WISE, VA. — The Harlan County Black Bears, known for their shooting the last several years, have yet to find their touch through three games in the 2025-2026 season. The Bears shot 43 percent (23 of 53) from the field and only 15 percent (three of 20) from behind the 3-point line Monday in a 78-59 loss at Wise Central.
The poor shooting wasn’t the only problem for the 1-2 Bears, who lost their composure down the stretch with four technical fouls and one intentional foul as the Warriors turned a close game into a rout. The Bears were unhappy with the officiating in the game as coach Kyle Jones pointed to Central’s 35-17 advantage in free throw attempts and the loss of three starters due to fouls.
“I’m not going to take anything from them or take anything away from us. We played good in spurts and they played good in spurts, but when you’re battling a free throw discrepancy like that it’s tough to overcome that,” Jones said. “They called a couple of technicals and intentional fouls on us but nothing was called on them until the last 10 seconds. That’s the way I feel about it.”
Sophomore guard Ean Hayes scored 31 points and junior guard Londen Horne added 29 points to account for most of the offense for the 4-1 Warriors.
Senior guard Reggie Cottrell was the only player in double figures for the 1-2 Bears with 18 points.
Harlan County returns to action Thursday in the Smoky Mountain Classic at Gatlinburg, Tenn.
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Harlan County coasted to a 54-29 win in junior varsity action as sophomore guard Hayden Grace led the 2-1 Bears with 16 points. Tucker Curtis added 10 points. Tyhler Coots chipped in with eight. Trey Creech and Rydge Lewis each added six points. Easton Engle and Carson Sanders added three each. Hunter Fuson scored two,
Lucas Wilson and Jamison Bevins each scored nine to lead Wise.
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Wise Central. 78, Harlan County 59
HARLAN COUNTY (1-2)
Trent Cole 2-9 2-2 7, Brady Smith 3-8 1-2 7, Kaden Jones 2-6 0-0 6, Reggie Cottrell 7-14 4-8 18, Brennan Blevins 4-6 0-0 8, Landon Brock 2-4 2-2 6, Hayden Grace 1-3 0-0 2, Tucker Curtis 2-2 0-1 4, Trey Creech 0-0 1-2 1, Easton Engle 0-0 0-0 0, Tyhler Coots 0-1 0-0 0, Rydge Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 10-17 59.
WISE CENTRAL, VA. (4-1)
Londen Horne 8-11 11-14 29, Ean Hayes 9-16 9-13 31, Shawn Collier 2-3 0-0 4, Isaiah Tompkins 4-6 0-2 8, Nolan Goforth 0-1 1-2 1, Gabe Thompson 1-2 4-5 6, Jaylen Teasley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-41 25-35 78.
Harlan County 12 16 17 14 — 59
Wise Central 14 16 21 27 — 78
3-point goals: Harlan County 3-20 (Jones 2-5, Cole 1-4, Blevins 0-1, Coots 0-1, Grace 0-2, Smith 0-3, Cottrell 0-4), Wise Central 5-12 (Haynes 3-6, Horne 2-4), Goforth 0-1, Teasley 0-1). Rebounds: Harlan County 21 (Curtis 6, Blevins 4, Cottrell 3, Smith 2, Brock 2, Grace 2, Jones 1, Engle 1), Wise Central 26 (I. Tompkins 9, Hayes 7, Goforth 5, Thompson 4, Horne 1). Turnovers: Harlan County 12 Wise Central 17. Fouled out: Harlan County (Cole, Smith, Blevins), Technical fouls: Harlan County (Blevins, Curtis, Cole, bench), Wise Central (bench).
