After falling just short of reaching the championship game of the Kentucky 2A State Tournament state finals last weekend in Owensboro, the Bell County Bobcats returned to the basketball court Tuesday hungry to flex their muscles and regain their winning touch.
Mission accomplished.
Blake Burnett, Braxton Ferguson and Ethan Buell combined for 72 points Tuesday inside the Wallace “Wah Wah” Jones Gymnasium and scored a decisive 92-56 52nd District win over host Harlan.
Burnett, the senior floor leader of the Bobcats, scored a game-high 29 points, 12 of which came during a dominant first quarter that staked Bell County to a lead it would not relinquish.
Just a freshman, Ferguson scored 11 of his 25 points during the final three minutes of the first quarter to help propel the Bobcats to a 28-15 lead after eight minutes.
Buell, a junior, knocked down the Bobcats’ first of nine 3-point shots during a 12-0 first-quarter scoring run and finished with 18 points.
Harlan got a pair of 3-point baskets from lone senior Dylan Cox during the first quarter, the first of which staked the Green Dragons to a short-lived 8-5 lead. His second triple stopped the early scoring run by the Bobcats and Harlan trailed, 17-11.
Burnett scored the first seven points of the second quarter to extend Bell County’s lead to 25-15, before back-to-back triples by Harlan sophomore Izack Saylor provided some brief momentum for the youth-laden Green Dragons.
Bell County led 47-28 at halftime.
Burnett, Ferguson and Buell combined for all 17 of the Bobcats’ points during the third quarter, and Harlan was unable to effectively penetrate the stifling Bell County defense. Saylor knocked down two more 3-pointers during the third quarter for Harlan, but the Green Dragons trailed by no fewer than 18 points at any stage of the stanza.
A slam dunk by Harlan junior Legend Mimes briefly energized the partisan crowd, but two possessions later Ferguson answered with a thundering dunk of his own to make it 73-47.
The Bobcats finished with a 14-4 scoring run to improve to 14-3 on the season.
Saylor netted six 3-point shots to finish with a team-high 20 points for Harlan. Sophomore Kobe Noe and Cox finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Next up for Harlan (7-11) is an appearance in Owensboro on Thursday in the first round of the All “A” Classic state tournament against Nicholas County. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Bell County travels Friday to Lexington to face Bluegrass United.
———
Bell County (92) — Blake Burnett 29, Ethan Buell 18, Braxton Ferguson 25, Gavin Barton 4, Jaxson Thomas 6, Cayden Huff 4, Camron Beckett 0, Isaac Gambrel 0, Bently Buell 0, Caden Winkler 2, Dalton Black 0, Luke Thomas 0, Kaleb Cornett 2, Braylon Cloud 2.
Harlan (56) — Jaxson Perry 3, Izack Saylor 20, Dylan Cox 11, Ethan Huff 2, Kobe Noe 13, Legend Mimes 5, Eli Noe 2, Braxton Rowe 0, Evan Jones 0, Caden Mefford 0, Dylan Collins 0, Brayden Lucas 0.
Bell County 28-19-17-28–92
Harlan 15-13-15-15–56
