History has been made.
Cooper’s girls basketball team championship DNA prevailed once again, taking down Notre Dame Friday night 60-57 in the St. Elizabeth Healthcare 9th Region tournament title game.
The victory marks their fourth straight 9th Region title, accomplishing something no one else has ever done in the 50 years of girls basketball in the region.
“It’s pretty special with the 50th year anniversary,” Cooper coach Justin Holthaus said. “To win the region again and do it a fourth time is a special testament to everybody in our program. The coaches, the players, admin, everybody just bought into what we’re trying to do. It takes everybody.”
It took every ounce to get another. Notre Dame’s stout front line headlined by Sophia Gibson gave Cooper all they could handle Friday night at Truist Arena. The Pandas took advantage of some inconsistent free throw shooting for Cooper in the final couple minutes, but Megan McGraw’s 3-point attempt in the closing seconds came up empty, sending Cooper in an all too familiar frenzy when the final horn sounded.
While the celebration was familiar for the majority of the team, most of the players on the floor Friday night were new to the playing experience. After all, Cooper has four players that graduated from last year’s team playing college basketball, three of them at the Division I level, another in Division II.
“They’ve got a whole lot of talent,” Pandas coach Kes Murphy said. “When you’ve got that much talent year after year, you got to take advantage of it and they’re doing a good job of taking advantage of it.”
While they weren’t totally written off and predicted to be near the top once again, they knew a fourth straight title would be a lot harder to come by than the prior three.
What they displayed on Friday and throughout the tournament in which they had to beat three top 20 teams in the state was the pure example of how they are here once again.
Unselfishness, grit and ability to play in the moment.
“Even with it being the region championship, it wasn’t going to be big lights for those kids,” Holthaus said. “They performed in the first and second round. I really thought we had one of the toughest draws, playing Holy Cross in the first round and Dixie and then playing Notre Dame. I think the most concerning thing kind of coming into this was we don’t go very deep and how our legs were going to be. Our kids, they just continue to fight for each other and just compete at a high level.”
Tournament MVP Haylee Noel was her usual self, scoring 17 points to go with three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. It was quite the memorable week for Noel, scoring her 1,000th career point in the quarterfinals against Holy Cross and following it up with a monster, 23 point, 14 rebound and six assist game in the semis against Dixie Heights.
“It’s just been amazing,” Noel said. “Just knowing how my team has confidence in me to help lead this team and especially Coach Holthaus to lead and all that. It’s definitely helped my confidence, for sure.”
Then there were the surrounding pieces. The lone senior on the roster, Zene Thompson, played like a senior, poised and under control with 16 points, four rebounds and five assists to go with two blocked shots.
“For me to be a senior, I really wanted to show people that even though we lost a bunch of people we’re still Cooper,” Thompson said.
Addyson Brissey added 12 points, the trio named to the All-Tournament team. Brinkli Rankin knocked down two more corner 3-pointers, a staple for her in the postseason while Alivia Scott added seven points and a long touchdown pass to Thompson off an inbounds play for a key basket late in the fourth.
Cooper (25-5) made just enough winning plays.
Notre Dame on the other end, their strategy of continually feeding the post to Gibson, pressing and constant subbing nearly paid off.
They rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to get all the way within one. As Cooper went 5-for-12 from the line in the final two minutes, the Pandas kept inching closer.
Trailing 55-49 with under two minutes to go, Sophia Gibson’s layup made it 58-57 Cooper with 43 seconds to play.
After two Thompson free throws and Notre Dame unable to answer on the other end, Lyric Hooper then toed the line for the Jags, but missed both, giving the Pandas one last chance with 12.4 seconds to play.
They corralled the second miss, pushed the ball down the floor where McGraw had an open look from three at the top of the key, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim for a long rebound, Cooper securing it as the buzzer sounded.
Outside of a loss to Holy Cross in December, it was Notre Dame who played the Jaguars the toughest this season, losing both contests by three points.
“On the defensive end we were just a step slow on our halfcourt sets,” Murphy said. “We emphasize certain things, missed multiple assignments, our talk wasn’t great. Our press was fantastic, but we gave up too many open layups. That’s not us and when you put yourself in that situation, fighting back and fighting back, it’s tough.”
The Pandas were led by Gibson’s 20 points and eight rebounds, a menace in the post for Cooper. Emma Holtzapfel added 11, Maya Lawrie with eight points, six assists and three steals, Amelia Stallard adding seven points.
The loss puts an end to their season at 22-8, one win shy of their first regional title since 2013. They’ll graduate five seniors in Gibson, Lawrie, McGraw, Tori Lenihan and Ryan Burden.
“What a great journey for the five seniors we have,” Murphy said. “Hopefully they realize the growth and experience they appreciate all that becomes part of a team. Hopefully the parents realize that, too. We’re devastated that we lost, but we’re thankful for the opportunity to be here and thankful for being able to overcome the adversity we had throughout the season.”
Cooper now makes a familiar trip south to Lexington to Rupp Arena, where they’ll play in the first round of the girls’ KHSAA Sweet 16 on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. against the 6th Region winner. The 6th Region championship is Saturday between Mercy and Whitefield Academy at 6 p.m.
All-Tournament Team:
Caroline Eaglin, Newport Central Catholic
Aumani Nelson, Holy Cross
Jaelyn Jones, Ryle
Clare Slocum, St. Henry
Marissa Green, Highlands
Ty Berry, Highlands
Catherine Buddenberg, Dixie Heights
Asia Carner, Dixie Heights
Sophia Gibson, Notre Dame Academy
Maya Lawrie, Notre Dame Academy
Zene Thompson, Cooper
Addison Brissey, Cooper
Haylee Noel, Cooper (MVP)
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Cooper-Notre Dame 9th Region girls basketball championship (provided by Charles Bolton)
JAGUARS 60, PANDAS 57
NOTRE DAME — 7-18-12-20 — 57
COOPER — 15-13-16-16 — 60
Scoring
Notre Dame (57) — Gibson 20, Holtzapfel 11, M. Lawrie 8, Stallard 7, M. McGraw 4, Humphrey 3, A. Lawrie 2, Young 2
Cooper (60) — Noel 17, Thompson 16, Brissey 12, Scott 7, Rankin 6, Hooper 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: NDA 21/49, Cooper 20/40
3-Pointers: NDA 4/14, Cooper 5/12
Free Throws: NDA 11/15, Cooper 15/23
Rebounds: NDA 29, Cooper 25
Assists: NDA 10, Cooper 12
Steals: NDA 11, Cooper 3
Blocked Shots: NDA 3, Cooper 5
Turnovers: NDA 12, Cooper 14
Fouls: NDA 22, Cooper 13
Records: Notre Dame 22-8, Cooper 25-5