The Harlan County Black Bears didn’t qualify for the state golf tournament, but coach Ben Baker opted to focus on the positive Tuesday.

The Black Bears posted an 11th-place finish at the Region 10 Tournament at Wasioto Winds in Pineville with a combined team score of 350.

“It’s improvement. That’s what I’m striving for,” Baker said. “If they keep improving, I can turn to colleges and say, ‘These are their scores, these are their grades — what can we do to help them?’

“I had no players shoot over 100. I was happy about that last year, and I was happy to get it again this year. That’s always a goal at the regionals.”

Corbin won the tournament with a score of 312, defeating North Laurel and Somerset by three strokes. Rounding out the top five were Rockcastle County and South Laurel with scores of 316 and 318, respectively.

The top individual finisher was Clay County’s Todd McDaniel, who posted a 71. South Laurel’s Elliott House shot a 73 to finish second. Corbin’s John Hamilton and Somerset’s David Snyder each shot a 74. Clay County’s Tyler McDaniel and Jackson County’s Tyler Morgan posted a 75.

Harlan County was led by sophomore Cody Hensley, who fired an 80, five strokes away from participating in a playoff for the final spot in the state tournament.

“A 75 would have put him in a playoff, and a 74 would have put him in the state,” Baker said. “He had a couple of bad holes that knocked him out of being in that contention. You can always look back and find a couple of things you could have done differently. But he did improve, and that’s a big thing.”

Rounding out the Black Bears’ scores were sophomores Hogan Goodwin and Lance Short, both of whom shot an 89; Gage Mosley with a 92; and eighth-grader Jacob Cornett with a 99.

Mosley was the only senior participating in the regional meet for Harlan County, leaving the Black Bears with plenty of experience returning next year.

“I ran three sophomores and an eighth-grader — next year looks good for us,” Baker said. “I’ve already talked to most of them and told them what I expect from them next year. We’re going to start a conditioning program and get things ready so we can be in the top five next year.

“We’re going to fight for a better position. I really believe that next year, we could not only be in the top five, but actually get to go to state.”

Harlan also participated in the tournament, posting a score of 390.

The Dragons were led by Brandon Hampton, who posted a score of 81. Jerrid Pace and Kyle Howard posted a 98 and 99, respectively. Rounding out Harlan’s results were Evan Howard with a 112 and Jacob Rich with a 115.

Overall team and individual scores are listed below (results for Lynn Camp and McCreary Central were incomplete):

Corbin (312) — John Hamilton 74, Ryan Williamson 78, Eric Jones 78, Chander Maguet 82, Jordan Maguet 91.

North Laurel (315) — Josh Gregorich 76, Zach Storm 78, Darrel Mathis 82, Wes Hopkins 84, Cody Meier 97.

Somerset (315) — David Snyder 74, Ben Purcell 78, Ryan Flanagan 80, Kyler Barnett 83, Jay Schoolcraft 91.

Rockcastle County (316) — Bryan Clontz 77, Jordan Cash 78, Jordan Whitaker 79, Brandon Young 82, Andrew Pensol 87.

South Laurel (318) — Elliott House 73, Nathan Clark 78, Nick Poston 81, Tyler Royster 86, Luke Rakestraw 88.

Clay County (323) — Todd McDaniel 71, Tyler McDaniel 75, Tanner Hensley 88, Justin Smith 89 Tyler Sumner 90.

Middlesboro (325) — Michael Wilson 78, Thomas Epperson 79, Scott Mason 83, Brandon Bisceglia 85, Roger Uy 87.

Wayne County (329) — Alex Petrinko 80, Cody Miller 81, Kaleb Gregory 83, Trey Blevins 85, Greg Hicks 93.

Jackson County (335) — Tyler Morgan 75, Logan Estridge 84, Wade Combs 85, Colby Nicholson 91, Alex Wilson 115.

Williamsburg (349) — Zack Burr 80, Maverick Reynolds 88, Justin Christian 89, Brandon Byrd 92, Adam Jones 106.

Harlan County (350) — Cody Hensley 80, Hogan Goodwin 89, Lance Short 89, Gage Mosley 92, Jacob Cornett 99.

Pulaski Southwestern (353) — Justin Shulz 87, Logan Starnes 87, Tyran Furlong 89, Tyler Blair 90, Drew Boggs 99.

Whitley County (369) — Ted Clifford 89, Jeremy Daniels 91, Jimmy Walden 93, David Rose 95, Blake Mullins 100.

Barbourville (373) — Corey Moran 87, Sean Gamble 92, Spencer Jones 95, Dalton Mills 97, Ben Stuber 103.

Pulaski County (373) — Luke Elmore 83, Ben Roberts 91, Cody Silvers 95, Kellen Wilson 102, Adam Ross 104.

Harlan (390) — Brandon Hampton 81, Jerrid Pace 98, Kyle Howard 99, Evan Howard 112, Jacob Rich 115.

Knox Central (391) — Jared Franklin 88, Chad Abner 98, Blaine Wyatt 102, Trey Martin 103, Cameron Miller 115.

Lee County (397) — Chase Baker 97, Tristan Fraley 99, Shawn Charles 99, Tyler Campbell 102.

Pineville (422) — Deonte Ferguson 104, Jordan Hampton 105, Seth Jeffrey 106, Jake Perry 107, Travis Napier 119.

Owsley County (439) — Kyle Babrowski 91, Haven Puryear 96, Logan Brewer 123, Jordan Hardy 129, Cody Spence 143.

Bell County (469) — Micah Robbins 106, Travis Falkner 118, Caleb Johnson 119, Tyler Gambrel 125, Austin Gambrel 126.

Monticello (506) — Bryant Skeens 121, Damion Hickey 123, Daniel Tucker 127, Chad West 136.