With Noah and Huff back, Bears targeting a Sweet Sixteen run

Published 3:44 pm Monday, November 27, 2023

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By John Henson

Contributing Sports Writer

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Despite a 27-6 season that included four wins in six games against state tournament teams and a top 10 ranking statewide in the RPI system, coach Kyle Jones and the Harlan County Black Bears spent much off the offseason focusing on their ugliest night of basketball.

“I felt we had a really good season last year, but I felt one of the worst games we played was in the regional tournament,” Jones said. “We have a sour taste in our mouths about the Corbin game, and we’re working hard to correct some things. We’re hoping our new offensive system will help get kids more involved and give them more confidence to make plays.”

A 61-53 loss to Corbin in the first round of the 13th Region Tournament served as a disappointing finish to 2023 and provided the Bears with plenty of incentive to find ways to avoid a similar fate in 2024. With six of their top eight players returning, led by two-time all-state guard Trent Noah and standout junior point guard Maddox Huff, the Bears are ranked No. 1 in the 13th Region by the Cats Pause and 18th in the state by the Louisville Courier Journal.

Winning the second regional title in school history won’t be easy, though, with Corbin bringing back three starters and five of its top eight. Clay has all of its key players back and had a great summer with former HCHS coach Michael Jones now in charge. North and South remain contenders despite losing several key players.

“We feel confident we’re one of the top three or four teams in the region. There will always be pressure on a team with players like Trent and Maddox, but there’s pressure on them as well. I don’t think there’s that much pressure though. You have to play either way, if you’re 1 or 10. We played extremely well all year and lost only six games, including several teams in the state tournament.

Jones has done his part to prepare his team for the postseason with a brutal schedule that includes at least six teams (Frederick Douglass, DeSales, Woodford County, Bowling Green and Ashland) ranked among the state’s top 25 teams by the Courier Journal. Three other top 25 teams (Great Crossing, Trinity and Newport) are also in the King of the Bluegrass tournament in Louisville and could be opponents. The Bears also play in the prestigious Arby’s Classic in Bristol, as well as the WYMT Mountain Classic.

“We’re excited to build off the success we had last year, and I feel out schedule will prepare us for that. I think it’s the toughest schedule ever in Harlan County, and that’s including my dad’s teams,” said Jones, referring to Mike Jones’ Harlan teams in the mid-1990s that made three trips to the Sweet Sixteen.

Noah (26.5 points per game last season, 12.8 rebounds per game), a 6-7 senior, helped lead the Bears to the regional finals as an eighth grader in 2020 and has scored over 2,500 points in his career to this point. He committed to South Carolina in the fall and will be the first Harlan County athlete since Charles Thomas in 1995 to play major college basketball.

“Trent plays guard, but he rebounds so well that it’s a weapon for us,” Jones said. “There were times he would end up with 20 or 25 rebounds, I wondered if anyone else got any sometimes. I tell them in practice all the time that he can’t get every one of them.

“He’s also become more of a vocal leader this year. He always led by example, but he’s more vocal this year, and we need that from him,” Jones said. “The kids look to him in big moments and trust him.”

Huff (16.9, 4.7), at 6-3, enters the season as the fourth-ranked player in the region and is one of the state’s top juniors.

“Everyone knows Maddox is a great player. He’s trying to improve on the defensive end of the floor. That’s not to say he’s not a good defender, but he knows improving there will help him as a college player,” Jones said. “He has worked really hard on getting stronger and quicker. He’s our floor general, so we depend on him to make plays for other people.”

The Bears lost senior guard Daniel Carmical to graduation, while three-sport standout Jonah Swanner (9.3, 3.2) was likely lost for the year when he suffered a knee injury during football season.

“We took a blow losing Jonah to an injury. He would have been a three-year starter,” Jones said. “We’ll miss his defense and his aggressiveness. He was a playmaker as well. We’ll have to have some kids pick up the slack.”

The injury to Swanner was a huge blow to the Bears on defense and raised concerns about a lack of depth with only six players back who saw significant action last year,

“The development of our bench will be crucial for our success this. Year,” Jones said.

As a freshman at Harlan in 1996, Jones played on a regional championship team, and he watched his brother, Michael, lead the Bears to their first trip in 2017. There’s no secret getting back to Rupp Arena is the primary goal this season.

“I think the talent in the region has been as good the last few years as it’s been since the mid-90s,” he said. “There will be several really good teams, including us. Four or five teams could win it. The teams in our district will be tough, as always. I thought we got a little tougher last year on the boards and on the defensive end. I played on a regional championship team, and most teams that win a region are mentally and physically tough, and that’s what you have to be.”