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By Paul Lunsford

The Harlan County Black Bears rolled into London last Tuesday and escaped with a 53-45 win over South Laurel.

The Black Bears shot 37 percent from the field (19-of-51) and hit six 3-pointers out of 20 attempts.

“We’ll take an ugly win any time over a pretty loss,” said Harlan County coach Michael Jones.

Freshman guard Trent Noah led the Bears with 15 points. Junior guard Jackson Huff scored 10 points. David Carmical added eight points.

Harlan County grabbed 30 rebounds for the game with Josh Turner pulled down 12 and Noah finishing with 11.

Parker Payne, a sophomore guard, led South Laurel with 15 points. Junior forward Brayden Reed contributed nine points while Caden Jones scored seven.

The game was even at 12-12 after one quarter. The Black Bears outscored South Laurel 16-9 in the second period and led 28-21 at the break.

The Cardinals pulled within 35-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

Both teams got offensive in the final period with HC outscoring the Cards 18-15.

South Laurel shot 43 percent (18-of-42) from the field and had 24 rebounds.

“When you play a team that’s good, you’re going to have to shoot better, and that’s credit to them,” said South Laurel coach Jeff Davis. “We had good shots, but they just didn’t fall.”

The Black Bears will participate in the WYMT Mountain Classic at Perry Central High School this week.

South Laurel travels to Whitley County on Friday.

– – – – –

Harlan County (53) – Trent Noah 15, Jackson Huff 10, Daniel Carmical 8, Tyler Cole 7, Maddox Huff 7, Josh Turner 5, Jonah Swanner 0, James Gray 0.

South Laurel (45) – Parker Payne 15, Brayden Reed 9, Caden Jones 7, Eli Gover 6, Rhys England 4, Micah Anders 3, Ashton Garland 1, Ayden Smith 0.

Harlan County 12 16 08 18 – 53
South Laurel 12 09 09 15 – 45