By John Henson
When you’ve made it where no 13th Region team has been in 36 years and no Harlan County team has seen in 80, what do you do for an encore?
That’s the unique challenge facing the Harlan County Black Bears as they open defense of their 13th Region title. The Bears not only won a regional title for only the second time, they also won a game at the state tournament for the first time in school history. Then they won another game, then another before finally falling to Lyon County in one of the most memorable state tournament championship games in history.
Going back to work could be a test for any team that reached such heights and became part of hoops history in Kentucky.
That’s what the Bears faced when practice began in the summer, and they are still working to reload as the 2025 begins in two weeks.
“I think that was a struggle at the start. I felt we were a little satisfied when we started,” said third-year coach Kyle Jones. “We can’t be satisfied. The demeanor of our kids and work ethic changed since practice started. They seem real focused and enjoy being around each other.”
In order to repeat as regional champs, the Bears have a huge hole to fill with five-year starter Trent Noah now playing at the University of Kentucky. Noah was the all-time leading scorer in county history after leading the Bears to the state finals and earned all-state honors twice.
“This season will be totally different. We have to get points and rebounding from several sources. Trent averaged 30 points a game and almost 10 rebounds,” Jones said. “We can’t get that from one person. We have to do it by committee. I feel we have four guys who played 39 games, We hope that playing experience will help us toward the end of the season.”
The Bears also lost forward Caleb Johnson and reserve Mason Himes to graduation.
“We also lost a great leader, defender and shooter in Caleb Johnson,” Jones said.
They bring back three starters and four of their top six from last year, including senior guard Maddox Huff (17.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game last year), who earned all-state honors himself last season and recently committed to East Tennessee State University.
“We feel Maddox is one of the top five players in Kentucky. He has a lot of game experience, and we’re looking for him to take on an even bigger leadership role this year,”Jones said. “He does everything right – the way he approaches and the way he approaches school. He sets a great example for our younger kids.”
Junior guard Reggie Cottrell (8.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) caught the attention of basketball fans around the state at Rupp Arena and established himself as a future star with his athleticism and clutch play.
“Reggie is the best on ball defender in our region, in my opinion. He is an explosive athlete who we expect to make big plays for us,” Jones said. “You don’t have to worry about toughness when it comes to Reggie. He has proved that time and time again.
Senior center Jaycee Carter (8.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg) is a three-year starter who became much more of an offensive threat last season. Jones is counting on Carter to pick up some of the slack in rebounding with Noah graduating.
“Jaycee has a lot of games under his belt and has guarded some of the best big men in the state of Kentucky,” Jones said. “He won’t be intimidated by anyone put in front of him. He’s been a good rebounder, but without Trent he will have to pick it up on the boards. He is also a threat on the perimeter.”
Sophomore guard Trent Cole, a former Wallins standout, is with the Bears after starting for two years in the Harlan backcourt. Cole averaged 13 points and just under three rebounds per game last season. Jones said Cole will likely take over as the primary ball handler this year with Huff moving into Noah’s role from last year as a wing and the primary scorer.
“I’m real excited about the progress he’s made. He picked up our offense really quickly,” Jones said. “He’s a high IQ player who works hard. He will be a great piece for us going forward. I think he will be one of our floor generals. He’s an underrated passer and good shooter as well.”
Brody Napier (3.2), a senior who served as last year’s sixth man, will move into the starting lineup at guard.
“Brody has been solid the past couple of years. He played starter minutes last year,” Jones said. “He has a good mid-range game, which a lot of kids don’t have anymore. Brody has also turned into a really good defender.”
Junior guard Brennan Blevins is the most experienced of the HCHS reserves and will be counted on to play a bigger role this season.
“Brennan is another athletic kid who has played a lot of JV,” Jones said. “He played a lot this summer and will get the first shot for us off the bench. We hope he can provide us some productive minutes with his athleticism.”
Jones hopes to develop a deeper bench after counting on only six players much of last season. Sophomore guards Cole Cornett and Landon Brock and sophomore forward Bryson Bryant are in the mix, along freshman guards Kaden Jones and Brady Smith.
“We’re trying to develop some guys off the bench, and we want to play more guys this year. All those guys have the opportunity to squeeze minutes, depending on how the year goes,” Jones said. “They may not play major minutes, but we need some guys who can come in and space the floor and handle the ball to help in double teams against Maddox and others.”
Jones likes the Bears’ freshman class.
“Two of them could possibly steal some minutes on varsity. They both can score. They can handle the ball well and both have high basketball IQs at an early age,” Jones said of Smith and Jones. “Those two guys could provide us some minutes, along with the sophomores. All three of the sophomores play hard and they played a lot in JV last year.”
Harlan County enters the 2025 season ranked second in the 13th Region behind a South Laurel team that pushed the Bears to the final minute in a first-round game in last year’s regional tournament. North Laurel, Bell County, Clay County and Corbin also bring back veteran squads in what should be another strong regional field. Knox Central, Pineville, Oneida Baptist and Whitley County could also challenge.
“The region is really good this year and has been for several years. Teams are getting older,” Jones said. “I think it will be a learning curve for us at the beginning of the year. We will have some kids who have to play different roles that they didn’t before when we had a kid like Trent on the floor. I think our schedule will help us to be playing our best at the end of the year.
“I feel the experience we got last year will be a key. A lot of teams don’t have that experience. We will be a work in progress. We lost an all-stater and a University of Kentucky player. But their goal, for sure, is to win the district and region and play at Rupp Arena. That has always been the goal since this school opened.”
