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By John Henson
Sports Writer

HAZARD — The Hazard Bulldogs and senior center Evin Eversole added another classic finish to the history of the WYMT Mountain Classic on Saturday at Perry Central High School. Down by five points with 2:45 left after Harlan County senior guard Maddox Huff reeled off eight unanswered points, the Bulldogs charged back before winning on a three-point play by Eversole with 1.1 seconds left to make the score 53-52.
Eversole earned tournament most valuable player honors with a 24-point, 14-rebound effort to lead the 6-0 Bulldogs.
“It came down to the last possession. He’s a big strong boy, and we were trying to get a mismatch,” Hazard coach Al Holland said.
Huff led the 5-1 Bears as he finished with 29 points. Jaycee Carter added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Harlan County appeared to be in control after Huff hit three straight shots. Tucker Johnson’s jumper cut the deficit to three, then Eversole knocked the ball away from Trent Cole near midcourt and went in for a basket that made it a one-point game with 1:34 left. Carter missed two free throws with 59 seconds left, but then got another opportunity after a miss by Hazard’s Nick Rattliff and hit both for a three-point with 43 seconds to play.
Eversole cut the deficit to one again as he bulled his way inside for a basket with 17 seconds left. Huff drew a foul with 8.1 seconds left and hit one of two. Hazard called timeout with 4.4 seconds left and set up a play to go inside to Eversole, who scored and drew a controversial foul from Carter, who appeared to have his hands straight up as Eversole shot.
“That was a hard one to stomach,” said Harlan County coach Kyle Jones, who wasn’t pleased with the foul call after several more violent plays earlier weren’t called fouls. “Our kids played hard the entire night and gave a great effort. I was proud of how they battled.”
Eversole hit the go-ahead free throw before Huff’s desperation shot off an inbounds pass was well off the mark.
Hazard dominated the first quarter, building a 19-10 lead with the help of a 13-3 advantage on the boards.
The Bears bounced back in the second quarter, opening with an 8-0 run as Hazard went over five minutes without scoring. Brody Napier’s three-point play put the Bears up 23-22 before baskets by Eversole and Seth Caudill gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead at the half.
The lead changed hands several times in the third period with the Bears taking a. 39-38 advantage into the final period as Carter’s putback beat the buzzer.
“They have a good team and coach Jones does a great job with them,” Holland said, “We missed some shots we normally make. They play good defense and made some big plays. It was a great game.”
Harlan County returns to action Friday in a holiday tournament at Hilton Head, S.C.

 

Hazard 53, Harlan County 52

HAZARD (6-0)
Daulton Combs 1-4 0-0 2, Nick Ratliff 3-5 0-0 7, Seth Caudill 4-14 1-2 9, Tucker Johnson 3-4 1-2 8, Evin Eversole 11-20 2-3 24, Trace Kincaid 1-1 0-0 3, Rydge Beverly 0-2 0-0 0, Totals: 23-50 5-7 53.
HARLAN COUNTY (5-1)
Trent Cole 1-3 2-2 5 Brody Napier 1-3 1-1 3, Maddox Huff 11-26 3-6 29, Reggie Cottrell 2-7 0-0 5, Jaycee Carter 4-10 2-4 10, Brennan Blevins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-49 8-13 52.

Hazard 19 7 12 15 — 53
Harlan County 10 15 14 13 — 52
3-point goals: Hazard 2-16 (Ratliff 1-1, Kincaid 1-1, Beverly 0-2, Combs 0-3, Eversole 0-4, Caudill 0-5), Harlan County 6-22 (Huff 4-13, Cole 1-2, Cottrell 1-4, Carter 0-1, Napier 0-2). Rebounds: Hazard 31 (Eversole 14, Caudill 5, Johnson 5, Combs 4, Ratliff 3), Harlan County 23 (Carter 9, Cottrell 5, Huff 4, Napier 3, Cole 2). Turnovers: Hazard 9, Harlan County 5. Fouled out: None.