Hoops’ Titans battle; Pulaski Prevails 69-65 over Harlan County; Swanner leads Black Bears with 16 points

Published 8:06 am Thursday, February 3, 2022

SOMERSET — Coach John Fraley and his Maroons is the only team in the state without a loss this year.

Pulaski County improved to 22-0 following a hard-fought battle with Harlan County, 69-65 on Tuesday.

The Maroons held HC sophomore guard Trent Noah to five points.

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“Harlan County is a very good basketball team and coach (Michael) Jones does a great job,” said Fraley. “(Trent) Noah is a really nice player, and I thought Zach (Travis) and all of us — it was a team effort — everybody out there did a really good job of helping Zach on him,” Fraley added. “This was a regional tournament-type of game.”

Travis led all scorers with 30 points for the Maroons. Senior guard Gavin Stevens followed with 19. Cayden Lancaster, a junior forward, scored 14 points.

Sophomore guard Jonah Swanner led the Black Bears with 16 points, while Maddox Huff scored 15 points. Daniel Carmical and Jackson Huff each added 12 points. Noah and Jeremiah Clem tossed in five points apiece.

Noah led HC with seven rebounds.

The Black Bears shot 44 percent on 25 of 57 from the field.

Pulaski County will host the Rockets of Rockcastle County in a girls-boys doubleheader on Friday.

Harlan County (16-7) was scheduled to travel to Breathitt County on Thursday. The Bears will play at Lexington Lafayette on Saturday in the Jock Sutherland Classic against West Jessamine.

HC will return to district play on Tuesday at Harlan and Friday at Middlesboro.

Harlan County will close the final regular week of the season with home games against Williamsburg (Feb. 15) and Red Bird (Feb. 17).

Sports contributor Paul Lunsford wrote this for the Harlan Enterprise.