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By John Henson
Sports Writer
LOG MOUNTAIN — After 18 straight wins against 52nd District opponents over the past three seasons, the Harlan County Black Bears sometimes looked as if it would take a perfect game to beat them.
Bell County did just that Tuesday, or at least in the second half. The Bobcats shot 82 percent (18 of 22) in the second half, turned the ball over only three times in the game and held Harlan County all-state Maddox Huff to three shots in the second half to rally from an eight-point halftime deficit to win 79-65.
“We had a great second half,” Bell County coach Brad Sizemore said. “We were down eight and could have folded. It’s a huge win against a great team we have a lot of respect for. We know how good they are and our kids know we have to show up and play. I’m really proud of them. They didn’t go anywhere. We’re tired of getting beat by them. We know when we play them again next week it will be a dogfight. We had several guys step up and play fearless tonight, and I think that’s what you have to do.”
It was the first district loss for Harlan County coach Kyle Jones in his three years at the helm of the program and said only “bad coaching” when asked for a postgame comment. The loss also broke a 22-game region win streak for the Bears stretching back to the 2023 regional tournament.
Huff was on fire in the first half, hitting five straight 3-pointers as part of a 21-point first half. Huff finished with 31 points but was limited to only one basket in the second half as Jaxon Thomas chased him while getting help whenever Huff touched the ball. The Bears tried to post Huff up on the free throw line in the second half but had no success as he was triple teamed in the paint.
“We played them man the first half and Maddox had 20-some at halftime. We went to the diamond-and-one the second half and took our chances,” Sizemore said. “I thought we played great, It was a huge win. Jaxon Thomas was just relentless trying to guard him. You can’t stop him with one kid. Cameron Hall came out of the zone and trapped him. We were helping collectively on him.”
Junior guard Blake Burnett took over in the second half to lead the Bell offense, hitting nine of 10 shots in the second half on the way to a 29-point night. Sophomore forward Ethan Buell added 19 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Jaxon Hall contributed 14 points.
Bell hit its first seven shots in the third quarter as Burnett reeled off eight straight points to put the Bobcats on top. Reggie Cottrell’s 3 from the corner pulled the Bears back within two heading into the fourth period.
The Bobcats hit all nine of their shots in the fourth quarter, led by four baskets from Burnett, to pull away for their first win over the Bears since the 2022 district tournament.
“Blake Burnett got out in transition in the second half. Ethan Buell also played real well, and Cameron Hall made some big 3s,” Sizemore said. “We had a lot of guys step up and played well.”
Sizemore was also pleased with how well the Bobcats took care of the ball.
“We’re not the biggest and stronger team, and we’ve talked for three years with this group about valuing the ball and not turning it over against pressure,” Sizemore said. “When we’re taking care of it, I think we give ourselves a chance to beat these really good teams. That’s what we did tonight, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a regular season win that we hope will give us momentum. We have to continue working and get ready for the next one.”
Bell County plays host to Middlesboro on Friday. Harlan County returns to action Saturday at Pineville, taking on Scott County at 3 p.m. in the Gem City Classic.
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Bell County 79, Harlan County 65

HARLAN COUNTY (16-6)
Trent Cole 4-11 1-1 11, Brody Napier 0-3 0-0 0, Maddox Huff 9-14 8-11 31, Reggie Cottrell 3-6 2-4 10, Jaycee Carter 4-8 0-0 11, Brennan Blevins 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 21-43 11-18 65.
BELL COUNTY (17-4)
Cameron Hall 5-10 0-0 14, Jaxon Thomas 1-2 2-2 5, Blake Burnett 11-18 3-5 29, Cayden Huff 2-3 1-1 5, Ethan Buell 7-11 1-2 19, Braxton Ferguson 3-3 1-1 7. Totals: 29-47 8-11 79.

Harlan County 16 20 13 16 — 65
Bell County 15 13 23 28 — 79
3-point goals: Harlan County 12-28 (Huff 5-9, Carter 3-6, Cottrell 2-4, Cole 2-8, Napier 0-1), Bell County 13-21 (Buell 4-5, Hall 4-7, Burnett 4-5, Thomas 1-2). Rebounds: Harlan County 18 (Huff 6, Cottrell 6, Carter 4, Cole 1, Napier 1), Bell County 19 (Buell 8, Burnett 6, Thomas 2, Huff 2, Ferguson 1). Turnovers: Harlan County 8, Bell County 3. Turnovers: Harlan County 8, Bell County 3. Fouled out: None.