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By John Henson
Sports Writer
With his Harlan County Black Bears trailing by nine midway through the third quarter of the 2A Section 7 championship game Monday against visiting Bell County, Maddox Huff did what all-state guards often do.
Huff brought the Bears back as he scored 30 of his game-high 41 points in the second half in Harlan County’s hard-fought 63-60 win. Harlan County, in its first season of playing in the 2A tourney, will advance to Owensboro for the eight-team state tournament opening Friday.
“They have a really good player, and he went unconscious late,” Bell County coach Brad Sizemore said of Huff. “We have the ability to be an average team or we have the ability to be elite in this region. We tried to do that for most of the game tonight. They have a kid who is a Division I player for a reason, and you have to tip your hat to him. We were out there trying to guard him, and he continued to make tough shots.”
“Maddox took over there in the second half,” Harlan County coach Kyle Jones said. “Brody Napier made a huge block, and he got a big basket in the second half. Everybody made some big plays. All five of them made big plays at one time or the other.”
Bell County (12-4) had a couple of stars of its own as junior guard Blake Burnett scored 27 points and sophomore forward Ethan Buell added 20.
“I thought we played really well defensively at times,” Jones said. “Burnett has been so hard to keep out of the lane the last couple of years. They have some very good players. They are older now. I have a lot of respect for their team, We’ll have to play them at least two more times. I thought we pushed the ball really well the first quarter but got a little stagnant in the second quarter. We went through a stretch where we didn’t make any shots.”
Huff hit three shots in the first quarter and Reggie Cottrell added two as the Bears took a 17-14 lead. Bell’s defense took over in the second period as HCHS hit only three of 16 shots as the Bobcats closed the half with an 8-0 run to take a 25-23 lead at the break.
Buell stepped up n the third quarter as he hit four straight shots at one point. Burnett had five baskets in the period as the Bell lead grew to 36-27 as the pace of the game picked up. Huff sparked a 19-10 run as he hit six of eight shots to pull the Bears even before Burnett’s basket to close the quarter gave Bell a 48-46 lead.
Napier hit a short jumper in the lane to open the final period, then Huff and Trent Cole each hit 3s. Jaycee Carter, who finished with 14 rebounds, scored inside as the Harlan County lead grew to five. Huff scored off a drive, then Napier came up with the defensive play of the night with a block that led to Huff scoring on the other end for a 60-53 lead with 2:16 left.
Burnett came up with two big defensive plays of his own to bring Bell back again, turning consecutive steals into a basket and then a three-point play for a two-point deficit with 57 seconds left.
Huff hit one of two at the line for a three-point lead, then Buell cut it to one with a strong drive to the basket with 13 seconds remaining. Huff drew a foul and hit both shots for a three-point lead at the 5.7-second mark. Burnett’s potential tying 3 just before the buzzer rimmed out.
“We played really well, but they made a lot of tough shots,” Sizemore said. “We’ve played a lot of zone this year, and we’re pretty good at that, but they have so many who can shoot it. We have been working on playing them straight man. I thought our guys did a good job of that. I thought we had several guys step up and attack the rim. They weren’t scared. I hope we continue to get better and build on this. I think we’re a little closer than last year. We think they have a great team, but we think we can play at that level if our guys show up.”
Harlan County (12-4) will play Mercer County on Friday at 8 p.m.in the first round of the 2A State Tournament. Bell County will travel to Madison Southern on Tuesday.