Even though all-stater Trent Noah now resides in Lexington as a member of the University of Kentucky basketball team, the Harlan County Black Bears can still put up points in bunches.
Visiting McCreary Central outplayed the Bears at their own game in the first quarter of the 2A Section 7 Tournament on Thursday, hitting 10 of 14 shots to build a 28-19 lead. Harlan County took over from there, outscoring the Raiders in each of the final three periods to roll to a 101-77 win and earn a spot in the championship game against district rival Bell County. The Bears hit 18 of 31 3-point attempts for 46 percent and shot 65 percent (39 of 60) from the field.
Senior guard Maddox Huff, an all-stater himself last year in helping lead HCHS to a 13th Region title, poured in 39 points on nine 3-pointers. Senior center Jaycee Carter had the best offensive night of his career with 22 points on nine-of-12 shooting. Trent Cole and Brody Napier added 17 and 12 points, respectively, as the Bears improved to 11-4.
“We like to get up and down the floor. The kids like it, and I like it when it’s going in,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “Maddox hit some big 3s to get us going. I thought all of them played well. We found a mismatch to get it to Jaycee on the block, and he exploited that, and it was good to see some of those trail 3s go in for him.”
Junior guard Peyton Higginbotham gave the Bears fits most of the night as he scored 29 points. Sophomore guard Kolton Summers hit five 3s in the first quarter on the way to a 25-point night. Luke Foster added 13 points for the 9-4 Raiders.
“They beat Pineville by 19 in their tournament, so we knew they had a good team because Pineville has a good ball team,” Jones said. “I felt we came out flat. I told them in that first timeout that they don’t get to play in front of their home crowd much and there’s no excuse to be flat at home with no energy.”
Summers dominated the first period as McCreary built an early lead by hitting six 3s and outrebounding the Bears 9-3.
Huff and Carter combined to hit nine of nine shots in the second quarter as the Bears took the lead midway through the period, then extended the advantage to 45-38 by halftime. Huff hit a 3 to start a 12-0 run that included an assist to Carter followed by a steal and layup then another 3.
Carter and Huff each hit two 3s in the third quarter while Reggie Cottrell and Trent Cole added one each as the Bears pushed their lead to 75-55.
Cole hit all four of his shots in the second half, including two more in the fourth quarter as the Bears outscored McCrary 26-22. Sophomore guard Cole Cornett put the Bears over the century mark with his basket in the final minute.
The 2A Section 7 championship game was originally scheduled for Friday but has been postponed due to a predicted winter storm. The reschedule date has yet to be determined.