McKEE — Coming off an emotional district game a night earlier with another district game only two days away, the Harlan County Black Bears faced the classic trap game situation on a Saturday afternoon at Jackson County. The Bears followed that script for the first 11 minutes as they found themselves down by five with 5:25 left in the second quarter when coach Michael Jones brought in his second unit.

The HCHS reserves responded as junior center Elisha Smallwood took over in the post with four quick baskets and freshman guard Jackson Huff added a pair of 3-pointers in a 16-7 run to close the half that put the Bears up by four on the way to a 65-58 victory.

“As much as I talked to them last night and today, I knew we would play this way,” Harlan County coach Michael Jones said. “I tried to send a message by pulling them out, then the guys who came in did a great job. They gave us the lead.”

Senior guard Alex Pace scored 27 to lead the 5-2 Bears, helping HCHS build a double-digit lead in the third quarter with three straight 3-pointers. Smallwood hit all four of his shots from the field and both free throws to finish with 10 points. Sophomore forward Josh Turner also had a big game off the bench with eight points.

Junior forward Logan Rose scored 24 points to lead the 2-6 Generals. Junior guard Jayden Baldwin added 15 points.

Pace’s hot streak pushed the Bears’ lead to 12 midway through the third quarter before Rose and Baldwin brought the Generals back, cutting the deficit to 45-40 going into the fourth period.

Jackson closed to within two points in the fourth quarter and trailed by only five with 3:55 left when the Bears went to their spread offense and ran 1:30 off the clock on one possession before Taylor Spurlock converted a layup. Pace hit four free throws and James Smith added two as the Bears put the game away at the line.

“We’ve got to get better at that,” Jones said. “I’ve told the kids in practice we want teams to fear getting behind us late in games because we can handle the ball and hit free throws and make layups. We did a good job of it tonight.”

Harlan County will travel to Middlesboro on Monday for a girls/boys district doubleheader.

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Harlan County (2-2) used a 16-0 run in the second half to rally for a 53-44 win in junior varsity action.

Junior forward Alex Nantz led the Bears with 20 points. Freshman guard Jackson Huff added 16. Sophomore forward James Gray contributed 10. Jayden Ward and Caleb Reynolds added four and three points, respectively.

Sophomore guard Blake Allen scored 14 points and junior forward Blake Holt added 10 for the Generals.

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Ward scored 12 points while Huff and Nantz added nine each as HCHS defeated Bell County in previously unreported junior varsity action at Harlan County. Gray contributed six points.

Burnett led Bell County with 13 points.

Bell won 50-43 in freshman action as Burnett scored 17 and Woolum added 11 for the Bobcats.

Huff poured in 22 points for the Bears. Ward scored 14, followed by Braden Cox with four and Adam Boggs with three.

Bell County won 36-26 in junior varsity action and 35-28 in a freshman game against HCHS on Nov. 30.

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Harlan County 65, Jackson County 58

HARLAN COUNTY (5-2)

James Smith 0-2 2-2 2, Taylor Spurlock 1-6 1-2 3, Alex Pace 7-12 9-11 27, Tyler Cole 0-4 1-2 1, Gabe Price 2-4 2-2 7, Elisha Smallwood 4-4 2-2 10, Patrick Bynum 0-0 1-2 1, Josh Turner 4-5 0-0 8, Jackson Huff 2-5 0-0 6. Totals: 20-42 18-23

JACKSON COUNTY (2-6)

McGwire Wilson 2-8 1-2 5, Zack Bingham 2-8 4-4 9, Clay Akemon 1-3 0-0 3, Logan Rose 9-12 3-3 24, Cody Lakes 1-5 0-0 2, Jayden Baldwin 3-6 9-11 15, Isaiah Baker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44 17-21 58.

Harlan County 8 16 21 20 — 65

Jackson County 6 14 20 18 — 58

3-point goals: Harlan County 7-16 (Pace 4-7, Huff 2-3 Price 1-1, Turner 0-1, Smith 0-2, Spurlock 0-2), Jackson County 5-12 (Rose 3-5, Bingham 1-2, Akemon 1-3, Wilson 0-1, Baldwin 0-1). Rebounds: Harlan County 22 (Huff 4, Smith 3, Cole 3, Smallwood 3, Turner 3, Price 2, Pace 2, Spurlock 1, Bynum 1), Jackson County 21 (Bingham 6, Rose 5, Lakes 5, Wilson 2, Akemon 2, Baldwin 1). Turnovers: Harlan County 13, Jackson County 12. Fouled out: None.