Bell County extended its win streak to nine and moved within one game of winning its second straight 2A Section 7 title, but coach Brad Sizemore wasn’t thrilled with the Bobcats’ performance in a 63-58 win over Whitley County on Thursday at Harlan County High School.
“We came out flat for whatever reason. We hadn’t played since last week, so maybe that’s what it was,” Sizemore said. “But at the end of the day, we played well enough to win and advance in this tournament. Hopefully, we’ll come back ready to go, and I know we’ll have a tough game.”
The 12-3 Bobcats featured a balanced attack with Jaxon Thomas scoring 16, followed by Blake Burnett with 15 and Cameron Hall with 14.
“We’ve got guys who can score the ball. We’ve taken a lot of pride this season in not turning it over, and we had a lot of turnovers tonight for whatever reason,” Sizemore said. “But I like our team, and I expect to play a lot better next time out.”
Bryson Mahan scored 18 for the Colonels. Riley Fuson tossed in 11, with Aaron Rowe and Levi Jackson adding 10 each.
“We had some good looks in the first half. I thought our gameplan was good,” Whitley County coach Eric Swords said. “They just didn’t go down. The second half, some of those same shots started falling. I think we can guard. I thought we did good job containing them for the most part. They have a good offense, and Brad does a good job with them. They are also experienced and have seen it all. We tried to throw everything we had at them to stay in it.”
Bell County took a 20-15 lead after one quarter and extended its advantage to 33-19 at halftime by limiting the Colonels to four points. Bell was ahead 50-34 going into the fourth quarter when the Colonels fought back. Garrett Sharp hit consecutive 3s and Mahan added a layup as the Colonels closed to within five with 2:20 left. Whitley got as close as four in the final minute.
Despite losing four starters from last year’s squad, the Colonels have exceeded expectations thus far with an 11-3 record.
“Bell has a great team, along with several others. I don’t think we’re far off,” Swords said. “Our kids will play hard. We’re relying on youth, and it’s tough sometimes.”
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Bell County (63) — Cameron Hall 14, Blake Burnett 15, Jaxon Thomas 16, Ethan Buell 9, Cayden Huff 4, Braxton Ferguson 5.
Whitley County (58) — Bryson Mahan 18, Dee Parker 0, Aaron Rowe 10, Levi Jackson 10, Garrett Sharp 9, Riley Fuson 11.
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Bell County 20 13 17 13 — 63
Whitley County 15 4 15 24 — 58