Built more like a football standout — which he is for Clay County in the fall — senior center Aiden Wagers showed again Thursday against visiting Harlan that he can also be a difference-maker on the basketball court. He scored a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds while also helping to hold the Dragons’ top player without a point in a 61-49 victory.
“He can do it all. He really can,” said Clay County coach Michael Jones, who made a return to his alma mater where he starred for the Dragons from 1991 to 1994. “He provides matchup problems for most teams, and tonight he carried us.”
Despite the loss, Harlan showed massive improvement from its season-opening 87-49 loss in Manchester. The Dragons were also playing their fourth game in six days after winning the 13th Region All “A” Classic on Tuesday at Oneida Baptist.
“We shot the ball well in the All A, but we’ve played four games in six days. I don’t want to make excuses and we played hard, but we turned the ball over too much and missed shots,” Harlan coach Derrick Akal said. “I knew Clay would play good defense. We got beat by 40 over there earlier. Some of the turnovers were unforced though. I felt we were rushing and not seeing the whole floor. We got some confidence in the second half. I’m happy we competed.”
Junior forward Adon Grubb added 16 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore guard Ethan Huff was the only Harlan player in double figures with 10 points. Sophomore center Kobe Noe, who was in foul trouble most of the night and sat out much of the game, was held scoreless only a few days after leading the Dragons to the regional All “A” title with 66 points in three games.
“He was a big focal point of the scouting report to know where he was at,” Jones said. “I thought, again, Wagers did a really good job guarding him.”
Harlan was limited to only five baskets in the first half and missed 11 of 12 shots from beyond the 3-point line. The Tigers led 18-12 after one quarter and 35-17 at halftime as the Dragons went almost seven minutes between baskets, both by Braxton Rowe.
“They were beating us off the dribble too much the first of the game in our man. We had to switch to our zone, and I thought that was what changed,” said Jones, whose Tigers played a 1-3-1 early and then a 2-3. “We do a pretty good of that because with Wagers back there he points out where everyone should be. It’s been a good defense for us all year.”
A highlight reel dunk by Legend Mimes off a lob pass from Izack Saylor seemed to spark the Dragons in the third quarter as Harlan outscored the Tigers 11-7 to pull within 14.
Harlan got as close as 12 twice in the fourth quarter, the last on a 3 by Huff with 1:23 left.
Harlan (7-9) returns to action Friday at Hazard. Clay County (12-5) plays host to Woodford County on Saturday in the Bobby Keith Classic.
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Harlan suffered its first junior varsity loss of the season as Clay rolled to a 58-31 victory led by 13 points from Skylr Sizemore with 13 points and Ryder Smith, Tyler Centers and Alex Gray with 10 each.
Braxton Rowe and Eli Noe, both sophomores, led the 2-1 Dragons with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Dylan Collins scored three. Evan Jones and Nathan Cochran added one each.