Both teams knew it would be hard to contain the standouts entering the 9th Region Quarterfinal contest Sunday.
Junior forward/guard Whitney Lind averages 17 points for the 33rd District champion Cooper Lady Jaguars (21-9 overall) and sophomore 6-foot-2-inch center/forward Julia Hunt averages 15.9 points and 11 rebounds per game for the 35th District runner-up Holy Cross Indians (19-14). The winner played better defense and displayed more offensive balance in this one.
Cooper did that well in winning the first 33rd District Tournament crown in school history last week at Ryle and continued it in a 59-46 victory in the last game of the evening. The Lady Jaguars advanced to the 9th Region semifinals for just the second time in school history. They take on Dixie Heights (25-7) in the semifinals Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Justin Holthaus has led Cooper to the region tournament in both seasons as head coach. But the Lady Jaguars lost 64-55 at Dixie Heights in the quarterfinals last year. The only other time Cooper made the region tournament came in 2017 when the Lady Jaguars made it to the region championship game before losing 58-52 to eventual state semifinalist Holmes.
Lind and Hunt once again led their teams. Lind scored 21 points making 7 of 10 shots and 6 of 8 free throws to go with five rebounds, five steals and one assist. Hunt nearly had another double-double recording 18 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and one steal finishing with four fouls.
But Cooper eventually pulled away at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter with its defense. The Lady Jaguars had 37 defensive stops to 29 for the Indians and outscored the Indians, 17-2 in points off turnovers. Cooper had 11 steals off 18 Holy Cross turnovers while yielding five steals off nine turnovers.
Cooper made 20 of 49 shots for 41 percent including 6 of 14 from three-point range for 43 percent and 13 of 22 free throws for 59 percent. Holy Cross made 16 of 42 shots for 38 percent including just 1 of 14 from three-point range for seven percent and 13 of 19 free throws for 68 percent. Cooper scored 1.04 points per possession and .98 points per shot to .81 and .9 for Holy Cross.
Cooper, which starts a pair of sisters, saw three players score in double digits. The second-leading scorer in sophomore forward/guard Logan Palmer scored 12 and sophomore guard Liz Freihofer scored 11. The duo also had five rebounds each.
“I think the agenda for most teams is to try to shut down Whitney (Lind),” Holthaus said. “Anytime we have five girls on the court, we can kind of spread it out and pick different spots. During the game, we posted some of our guards. We spaced it out more to where Logan was hitting jump shots. When you have girls that space the court like that, good things happen.”
The Lady Jaguars received contributions from all eight players in the rotation. Another starter in junior guard Kay Freihofer scored seven points to go with three assists and the fifth starter in senior Jesse Palmer scored five points to go with three rebounds, five assists and four steals.
“We have to come out from the start every single game,” Logan Palmer said. “We don’t want to start late and get ourselves in a hole so we’ll be controlling the game the whole time. That’s exactly where we were (Sunday).”
Holy Cross did see sophomore guard/forward Miyah Wimzie record a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists, one blocked shot and one steal. But Cooper held the Indians’ second-leading scorer in senior forward Hanna Robinson to no points. She averaged 11.1 points per game entering the contest.
“Julia Hunt is a really, really good players. She was at the front of our game plan,” Holthaus said. “We tried to slow her down a bit. We talked with our guards and our girls that play on the perimeter that we didn’t want to give up a bunch of open jump shots. We didn’t really want to dig in the post on Julia. We didn’t want to even double in the post. We wanted to stay at home. We did a good job of closing out because they have some girls that can shoot it really well. I think that was a big key. We didn’t have too much attention on Hunt when she caught it in the post. We just let our girls do their jobs.”
Following a Hunt score, Logan Palmer made a three to put Cooper up 3-2. But after another Hunt score, Lind scored to put the Lady Jaguars up for good. Cooper led 15-13 entering the second quarter and did increase it to three with 5:29 left in the first half when Lind made a free throw. Cooper led 24-19 at halftime.
“They’re really hard to guard and that’s why they’re probably one of the clear favorites to win this tournament,” said Ted Arlinghaus, Holy Cross Head Coach. “You can’t really help off anybody. They run their stuff well. They execute. They take care of the ball. They force you to make plays and if you can’t make plays, it’s tough.”
Cooper started the second half with a 6-0 run. Logan Palmer finished it with a steal and score putting the Lady Jaguars up 30-19. Holy Cross did trim the margin to 35-30 with 1:03 left in the quarter after Aleah Arlinghaus drew a foul and hit two free throws.
But Cooper finished the quarter with a 5-0 run to go up 40-30. Sophomore forward Bella Deere made a critical three from the top of the key and Lind had an offensive put-back with two seconds left in the quarter.
“I was glad I got to get in there and help my team even on and off the court,” Deere said. “Even in practice, I push them so that they’re able to go out and do what they did. That (three) really changed the momentum.”
Kay Freihofer found Liz Freihofer for the score with 6:54 and Jesse Palmer had a steal and score to put Cooper up 44-30 with 6:29 left in the game. Two Lind free throws and a steal and score gave the Lady Jaguars a 50-34 lead with 4:50 left in the game.
Holy Cross did trim the margin to 10 at 52-42 with 2:50 left in the game after a Hunt offensie rebounds. But Cooper made 7 of 12 free throws down the stretch to keep the Indians from coming any closer.
Holy Cross graduates just one senior in Robinson. The Indians improved their win total by three in the second year under Arlinghaus.
“I just wish I had three more years with her,” Coach Arlinghaus said. “She’s a battler. She played hard. She bought into everything we were doing and never once complained. She was a transfer so it’s the first year she’d been with us. She put her head down and she worked. I love her. I wish we had a whole team of Hanna Robinsons.”
Holy Cross did make it to the region tournament for the ninth straight year. The Indians have not missed the region tournament since 2013.
9th Region Tournament Schedule at BB&T Arena at NKU:
Quarterfinal Results on Sunday, Feb. 27:
Ryle 53, Notre Dame 51
Newport Central Catholic 55, Ludlow 42
Dixie Heights 58, Highlands 40
Cooper 59, Holy Cross 46
Semifinals on Wednesday, March 2:
Ryle (20-9) vs. Newport Central Catholic (22-10), 6:30 p.m.
Dixie Heights (25-7) vs. Cooper (21-9), 8 p.m.
Championship Game on Friday, March 4:
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.
