Cooper’s been in this position before.
With their backs against the wall due to injuries and coming off a 32-point defeat to Elder (Ohio) on Tuesday, the Jaguars needed a response and found one in a big way with a 74-56 victory over St. Xavier (Ohio) in the John Turner Classic at Newport.
Down leading scorer Andy Johnson to an injury suffered last week and still waiting clearance from Shaun Pouncy, Cooper used a 13-2 run before the half and carried it over into the second half for the victory. The Bombers were much more physically imposing in the interior, a lineup that had 6-foot-11, 6-6, 6-5 and 6-5 in the rotation.
That didn’t bother Cooper much as they stood strong defensively and won the rebounding battle.
“We settled in and started to see how they do things and our kids figured out our keys and fought,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “Our No. 1 goal tonight was to win in the trenches and I thought that we did that and that was the key to victory.”
Yamil Rondon poured in 20 points, Isaiah Johnson and Jaidan Combs with 16 apiece while Isaac Brown added nine. Johnson, Combs and Brown are less than a week into the season thanks to the football team’s runner-up season that ended a week ago on Saturday. Rondon and Combs combined for 24 of the Jags 32 first half points.
“Thought Isaiah Johnson was phenomenal. Just the energy with Jaidan and Isaac and the athleticism they bring sometimes you tell them to just go play. They keep giving us that energy and we’re going to be fine,” Sullivan said.
Rondon got the engine going early, scoring 11 of the Jags 17 first quarter points as the two were all square after one.
“Our energy was great. Played with passion and coach told us we had to fight and come out and win in the trenches and I thought we did that well,” Rondon said. “Just played help side and contain our man and win in the trenches.”
Trailing 25-19 with five minutes to play before the half, the Jaguars clamped down defensively and went into the half with a 32-27 lead. They continued to stifle the Bombers front line, building their lead to as large as 17 in the third, Johnson and Brown combining for 10 of the Jaguars 19 in the third stanza. Cooper led 51-37 headed into the fourth.
St. Xavier (2-1) would get no closer from there, Cooper (2-2) handing them their first loss of the season.
JAGUARS 74, BOMBERS 56
ST. XAVIER — 17-10-10-19 — 56
COOPER — 17-15-19-23 — 74
Scoring
St. Xavier (56) — Wassler 24, Fish 6, Klare 4, Sulfsted 4, Deeley 3, Goshorn 3, Weber 3, Waleskowski 3, Sodoti 2, Reilly 2, Gruber 2
Cooper (74) — Rondon 20, Johnson 16, Combs 16, Brown 9, Jak. Pouncy 5, Blackburn 4, Jo. Pouncy 3, Barbour 1
3-Pointers Made: St. Xavier 6, Cooper 4
Free Throws: St. Xavier 8/11, Cooper 20/29
Records: St. Xavier 2-1, Cooper 2-2
Campbell County 74, Newport Central Catholic 50
The Camels took the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back in the non-region county rivalry win.
Campbell County displayed a lot of balance with four players scoring in double digits. Xavier Fancher and game MVP Connor Weinel led the way scoring 14 each with Broc Sorgenfrei and Nathan Smith following with 11 and 10, respectively.
The Camels (2-1) hurt the Thoroughbreds a lot in transition.
“We work hard to show what we have every single game,” Smith said. “We just have a lot of trust in each other. We’re not selfish on this team, so it’s really about who has the better shot. That’s what we’re going to take.”
NewCath also tried to be balanced. It did not help that the Thoroughbreds’ leading scorer in Caleb Eaglin battled foul trouble all game and scored just one point after entering with an average of 18.2 per game.
“He’s such a terrific player. One of our big focuses was to make him guard and make him work on the defensive end,” Campbell County head coach Brent Sowder said. “We have a pretty good big guy ourselves in Connor Weinel so we knew that was going to be a key matchup. It worked out in our favor.”
A number of players tried to pick up the slack. Ian Mann led NewCath (2-3) with 15 points with Johnny Luhn, Louie Collopy and Gabe Lyons scoring eight each.
Campbell County led 10-7 in the first quarter before going on a 6-0 run that saw Weinel score four points to go up 16-7. The Camels led 22-15 and eventually doubled it 32-16 with 5:45 left in the second quarter when Smith hit a lay-up. NewCath trimmed the lead to 34-26 before Zach Franzen hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to put Campbell County up 43-30 at halftime.
