This poll has ended.

How many football games will Kentucky win?

Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.

Basketball

Cardinals dominate in every phase as they storm past Harlan County

By John Henson, Managing Editor

February 3, 2026

John Henson

Harlan County sophomore forward Rydge Lewis looked to make a pass in Monday’s game at South Laurel.

South Laurel 74, Harlan County 37

HARLAN COUNTY (13-8)
Trent Cole 1-8 2-4 5, Brady Smith 2-6 1-4 7, Kaden Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Reggie Cottrell 3-10 0-2 8, Brennan Blevins 1-2 0-0 2, Landon Brock 1-4 0-0 2, Tucker Curtis 1-2 0-0 2, Hayden Grace 3-5 3-3 9, Rydge Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Creech 0-2 0-0 0, Easton Engle 0-0 2-2 2, Kayden Hensley 0-0 0-0 0, Tyhler Coots 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-35 8-16 37.
SOUTH LAUREL (11-9)
Garrison Brown 1-1 3-4 6, Kaden Taylor 5-8 2-4 16, Brayden Cassidy 4-5 0-0 8, Brendan Murphy 2-2 0-0 4, Kaiden McQueen 5-8 1-2 11, Mason Boggs 2-2 0-0 4, Maddox Warren 1-1 0-0 2, Isaiah Robinson 4-4 3-4 12, Landon Howard 1-4 0-0 2, Brayden Layman 0-3 4-6 4, Brady Robinson 0-0 1-2 1, Logan Webb 0-1 0-0 0, Blaine Baker 1-3 2-4 4, Cannon Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Jayden Jordan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-43 16-26 74.

Harlan County 9 9 12 7 — 37
South Laurel 16 24 22 12 — 74
3-point goals: Harlan County 5-21 (Smith 2-3, Cottrell 2-5, Cole 1-7, Jones 0-1, Grace 0-2), South Laurel 6-12 (Taylor 4-7, Brown 1-1, I. Robinson 1-1, Howard 0–3). Rebounds: Harlan County 15 (Cottrell 4, Blevins 4, Grace 2, Cole 1, Smith 1, Brock 1, Curtis 1, Coots 1), South Laurel 32 (McQueen 6, Baker 6, Brown 3, Taylor 3, Murphy 3, Jackson 3, I. Robinson 2, Layman 2, Boggs 1, Cassidy 1, Howard 1, Jordan 1). Turnovers: Harlan County 8, South Laurel 4. Fouled out: None.

LONDON — The co-favorites in the 13th Region a season ago only to suffer overtime losses to North Laurel in the postseason, the South Laurel Cardinals and Harlan County Black Bears have each spent the 2026 season rebuilding on the run and dealing with the highs and lows that come with it.
The South Laurel Cardinals experienced one of those highs Monday, shooting 60 percent (26 of 43) from the field and dominating on the boards (32-15) on the way to a blowout 74-37 victory over the visiting Black Bears.
Harlan County (13-8) was on the other end of the high-low spectrum, shooting 29 percent (12 of 35) while getting outworked on the boards and settling for bad shots while the Cardinals attacked the basket.
“That may be the ugliest game I’ve coached in,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “We had no intensity from the start. They got five straight offensive rebounds on one possession. That just showed me we weren’t ready to play. Some of that might be my fault, but a lot of it is their fault. You have to want to play when you get out there. I told them to be ready for practice tomorrow because it’s going to be a rough one.”
The 11-9 Cardinals featured a balanced attack led by sophomore guard Kaden Taylor with 16 points. Isaiah Robinson and Kaiden McQueen added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Harlan County had no one in double figures for the second time in three games as sophomore wing Hayden Grace came off the bench to scored nine points.
Brady Smith hit a couple of early 3-pointers as the Bears scored the first six points. HC could manage only one more basket the remainder of the period as South built a 16-9 lead sparked by three baskets from McQueen.
South hit seven of 11 shots in the second period compared to three of 12 for the Bears as South extended its advantage to 40-18 lead at halftime.
The Cardinals hit seven of nine shots in the third quarter in a 21-8 run that started a running clock with 2:19 left in the period on a 3-pointer by Taylor. South led 62-30 after three quarters.
Harlan County returns to action Friday at Middlesboro in a girls/boys district doubleheader.
———
Maddox Warren scored 18 points and Brady Robinson added 10 to lead South Laurel in a 48-36 junior varsity win.
Sophomore guard Hayden Grace led the Bears with 18 points. Easton Engle and Tucker Curtis each added six points. Rydge Lewis, Tyhler Coots and Hunter Fuson chipped in with two each.

Harlan County guard Kaden Jones worked toward the basket in Monday”s game at South Laurel. (John Henson)

About the Contributors

By John Henson, Managing Editor

John Henson, Managing Editor

John Henson has covered sports since 1985 for the Harlan Daily Enterprise, the Cats Pause and harlancountysports.com, winning numerous Kentucky Press Association awards during that time. He also served as managing editor for 15 years and now teaches writing at Harlan County High School as part of the Gear Up program.