As the 13th Region’s top-ranked player coming into the season, Cody Miller receives plenty of attention from all of Knox Central’s opponents.

When the other Panthers aren’t hitting open shots from the perimeter, the 6-foot-5 junior can draw quite a crowd, which is why coach Brandon Elam says his team is much better all the way around when its 3-pointers are falling.

That was the situation Monday at Harlan County as the Panthers hit eight 3-pointers, including four of four by sophomore guard Travis Canady, in a 67-59 win over the Black Bears.

“Some nights we’ve shot it very, very poorly,” Knox Central coach Brandon Elam said. “We only made three against South (Laurel), and I thought that was the difference in the game.

“Normally, they do, but we need them to make them because it changes what we can do offensively. It keeps people from helping so much from Miller. If those guys aren’t shooting the ball in the hole, they can focus on helping on Miller so much more. If they make them, it gives Cody more room to operate.”

Miller scored 23 points to lead Knox Central (11-7), hitting 10 of 21 shots despite a valiant defensive effort by 6-0 senior forward Dillon Cain, who got the start in place of 6-3 senior Blake Polson. The Bears’ top defender watched the game from the bench in street clothes due to illness.

Senior center Josh Caldwell scored 20 points and junior guards Tyrek Simmons and Kyle Hogue added 18 and 12, respectively, to lead Harlan County (10-9).

As they’ve done all season, the Bears played hard but not always smart, a familiar theme for coach Mike Jones.

“Our concentration level is not good at all,” he said. “We gave up so many easy baskets. We talked about how we wanted to guard and when to help and when not to help. We’re just not consistent all through the game. We play in spurts.

“Especially against good teams, we let them have a spurt because you help when you’re not supposed to, you don’t help when you’re supposed to.”

Miller had five baskets in the opening quarter as Knox Central raced to an 18-6 lead. Harlan County closed the period strong on baskets by Caldwell, Simmons and Cain to cut the deficit in half.

Led by two baskets each by senior reserves Chad Messer and Josh Brown, the Panthers pushed their lead back to double digits in the second quarter before Harlan County again rallied, getting as close as four on baskets by Simmons and Caldwell. Canady’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds stretched the Knox Central advantage to 34-27 at the break.

“I thought we could never finish a quarter,” Elam said. “We’d enter the last two and a half minutes with a double-digit lead and come out with it down to six or seven by the end of the period.”

Two straight baskets by Simmons pulled the Bears within five midway through the third quarter before Central again reclaimed control with a 10-2 run that featured 3-pointers by Messer and Canady.

Jones said the Bears gave up too many open 3-pointers out of their man-to-man defense.

“We were cheating in when we didn’t need to be,” he said. “We were leaving people standing wide open. We’ve got to be able to follow a gameplan. It’s not like we aren’t preparing for people.”

Up by 12 going into the fourth quarter, the Panthers appeared to be on the verge of putting the game away. Harlan County remained within striking distance despite hitting only three of 15 shots in the fourth quarter.

Simmons, Hogue and T.J. Green combined to hit six of eight free throws to get the Bears as close as seven, and Simmons missed an opportunity to cut the deficit to five as a short jumper in the lane in the final minute was off the mark. The Bears missed numerous shots in the paint, with Miller responsible for several blocked shots.

Jones said the Bears didn’t play with the confidence they needed down the stretch.

“It was an eight-point ballgame, and I honestly don’t think our kids were playing like they thought they could win,” Jones said. “People can say ‘they played hard, they were all over the floor.’ But if you aren’t getting anything done what does it matter? They revert back to bad habits.”

Harlan County faces another of the region’s top teams at home on Thursday as Clay County makes its first trip to HCHS. Knox Central plays host to Wayne County on Friday.

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Sophomore guard Eric Miller scored 16 points and freshman point guard Dustin Bray added 11 as Harlan County won 44-38 in the junior varsity game.

Chase Calton and Bruce Short tossed in seven and six points, respectively, for Harlan County (7-2). Paul Turner and Marcus McMillian each contributed two.

Knox Central (5-4) was led by freshman guard Jonathan Barger with 10 points. Tyler Stewart and Gilmore Achenjang added nine and eight points, respectively.