The Camels started the third quarter strong, hitting 6-of-8 free throws to go up 49-32. They extended it to 58-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Campbell County hosts Highlands on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. NewCath travels to Lloyd Memorial on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
CAMELS 74, THOROUGHBREDS 50
Newport Central Catholic — 15-15-8-12 — 50
Campbell County — 22-21-15-16 — 74
Scoring
NewCath (50) — Mann 15, Luhn 8, Collopy 8, Lyons 8, Reinhart 2, Kraft 2, Gearding 2, Petroze 2, Sandforss 2, Eaglin 1
Campbell County (74) — Weinel 14, Fancher 14, Sorgenfrei 11, Smith 10, Jackson 8, Franzen 7, Crowley 7, Johnson 3
Free Throws: NewCath 16/24, Campbell County 20/31
3-Pointers made: NewCath 2, Campbell County 6
Records: Newport Central Catholic 2-3, Campbell County 2-1
Mariemont (Ohio) 81, Conner 76 (2OT)
Despite leading for the majority of regulation, Conner could not close out their attempt for a second win this season, dropping a double overtime affair to Mariemont (Ohio).
Cutting to the basket helped three Cougars in double figures, Landon Warner leading the way with 25 points. Finn Louden and Mariano Romero scored 18 and 13, respectively.
“They’re learning. It’s new for everybody,” Conner head coach Matthew Otte said. “It’s an adventure every day to get them to understand that in varsity basketball, every possession matters. They can’t take plays off or be undisciplined. They’re working at it.”
Conner employed a 2-3 zone in the game and made Mariemont earn what it got. The Warriors (3-0) did respond to the challenge, especially in the second half with nice inside-outside balance, also putting three players in double figures. Sam Stalzar led the way with 24 points with Charlie Tully and Nolan Theye adding 18 and 15 points, respectively.
“We just started doing that this week so it’s still new to them,” Otte said. “Now we’ll have film where we can show them what needs to be cleaned up here and there. They’ll understand it more. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
Conner (1-3) used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to go up 16-9. Louden led the way with an offensive rebound and three-pointer.
The Cougars managed to earn some breathing room in the second quarter building a 38-31 lead before Mariemont closed the gap to 48-44 after three.
Mariemont led 61-57 in the final minute of regulation, but Warner had an offensive putback and Louden stole the ball and tied it with two free throws with 18.4 seconds left. Conner had a shot to win at the end of the first overtime, but could not get it to fall.
Conner’s next battle is a 33rd District tilt, traveling to Cooper on Friday for an 8 p.m. game.
WARRIORS 81, COUGARS 76
MARIEMONT — 12-19-13-17-5-15 — 81
CONNER — 16-22-10-13-5-10 — 76
Scoring
Mariemont (81) — Sam Stalzar 24, Tully 18, Theye 15, Klekar 9, Socko Stalzar 7, Letton 6, Nichols 2
Conner (76) — Landon Warner 25, Louden 18, Romero 13, Huff 7, Bushman 5, Abousaleh 4, Tyler Warner 4
Free Throws: Mariemont 10/16, Conner 13/17
3-Pointers made: Mariemont 9, Conner 9
Records: Mariemont 3-0, Conner 1-3
CENTRAL HARDIN 63, RYLE 60
Despite a 51-46 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Ryle was unable to hang on against Central Hardin at the John Turner Classic at Newport.
The Raiders (4-2) have dropped two straight after opening the season with their best start in 20 years.
AJ Davis led the Raiders with 18 points, Logan Verax and Grady Reynolds with 12 points apiece. Landon Lorms had a look at a 3-pointer to tie the game in the closing seconds, but it clanked off the back rim.
They played their second straight game without Evan Smith, the Raiders second leading scorer dealing with an injury.
Brett Decker led the Bruins (3-2) with 22 points.
Ryle led for the majority, 25-19 after one and 35-32 going into the half.
The Raiders will look to regroup on Tuesday when they host Newport at 7:30 p.m.
BRUINS 63, RAIDERS 60
CENTRAL HARDIN — 19-13-14-17 — 63
RYLE — 25-10-16-9 — 60
Scoring
Central Hardin (63) — Decker 22, Stone 17, C. Elmore 6, Hogan 5, C. Elmore 5, Nichols 4, Thompson 4
Ryle (60) — Davis 18, Verax 12, Reynolds 12, DeGroff 8, Lorms 7, H. Smith 3
Records: Central Hardin 3-2, Ryle 4-2
