Not enough can be said about the commitment to defense from the two-time defending 9th Region champion Cooper Jaguars girls basketball team.
The Jaguars make every pass, shot and even dribble tough with their relentless man-to-man on-ball pressure, which includes unexpected double teams at various parts of the court. If anything is off by even a few inches, the ball could be headed the other way. They once again rode it to another convincing, 70-38 victory over the Assumption Rockets in the first game of the Hoops for Harvest Classic at Dixie Heights on Saturday.
“Our girls fight and it starts with practice,” Cooper head coach Justin Holthaus said. “It’s the consistency with what they do working hard in practice, which definitely translates to games. We preach it all the time going for the 50/50 balls, loose balls and things like that. Our senior leaders do a really good job of holding girls accountable and the program accountable. When you have girls doing that and selling out for each other, special things happen on the defensive end.”
Cooper (2-0) has started off strong in both games against two Louisville opponents. Cooper beat Butler by 17 points on Tuesday.
Cooper forced Assumption into 27 turnovers, including 16 steals that led to a number of fast break opportunities. Logan Palmer, Maleah Alexander and Haylee Noel led the Jaguars with three thefts each, Zene Thompson and Damysia Knox recording two each.
“We’re really committed to defense,” Knox said. “I think it’s more we trust each other. We communicate a lot and we’re teaching the younger players to do that.”
The Jaguars made more shots (27) than Assumption attempted (23) in the contest. Cooper hit 49% from the field and had 10 different players enter the scoring column. Palmer led the way, scoring 13 points and Bella Deere scored 11. Liz Freihofer and Noel scored 10 points each with Simone Smith scoring nine off the bench. Deere said the solid team chemistry starts off the court.
“We’re all different and we all know that. But what I think brings us together is the fact that every Wednesday night, we all go to church together. We all pray together before the game,” Deere said. “No matter our differences, we’re all the same in that sense. That definitely helps us on the court.”
Cooper had 14 assists to just nine turnovers. Noel led the Jaguars with four assists and Thompson had three.
Holthaus said the main concern on defense was Assumption senior Taryn Morris. Morris had a team-high 10.5 points per game for Assumption (1-2) and junior Kyleigh Hall averaged 10 entering the game. Morris scored just below her average with 10 points and Hall scored two.
“(Morris) has been in that program for a while now,” Holthaus said. “She’s really solid, gets downhill. We knew with their personnel, they like to space the court. The biggest thing with Assumption is we had to stay glued to shooters. We’ll help out when we can. But we had to close out hard and really make sure we take away the three-point line. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
When Assumption put up shots and missed, Cooper cleaned up on the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 24-8. Noel and Palmer had five rebounds each.
Assumption took its lone lead just 15 seconds into the game. Cooper scored the game’s next 18 points and never looked back. The Jaguars led 40-16 at halftime and 59-25 entering the fourth quarter, hitting the running clock in the second half.
Cooper takes on Highlands (1-2) at home on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
JAGUARS 70, ROCKETS 38
ASSUMPTION — 4-12-9-13 — 38
COOPER — 20-20-19-11 — 70
Scoring
Assumption (38) — Morris 10, Thompson 8, Ackermann 8, Young 5, Hall 2, Lesshafft 2, Ice 2, Kovatch 1
Cooper (70) — Palmer 13, Deere 11, Freihofer 10, Noel 10, Smith 9, Knox 6, Alexander 4, Thompson 4, Brissey 2, Johnson 1
Free Throws: Assumption 10/13, Cooper 11/15
3-Pointers made: Assumption 4, Cooper 5
Records: Assumption 1-2, Cooper 2-0
