Could it be the second of three possible matchups when Ryle and Cooper meet on Thursday for the 33rd District championship and then again in the Ninth Region championship?
The way the two looked on Tuesday night, it’s a possibility.
First, Cooper disposed of Boone County, 56-20, while Ryle defeated Conner 60-50.
Here’s how it went down:
Ryle 60, Conner 50
In a marquee district semifinal matchup that featured two teams with a combined 38 wins and 14 losses, it was Ryle getting it done defensively in the 10-point victory.
After seeing their seven-point halftime lead dwindled down to two points, Ryle (22-7) put the clamps on and held Conner (18-8) to nine points over the next 11 minutes in extending their lead from 32-30 to 52-39 with less than four minutes to play.
Conner was unable to recover from their as they were unable to get any closer than eight.
Quinn Eubank led Ryle with 19 points, 12 of them coming in the first half including a putback that resulted in a three-point play and some spirited emotion after the foul.
“We really knew that we had to bring the energy defensively to stop them and get the offensive boards and turnovers,” Eubank said. “Conner is a good team and we knew they weren’t going to go away.”
Sarah Baker got Ryle going early with 10 points in the game’s first 11 minutes and finished with 14.
“We couldn’t figure out a way to stop Baker in that first half,” Cougars coach Michelle Gambrel said. “We did a much better job on her in the second half and then shots just wouldn’t fall. Simpson getting in foul trouble hurt us and they have a lot of experienced kids and have been in these big games and it shows out there.”
Austin Johnson scored all 10 of her points in the second half while Jaelyn Jones chipped in nine and Abby Holtman adding eight after the Raiders leading scorer was held to two points in the first half.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of how they worked together and moved the ball really well,” Raiders coach Katie Haitz said. “That’s what really makes us such a hard team to get prepared for is all the little special skills that they each have.”
It was a game of runs. After Conner jumped out to a 5-4 lead to open up, Ryle closed the quarter on a 13-3 run to take a 17-8 lead after one.
Conner scored the first seven of the second quarter to get within two, but it was answered with a 15-5 Ryle run to get them up 12 at 32-20. Conner closed with the final five points of the half to make it 32-25 at the break.
The Cougars continued the surge to get within two after the first two buckets out of the half, but once again it was Ryle responding, a 14-4 run to get them back up 12 and taking a 46-36 lead into the fourth.
The final frame had 23 free throw attempts, Ryle able to knock down 8-of-12 to close out the contest and set up Thursday’s showdown.
Cooper won the first meeting, 63-58 back on Jan. 13.
“You’ve got multiple kids with different skill sets and they all do things really well for their team. They have a lot of skill. They got depth, a deep bench, they’re poised. It’s going to be a great game,” Haitz said.
Conner was led by Juliet Strange and Anna Hamilton with 13 points apiece, Kelsee Simpson providing a lot of second chance opportunities with 11 points. The Cougars graduate five seniors as they’ll try next season to make the region tournament for the first time since 2020.
“Our five seniors are gonna be missed. From the ones that play every minute on the floors, the ones that don’t get on the floor. We’re gonna miss these five, they’re going to be hard to replace,” Gambrel said. “Our district isn’t going anywhere. We got to figure out a way we’re gonna get better. We got five juniors coming back that will be seniors and a couple of young players in (Izelee) Kerns and (Alexis) Craddock that are exciting.”
Cooper 56, Boone County 22
The Jaguars wasted no time in their postseason quest to return to Rupp Arena.
Cooper (25-3) jumped out to a 12-0 lead before Boone County (7-22) got their first point with 3:38 left in the first quarter on a Joslyn Humphrey free throw.
The Jaguars took a 19-6 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Ninth Region KABC Player of the Year Whitney Lind got going in the second, scoring 11 of her game-high 15 points in the frame, Cooper taking a 42-11 lead into the half.
“Thought our girls did a good job, especially early with our pressure defensively. Create a lot of turnovers and got some easy buckets out of that. When you get into games like these, our whole thing is let’s do what we do. Let’s try not to do too much. Let’s be consistent on what we talked about all season,” Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said.
Cooper then blanked Boone in the third, a running clock implemented with 6:11 to go in the quarter on a Maleah Alexander bucket making it 46-11.
Cooper’s reserves closed out the contest in the second half, Alexander the only starter to play in the game’s final 16 minutes. Ten different players got in the scoring column for the Jaguars as they head into Thursday’s showdown with Ryle. Alexander finished with eight, Liz Freihofer and Logan Palmer adding seven.
“I think we’re very versatile. We have a lot of girls that do a lot of different things. We have girls that hit three’s, we got girls that get offensive rebounds and put them back when we miss. We have confidence in every single person it’s going in or we’re going to get the rebound,” Lind said. “So when you have that confidence in each other, when you share it, good things happen.”
Mya Bennett led the Rebels with seven points, Alivia Scott adding five. While Boone County closes their season with a 7-22 record, it’s an improvement of five wins from the prior season in Todd Humphrey’s first with the team.
Boone County graduates three seniors and returns four starters next season.
“We’re excited for our future. We’ve got most of them for at least two more years. We’re learning, we’re growing and this year we grew a lot and excited for our growth,” Humphrey said.