Playing the first of four straight 14th Region opponents, the Harlan County Black Bears cooled off visiting Breathitt County with a 77-58 victory Tuesday. The Bobcats came into the game on a three-game winning streak that included an upset of Hazard on Saturday and a victory over Leslie County on Sunday in the regional All “A” Classic finals.
“We beat a good ball team tonight,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “We got a little complacent in the third quarter, but I was proud of them overall.”
The Black Bears played one of their best games of the season on defense and by showing more aggressiveness on the offensive send. With his 2026 squad lacking the size of highly successful teams of the recent past, Jones is stressing the need to get to the basket. Junior guard Trent Cole led the 9-5 Bears with 22 points, while Reggie Cottrell added 18 points and seven rebounds and Brennan Blevins chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds.
“I was real pleased with how we attacked the basket tonight. We want to get 3s off drive and kicks,” Jones said. “I thought we did a good job of getting to the rim. We have some quicker kids who can get to the rim, so we have to continue doing that and get to the free throw line a little more.”
The 10-6 Bobcats were led by freshman guard Jaron Fugate with 11 points and sophomore forward Jagger Burton with 10 points.
Cole and Blevins each had three baskets in the opening quarter and Cottrell added two, including a buzzer-beating 3 from just inside halfcourt as the Bears built a 20-8 lead.
Brady Smith, a sophomore guard, hit all three of his shots in the second period as the Bears extended their advantage to 43-27 at halftime.
The Bears shot better than 50 percent in each of the first three quarters as they hit eight of 15 in the third period with two baskets each by Cottrell, Cole and Landon Brock. The HC advantage grew to 65-44 heading into the final quarter.
A 3 from Cottrell and basket by Blevins pushed the lead to 72-48 midway through the fourth quarter as Jones went to his reserves.
Harlan County will face Powell County on Saturday at 5:30 in the Bobby Keith Classic at Clay County. Breathitt County travels to Jackson City on Thursday.
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Harlan County watched leads slip away in both regulation and overtime before reeling off 14 unanswered points in the second overtime to win 63-49 in junior varsity action.
Sophomore guard Hayden Grace poured in 23 points to lead the 4-4 Bears. Easton Engle tossed in 15 points, and Tucker Curtis added 12. Trey Creech and Tyhler Coots each scored five.
Jake Fugate scored 14 and Ethan Sizemore added 12 for the Bobcats. Adam Spencer tossed in nine, followed by Nathan Chapman with six, Jayden Hudson and Wyatt Spencer with three each and Christian Collins with two.
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Harlan County fell 49-23 in freshman action and 60-39 in junior varsity action in a doubleheader Monday at North Laurel.
Easton Engle scored 12, Hayden Brace tossed in 11 and Tucker Curtis added 10 for the junior varsity Bears. Trey Creech tossed in three, followed by Rydge Lewis with two and Carson Sanders with one.
Creech led the HC freshmen with nine points, Engle and Andrew Vance added five each. Hudson Faulkner and Hunter Fuson scored two each.

Harlan County’s Reggie Cottrell sailed to the basket for two of his 18 points in the Bears’ 77-58 win over visiting Breathitt County. (Chrissie Brassfield)