CORBIN — Harlan County is two wins away from repeating as 13th Region champions after securing a 61-49 victory over Knox Central during first round action of Wednesday’s 13th Region Boys’ Tournament.
Maddox Huff turned in a 28-point scoring effort in the win for the Black Bears (24-8) while Trenton Cole added 18 points and Jaycee Carter finished with six points and three assists. Reggie Cottrell finished with four points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Grayson Burton led Knox Central (22-7) 20 points Tydus Summers added eight points.
Harlan County took a 5-0 lead, and held the Panthers without a field goal until the 3:48 mark of the first quarter.
Two 3-pointers by Cole and a long distance 3-pointer by Huff pushed the Black Bears’ lead to 15-6 entering the second quarter.
Harlan County’s lead grew to 24-10 after 3-pointers by Brody Napier and Cole but Knox Central closed out the first half with an 8-2 run that included a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Burton to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 26-18 at halftime.
Huff led Harlan County with nine points in the first half while Cole and Carter had six points apiece.
Burton led Knox Central with nine points while Nathan Dunn had four points.
Huff caught the hot hand in the third quarter, scoring 11 points while helping the Black Bears increase their lead to 45-34 entering the fourth quarter.
The Panthers pulled to within six points (50-44) of Harlan County’s lead with 3:40 remaining after 3-pointers by Summers and Austin Bargo.
But the Black Bears pulled away down the stretch to secure the win.
