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By Paul Lunsford

Contributing Writer

Senior guard Daniel Carmical nailed eight 3-pointers, and junior guard Trent Noah poured in 25 points as Harlan County defeated visiting Perry Central 80-61 on Tuesday.

Carmical finished with 24 points. Maddox Huff, a sophomore guard, scored 13 and had 11 rebounds.

It marked the first win for first-year Black Bears coach Kyle Jones, who replaced his older brother Michael Jones, this past summer.

Harlan County held a 30-17 rebounding advantage. Noah added 10 boards.

Junior forward Kizer Slone came off the bench to lead the Commodores with 15 points. Trayton Woods and Dylan Knight followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Standout sophomore guard

Rydge Beverly scored eight points while suffering an ankle injury midway through the first quarter.

Both teams scored 19 points in the opening quarter.

The Black Bears began to pull away in the second period after using a 19-13 run to extend the halftime advantage to 38-32.

Harlan County put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring PCC 21-8 and led 59-40 entering the final quarter.

Both teams turned on the offense in the fourth period as the teams each scored 21 points.

The 1-0 Black Bears will face Mercer County on Saturday at 2:15 in the Ted Cook Classic at South Laurel High School.

Perry Central (0-1) plays host to district-rival Leslie County (0-1) on Thursday in Hazard.