 3 with 1:34 left. Bargo hit five of six at the line over the next minute while Harlan was in the midst of missing six of eight at the line. The Dragons also had seven turnovers in the fourth period compared to none for Harlan.
Despite the loss, the Dragons can take plenty of positives from pushing one of the region’s top teams to the final minute on the road.
“I feel the last three or four games we’ve gotten better at some things,” Akal said. “We’re shooting the ball better and making better decisions. It’s still a learning curve with four freshmen guards starting. They are competing, and I’m proud of them even with the loss.”
Harlan plays host to Bell County in the second game of a girls/boys doubleheader.
———
Luke Olmstead scored 18 points and Taylor Center added 16 as Knox Central rolled to a 53-24 win in junior varsity action. Trevor Smith tossed in 13, followed by Brayden Hodge with four and Lucas Vaughn with two.
Eli Noe led the 1-5 Dragons with seven points. Braxton Rowe chipped in with six. Hunter Brock, Dalton Halcomb and Nate Cochran scored three each. Dylan Collins added two.