WILLIAMSBURG — Harlan County continues to show why they’ve held the No. 1 ranking in the 13th Region the entire season.
The Black Bears withstood a late rally by Whitley County to knock off the Colonels, 85-73.
Harlan County is now 26-4 overall, and a perfect 13-0 against regional teams. Whitley County fell to 20-9, and end the regular season with a season-long tying three-game losing skid.
“Proud of the way our guys competed,” Whitley County coach Eric Swords said. “We had them on the ropes just didn’t execute as well as we needed to. Had it to seven with two minutes to go. These last three games we have played, really prepare you for postseason and we did that intentionally. I thought our body language and pouting was awful as a team versus North Laurel and that was a big emphasis for us yesterday and guys responded today.”
Trent Noah led all scorers with 34 points. The South Carolina signee did most of his damage in the third quarter, scoring 19 points. Caleb Johnson added 16 points while Reggie Cottrell finished with 11 points. Maddox Huff added 10 points in the win
“Trent Noah is a great player, and coach Kyle (Jones) does a great job,” Swords said. “Harlan County has a great program. Disappointed that we don’t get more respect in these games. But our program wasn’t born on third base. Our guys know that we got to scrap and fight for everything and that’s what we will keep doing.”
Dre Ellis led Whitley County with 24 points while Evan Ellis added 20 points.
