Noah explodes for 66 as Black Bears win 128-105 shootout over Cordia
January 22, 2022
Down by three points late in the third quarter and short two starters due to illness, the Harlan County Black Bears were just trying to win a basketball game in front of a sparse crowd on Saturday afternoon against Cordia. What happened over the next 10 minutes turned a high school game into something from the ABA glory days, circa 1972, and will make Jan. 22, 2022, a date that will be quoted by basketball fans for decades.
Sophomore guard Trent Noah placed his name in the record books as he exploded for 66 points in leading Harlan County to a 128-105 victory.
“I really don’t know what to say about 66 points. He was obviously a matchup problem for them,” Harlan County coach Michael Jones said. “He had a great game and we needed it tonight.”
Noah broke the school record of 44 points he set two nights earlier in a win over Letcher Central and passed several county and 13th Region stars in the process as he now trails only Harlan’s Wah Wah Jones, who scored 68 points against Artemus on Nov. 30, 1943, for the individual scoring record among Harlan County teams.
“I was just worried about getting the win. It was a very close game until the end,” said Noah, who was told by Jones after the game how many points he scored. “I knew it was up there, but I didn’t know it was 66, or whatever. We were missing a couple of key players, so we all had to pick it up a little to get the win.”
“We didn’t have anyone who could stop him,” Cordia coach Dennis Ray Farler said. “Our game plan was for him to get his and try to stop everybody else. It worked in the first half, but in the second half we had to adjust after we got behind. Then everybody else started getting theirs.”
The two teams combined for 83 points in a wild fourth quarter as the Bears outscored Cordia 46-37, hitting 16 of 24 shots from the field while the Lions connected on 11 of 19. The 233 combined points ranks sixth in Kentucky history and is the most ever for a 13th Region team, according to KHSAA statistics.
“We wanted to keep it in the 80s, which is where we like it, but then they caught fire and we started trading baskets,” Farler said. “We shoot the ball pretty well, but we have a hard time pulling it together for a whole game.”
Guards Daniel Carmical and Jackson Huff also had big games for the 15-5 Bears as Camical hit six 3-pointers and scored 25 and Huff connected on three 3s for 21 points. The Bears played without starters Maddox Huff and Jonah Swanner.
Senior guard Nazim Welch poured in 32 points for the 5-7 Lions, hitting 13 of 15 shots from the field. Freshman guard Greg Brooks scored 27 points and senior forward Gordon Malone added 20.
“That’s the wildest game I’ve ever been involved in, as a player or coach,” Jones said. “It’s crazy you have to score 128 to win a game, but they shot lights out the first half. We knew they were capable of that. They scored 91 at Breathitt County. They have some really nice players. We had a hard time matching up with (Brooks and Welch), but I’m proud of the way our kids battled coming off a tough loss last night. We adjusted some things offensively and made a run. Daniel and Jackson were phenomenal offensively, and we got some good things out of Jeremiah Clem and Tristan Cooper. I’m proud of our overall effort.”
Noah hit eight of 10 shots in the opening quarter and scored 17, but the Bears could only build a one-point lead as Cordia hit 11 of 16 shots, led by Malone and his four-of-four period.
Cordia hit 10 of 20 shots in the second quarter, led by four baskets from Welch, to take a 45-44 halftime lead. Huff led the Bears with two 3-pointers in the quarter.
Malone hit two straight shots as Cordia built a 54-50 lead midway through the third quarter. Cordia still led by three when Noah had two baskets and two free throws in a 7-2 run that put the Bears ahead to stay. Noah hit nine of 10 shots in the period and scored 26 points as HCHS took an 82-68 lead into the final quarter.
Harlan County will face two tough 13th Region tests next week, traveling to South Laurel on Tuesday and Corbin on Thursday. Cordia will travel to Knox Central on Tuesday.
