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There was little doubt where the South Laurel Cardinals were going for a basket every time Harlan County made a run in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game.

Cromer, the Cards’ star senior guard, hit five straight shots to close the game as South fought off several comeback bids by the Bears to win 64-57. Cromer finished with 35 points, hitting 11 of 19 shots from the field.

“He’s rated the No. 1 player in the region for a reason,” Harlan County coach Michael Jones said. “We talked about some things we needed to do, but we didn’t do a good job of it. He’s hard to guard though. He’s a heck of a player.”

Brett Norvell added 13 points for the 19-4 Cardinals.

Senior guard Taylor Spurlock paced the Bears with 22 points. Josh Turner and Tyler Cole added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as HCHS fell to 16-7.

The Bears played without starting point guard Trent Noah for the second straight game due to back inflammation.

“It’s tough to lose a player like Trent. He makes a difference for us, but Jake (Wilson) did a good job filling in there,” Jones said.

Harlan County will travel to Harlan on Friday for a girls/boys district doubleheader. South Laurel plays host to North Laurel on Friday.

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Led by 22 points from Daniel Carmical and 12 from Jonah Swanner, the Harlan County junior varsity team avenged a loss at South Laurel last week with a 50-45 victory.

Tristan Cooper and Jeremiah Clem scored six each for the 7-5 Bears. James Gray and Dylan Hicks added two each.

Rhys England scored 11 and Wes Wright added 10 for the Cardinals.

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South swept a junior varsity/freshman doubleheader in London on Feb. 3.

The Cardinals won 46-29 in junior varsity action as Garland scored 11 to lead South.

Clem led HCHS with 13 points, followed by Gray with nine, Carmical, Cooper and Bradley Halcomb with two each and Hicks with one.

Harlan County suffered its first freshman loss, falling 57-47.

Mullins led South with 18 points.

Carmical scored 16 for the 3-1 Bears. Cooper tossed in 10, followed by Josh Sergent with eight, Swanner with six, Clem with five and Hicks with two.

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South Laurel 64, HCHS 57

SOUTH LAUREL (19-4)

Alex Hostetler 3-5 0-2 6, Micah Anders 2-3 2-2 8, Brett Norvell 6-10 0-0 13, Matt Cromer 11-19 9-9 35, Caden Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Payne 0-2 0-0 0, Ford Breeding 0-0 0-0 0, Wes Wright 0-0 2-2 2, Fischer Proffitt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-39 13-15 64.

HARLAN COUNTY (16-7)

Jacob Wilson 3-6 2-2 8, Taylor Spurlock 8-15 4-4 22, Jackson Huff 3-7 0-0 6, Tyler Cole 3-10 4-4 10, Jaosh Turner 5-6 1-2 11, Elisha Smallwood 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Helton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-45 11-12 57.

South Laurel 11 15 18 20 — 64

Harlan County 12 9 16 20 — 57

3-point goals: South Laurel 7-16 (Cromer 4-8, Anders 2-3, Norvell 1-4, Payne 0-1), Harlan County 2-9 (Spurlock 2-5, Wilson 0-1, Turner 0-1, Huff 0-2). Rebounds: South Laurel 16 (Hostetler 3, Norvell 3, Cromer 3, Breeding 3, Jones 2, Anders 1, Payne 1), Harlan County 20 (Turner 6, Spurlock 4, Cole 4, Wilson 3, Huff 2, Helton 1). Turnovers: South Laurel 9, Harlan County 10. Fouled out: None.