By John Henson
HAZARD — Facing a three-point deficit with 80 seconds left Saturday in the D.J. Begley Classic at Memorial Gym after the 15th and final 3-pointer of the night by the Betsy Layne Bobcats, Harlan County was looking straight into the barrel of their first loss of the 2024-2025 season.
That’s when Harlan County senior guard Maddox Huff decided it was time to take over. Huff went on a personal 9-2 run against the Bobcats to help HCHS escape with an 82-78 win and a 3-0 record.
Huff drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with 1:08 left and hit all three free throws to pull the Bears even. After he and Reggie Cottrell teamed to force a turnover, Huff scored off a drive. Huff scored again after another turnover for a four-point lead. After Betsy Layne’s Cameron Pente scored to cut the deficit to two with 5.7 seconds left, the Bears got the ball in to Huff who drew a foul and hit both shots to close the scoring.
After a 49-point effort a night earlier against Corbin, Huff followed with a 39-point, 11-rebound effort against the Bobcats. Cottrell added 14 points, while Trent Cole tossed in 11 and Brody Napier added 10.
Petne scored 30 points and Carter Parsons added 29 to lead a sharp-shooting Bobcats’ offense that produced 15 treys.
