Winning without major contributions from Reggie Cottrell and Trent Cole is no easy task for the 2026 Harlan County Black Bears, so it was no surprise that the Bears found themselves down by three at halftime with Cottrell and Cole teaming for only two baskets between them.
Cole heated up in the third quarter, hitting six straight shots as the Bears built a four-point lead with a 27-point period. Cottrell took over in the fourth quarter as Harlan County extended its lead to as many seven on the way to a 69-66 victory.
Cole scored 26 points and Cottrell added 23 as the Bears improved to 17-9 overall and clinched the 52nd District’s second seed with a 4-2 district mark.
“I really like our kids’ fight. We got some 50-50 balls. We had to move around our lineup because we were in foul trouble and so were they,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “We camp up with some big plays down the stretch. Reggie and Trenton made some tough plays. We drew up a play for Trent at halftime and executed it perfectly and that got him going.
“Harlan hit some shots, and Kobe (Noe) was playing well and hitting some tough shots. They are tough to guard, They played Hazard tough over here the other day,” Jones said. “This is a tough place to play, and I know that because I played here.”
Both teams struggled early to hit shots as Harlan built an 11-10 lead despite missing 12 of 16 shots from the field. HC connected on only two of 12 shots but stayed close with the help of 16 rebounds, led by five from Brennan Blevins. The Dragons hit five of 10 shots in the second period and extended the lead to as many as nine points in the quarter, led by two baskets from Noe. The Bears cut the deficit to 28-28 at the break as Cottrell reeled off five straight points.
Cole took over in the third quarter as Harlan County used a 7-0 run to wipe out a six-point deficit. Cole scored seven points in the final 1:26 of the period to take a 52-48 lead into the final period.
Harlan County built its lead to 60-53 as Cole and Cottrell teamed to hit four of six at the line. In a foul-filled fourth quarter that saw five players foul out, Harlan missed four straight at the line with HC holding a five-point led. Cole hit two at the line with 9.9 seconds left to push the lead to five and clinch the win.
“We missed 15 free throws, missed several layups and didn’t shoot the ball well from 3. You can’t beat a good team like that,” Harlan coach Derrick Akal said. “We stayed in the fight and gave ourselves a chance, but we have to be able to do the simple things right.”
Noe scored 21 and Legend Mimes added 18 to lead the 11-16 Green Dragons.
Harlan County travels to Breathitt County on Monday and Knott Central on Wednesday. Harlan closes its regular season schedule Thursday at Belfry.