You’d be hard-pressed to find a possession where a body wasn’t on the floor on Friday night at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena during the 9th Region tournament semifinal battle between Cooper and Holy Cross.
The knock down, drag out war waged for 32 minutes ended up leaving both teams bruised and battered, Cooper’s wounds feeling a little better after a 42-30 victory.
“Points were hard to come by tonight,” Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said. “With a senior led team like that’s been through thick and thin, they kind of know what the expectation is and how we’re going to win games. It’s not always going to be pretty. And this was definitely not a pretty game. But you know, that’s the special thing about these kids at the end of the day. They’re always going to compete. They’re going to compete at a high level and that’s all you can ask as a coach.”
The 31st straight victory over 9th Region opponents earns Cooper a spot in the 9th Region championship game on Saturday night to face who else…Ryle. It’s the third straight season the two have met for the right to go to Rupp Arena, with Cooper aiming for a 3-peat.
Never mind a region semifinal, Friday night’s game felt like a state semifinal with the intensity palpable. The stifling defense on both ends led to some ugly shooting numbers, Cooper finishing 26% from the field and 2-of-17 from three, Holy Cross at 23% and 2-of-9 from three.
It’s nothing the two didn’t expect from one another.
“We knew coming in they were going to play really physical with us and we had to match that physicality which I think we did,” Jaguars senior Liz Freihofer said. “Especially on the defensive end, defense won us the game tonight because shots weren’t falling.”
Cooper forced 20 turnovers and collected 11 steals as they converted that into 16 points off turnovers. They held Holy Cross to four points in the second and over six minutes without a point in the fourth.
With Cooper leading 27-26 with six minutes and change remaining, Holy Cross had two chances to take the lead on a possession and came up empty. They’d come up empty until the 50-second mark left in the contest, Cooper going on a 13-0 run in that span.
The run started with a Liz Freihofer 3-point play, Logan Palmer following with a bucket to stretch their lead to six. In a game like this, a six-point lead felt like a 20-point one.
“Going into the fourth quarter I basically told our kids and said the tougher team, the more cohesive tight team that makes a couple winning plays is gonna win this game,” Holthaus said. “And I thought we did a pretty good job of turning them over and got some key buckets down the stretch, Liz’s putback one that really comes to mind.”
Freihofer and Logan Palmer finished with 14 points apiece, Freihofer adding 10 rebounds and four steals. Palmer mixed in six rebounds with two steals.
“We’ve been here before, been in situations like that. Just moving the ball around and finding the right shot, the best shot,” Palmer said. “Our pressure and physicality and bumping them off the post I thought we did really well on.”
The two along with Haylee Noel’s 10 point, six rebound night were the offensive heroes, but the work Bella Deere did on the interior and Maleah Alexander on the perimeter won’t go unnoticed. Deere helped keep 9th Region co-KABC Player of the Year Julia Hunt in check, Hunt finishing with five points on 2-of-12 shooting and pulling down 13 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.
“That’s a testament to our whole team, especially Bella Deere,” Holthaus said. “She kind of gets overlooked with her size and not being a true post, but she answers the bell every time. We’ve played against a lot of really good bigs all year long and she holds her own. Proud of the team to rally around each other and only allow 30 points.”
Miyah Wimzie was the lone Indian in double figures with 10 points and corralled 10 rebounds. Holy Cross won the rebounding battle 42-33, but only converted 14 offensive rebounds into seven second chance points.
“They make it so dang hard to score,” Holy Cross coach Ted Arlinghaus said. “Thought we had some things that we could do to put the ball in the basket, but it just wasn’t meant to be. They’re a special group, that’s why they haven’t lost to a Northern Kentucky team in two-plus years.”
After closing out the first with an 8-7 lead, Cooper never relinquished it. They led 19-11 going into halftime and the momentum started to shift nearly halfway through the third. Wimzie rattled off five straight points to get Holy Cross within 21-18. Alyssa Arlinghaus nailed a triple with Aumani Nelson hitting two free throws to get the Indians within one at 25-24 headed to the fourth.
After a Nelson layup made it 27-26 Cooper, the Indians went ice cold from there.
“If you said we had one Achilles Heel all year is that we weren’t deep,” Arlinghaus said. “We played six virtually all season. Bigger floor, our trapping doesn’t work quite as well, it’s not like a high school gym. That’s not an excuse, but we couldn’t really run our trap like we have all year because of that. If we do that against Cooper on this floor, they’re going to embarrass you and make you look silly.”
It caps off a 28-6 season for Holy Cross that came with another All “A” Classic state title for the second straight year and their first 35th District championship since 2017. They won 54 games over the last two seasons.
“These girls left their mark. You could tell when you walked in the gym, they were special. They had that different feel,” Arlinghaus said. “Julia Hunt and Miyah Wimzie were such unselfish leaders. They genuinely did not care who scored the ball. They just wanted to win. They didn’t care where they were put, they wanted to win and everyone fed off that. We’re going to miss that leadership that they provided.”
Aaliyah Hayes, Hunt and Wimzie are the trio of seniors who will departing one of the best two year runs in program history.
For Cooper, it’s on to a familiar foe a mere 21 hours after their battle with Holy Cross, facing Ryle for the 10th time in the last three seasons. After Ryle won the first meeting during the 2021-22 season, Cooper has won seven straight in the series, including the last two region title games.
But first, ice baths are calling their names.
“Told the girls to tell mom and dad to stop on the way home, get a big ole’ bag of ice and get in an ice bath,” Holthaus said. “Tonight was another fight. Tip your cap to Holy Cross, they’re a really good team and really physical.”
Saturday’s title tilt begins at 7 p.m., back at Truist Arena.
JAGUARS 42, INDIANS 30
HOLY CROSS — 7-4-13-6 — 30
COOPER — 8-11-6-17 — 42
Scoring
Holy Cross (30) — Wimzie 10, Nelson 6, Hunt 5, Arlinghaus 3, Hayes 2, Carter 2, Klaiss 2
Cooper (42) — Freihofer 14, Palmer 14, Noel 10, Alexander 2, Deere 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Holy Cross 11/46, Cooper 13/49
3-Pointers: Holy Cross 2/9, Cooper 2/17
Free Throws: Holy Cross 6/8, Cooper 14/23
Rebounds: Holy Cross 42, Cooper 33
Assists: Holy Cross 3, Cooper 3
Turnovers: Holy Cross 20, Cooper 8
Steals: Holy Cross 3, Cooper 11
Blocks: Holy Cross 3, Cooper 3
Fouls: Holy Cross 21, Cooper 11
Records: Holy Cross 28-6, Cooper 28-4