The Harlan County High School boys basketball team has received several awards since its season ended on Saturday.
Harlan County’s Mike Jones and Tyler Brewer received top honors from the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches recently. Jones was selected by the organization as the 13th Region Coach of the Year, while Brewer was named the region’s player of the year.
Jones has led the Black Bears to five straight 13th Region Tournament appearances. Under Jones’ direction, Harlan County finished last season with 25 wins and a regional championship appearance.
“Any time fellow coaches feel like you have done a good job and think enough of you to vote for you it does make an award like that mean a lot,” Jones said. “I didn’t expect it. I would much rather won the regional tournament as a team than for me to get any kind of award.”
Brewer, a senior point guard, has started for the Black Bears since his sophomore season. He led Harlan County to a 52nd District title this season, and finished with 29 points in a memorable regional championship performance. Brewer was the first Harlan County High School player to surpass 1,000 points, and closed his career as the school’s leading scorer.
As 13th Region Player of the Year, Brewer will be on the roster of the Kentucky East-West All-Star game this weekend at Translyvania. He will also receive an automatic tryout for the Kentucky All-Star team that will face Indiana.
Both will be honored on Saturday during the semifinals of the state tournament at Rupp Arena.
Brewer was also named the regional player of the year by the 13th Region Boys Basketball Coaches Association. Joining him on the 13th Region First-Team was senior Alex Sergent. Senior forward Aaron Caldwell and sophomore Tyler Miller were each named to the second team.
The rest of the 13th Region teams include:
First Team
Tyler McDaniel (Clay County); John Simpson (Pineville); Jordan Fox (Jackson County); Zac Baxter (South Laurel); Devon Mills (Barbourville); Tyler Potter (Bell County); Jake Allen (North Laurel); Matthew Barger (Knox Central); Marcus Carson (North Laurel); Zach Farley (Corbin); Byron David Asher (Pineville); Stephon Lyttle (Clay County) and Robby Igo (Corbin).
Second Team
Michael Powers (Whitley County); Skylar Griffith (Williamsburg); Eric Young (Red Bird); Donnie Foister (Middlesboro); Steven Wagers (Jackson County); Austin Poindexter (Middlesboro); Jake Patterson (Bell County); Seth Jeffrey (Pineville); Blake Sanders (South Laurel); Jeffrey Adams (Knox Central); Matt Slavey (South Laurel); Kody Reed (Clay County) and Tobie Merida (Knox Central).








