Harlan County has made a habit of fighting from behind in recent district games, including rallying from 12 down on Tuesday in a win over Middlesboro.

The Black Bears found themselves in a similar situation Friday at home against Harlan as they trailed by 11 midway through the second quarter. Senior guard Alex Pace sparked the comeback as he scored 11 points in a 17-0 run to close the half. Pace finished with 31 points as HCHS pulled away in the second half for a 72-59 victory.

“I thought they got on the boards offensively. There were a couple of possessions where we played good defense until the ball hit the rim. They sent five guys and you could see them take over on the offensive boards,” Harlan coach Derrick Akal said. “I think that kind of killed the momentum we had, and we stopped making shots we had been making.

“The ball didn’t fall and part of that was they guarded us well the second quarter. They also killed us on the offensive boards.”

“I think it was not only Alex playing well, but our defense also as a team. We did a good job of taking the ball out of Jordan’s (Akal) hands and caused a few turnovers and was able to get back in the game after that,” Harlan County coach Michael Jones said.

The victory completed a fifth straight unbeaten regular season against 52nd District competition as the Bears extended their overall district win streak to 36 going into the 52nd District Tournament.

“We talked about that before the game, finishing our fifth straight year undefeated in the district and not being the first team that loses,” Jones said. “We didn’t want to stop that streak. We may have been too emotional to start the game, but all of the credit goes to Harlan because they came out on fire and played outstanding. I was happy the way our kids adjusted and fought back.”

Tyler Cole and Gabe Price added 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Black Bears.

Harlan was led by senior guard Kilian Ledford with 19 points. Akal tossed in 16 and Jared Hawkins added for the Dragons, who shot only 27 percent (15 of 56) from the field. The Dragons missed 23 of 28 shots from behind the 3-point line.

Harlan missed nine of its first 10 shots from the field in the third quarter as HCHS extended its lead to 47-30 as Cole scored on a drive and Pace hit all of his free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Harlan cut the deficit to 51-37 by the end of the period, but the Bears were clearly in control at that point.

“We missed some shots in the third quarter, then we missed some free throws,” Akal said. “We had cut it down a little, then Pace has a four-point play. It’s hard to rally when someone starts getting for four points instead of two. I thought they did a better job of finding our shooters. We got some good looks early, but after that they were contested. We had been shooting well. For us to compete against some of the top teams in the region, we have to make shots. If we’re not making shots, we’re an average team.”

Harlan County’s lead grew to as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter as Price had two baskets and Taylor Spurlock added one in a 7-0 run to start the fourth period. Both teams spent much of the last quarter on the free throw line as the Bears lost three players to fouls. Harlan got as close as 12 in the final minute on free throws by Akal and Jaedyn Gist.

Harlan County (18-5) will travel to Barbourville on Monday. Harlan (15-9) plays at Leslie County on Monday.

———

Harlan County 72, Harlan 59

HARLAN (15-9)

Jordan Akal 4-13 6-11 16, Cade Barnes 2-10 2-2 6, Jared Hawkins 4-8 3-6 12, Kilian Ledford 4-18 10-10 19, Jon Eldridge 1-3 1-2 4, Jaedyn Gist 0-1 2-2 2, Kaleb McLendon 0-0 0-0 0, Tate Bryson 0-0 0-0 0, Johann Gist 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Adkins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-56 24-33 59.

HARLAN COUNTY (18-5)

James Smith 0-5 0-0 0, Taylor Spurlock 2-7 3-4 8, Alex Pace 8-16 10-12 31, Tyler Cole 6-12 2-2 15, Gabe Price 5-8 2-3 13, Patrick Bynum 2-3 0-0 4, Josh Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Huff 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Nantz 0-1 1-2 1, Jayden Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Dawson Atkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-55 18-23 72.

Harlan 20 7 10 22 — 59

Harlan County 12 21 18 21 — 72

3-point goals: Harlan 5-28 (Akal 2-6, Eldridge 1-2, Hawkins 1-4, Ledford 1-11, Barnes 0-5), Harlan County 8-16 (Pace 5-8, Price 1-1, Cole 1-2, Spurlock 1-4, Smith 0-4). Rebounds: Harlan 30 (Eldridge 10, Akal 7, Ledford 5, Hawkins 4, Barnes 3, Jaedyn Gist 1), Harlan County 45 (Pace 12, Price 9, Spurlock 8, Cole 5, Bynum 5, Smith 4, Turner 1, Huff 1). Turnovers: Harlan 6, Harlan County 11. Fouled out: Harlan County (Smith, Price, Bynum). Technical fouls: Harlan County (Atkins).