ALEXANDRIA — Yamil Rondon described his Cooper team as selfless and not selfish.
Rondon and the Jaguars showed why on Saturday as they took down Campbell County in a tight battle throughout, 56-52.
Rondon was one of three Jaguars in double figures, two others with eight and seven points, respectively, as they picked up their first win in the young season.
“One of our big things in our program is just being selfless and playing for everyone else. The kids like to say ‘everyone eats’ and if you give it up, it’s gonna come back to you,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “And I love to think that and I think sometimes we are almost too selfless where I think sometimes we pass up really, really good shots because we feel like we got to make that next pass, which is okay, but I think it can cost you in some games.”
Rondon got hot in the second quarter, scoring eight of his 12 points and igniting a 15-5 run as the Jaguars took a 26-23 lead into the break.
“Well they were in a zone so we really didn’t know what to do, we don’t do too well against a zone yet. So they found me in the corner, hit a shot and they came back to me and I hit it again. And then they went man and ran a play for me. That’s what got us going,” Rondon said. “Whoever’s hot give them the ball. We play for one another and we’re not selfish, we’re selfless.”
Caleb Brooks, who was saddled with early foul trouble in the first half, picked up the slack in the third, the offense flowing through him as they fed the post and scored six of his 10 points in the frame as the Jaguars took a 41-38 lead into the fourth.
“I can’t get in early foul trouble like that,” Brooks said. “Going into that third quarter I knew I had to step up because the guys did a good job while I was out keeping us in it and we just closed it out from there.”
No one led by more than eight in the contest, Rondon’s layup making it a 50-42 lead with under three minutes to play.
The Camels had their chances, including a steal and a layup attempt to make it a one possession game with under 30 seconds to play, but the theme of the game for the Camels was failing to cash in on their open looks, missing the layup and Cooper securing the rebound for two free throws on the other end.
“It’s something we’re working on. It’s a work in progress. I felt like tonight we got a lot of good looks, especially there at the end. Just wasn’t going in. Those are gonna get to us later. These guys are learning how to play together. You know, obviously, the big changes that we’re dealing with and getting used to, but tonight I was super happy with how we ran our stuff and got some stuff and that’s kind of where we’re at. We’re trying to get to that place where we’re more smooth and fluent with it. And it’s gonna take us a little time. We really haven’t had everybody together like this, but I think we’ll get there,” Camels coach Aric Russell said.
Cooper sunk both free throws and hung on for the four-point victory, bouncing back from a Tuesday loss to St. Henry to open up the season.
Rondon and Andy Johnson had 12, Brooks 10, Gavin Lutz eight and Drew Schilling seven for the Jaguars.
“It was a physical game,” Sullivan said. “That’s what you expect whenever when Aric and I face each other. We talked before the game and whenever Cooper and Campbell play, you can guarantee it’s gonna be physical, two well coached teams. The best comes out in our programs when we play each other whether we’re up or down. It’s always a really, really good game.”
Jake Gross had 21 to pace the Camels, 13 of them coming in the second half as his eight straight points tied things up at 33 in the third. Connor Weinel added 11, Ayden Hamilton with nine for the Camels, coming off a long road trip to Winchester the night before in a 80-61 loss to George Rogers Clark.
“It’s a big ask playing GRC, driving home last night and playing a four o’clock game against Cooper, that’s a big ask. It was a physical game last night, but I thought we came out second half and did a good job. We’ll get there,” Russell said.
JAGUARS 56, CAMELS 52
COOPER — 9-17-15-15 — 56
CAMPBELL CO. — 14-9-15-14 — 52
Scoring
Cooper (56) — Rondon 12, A. Johnson 12, Brooks 10, Lutz 8, Schilling 7, Ollier 5, Ajaezu 2
Campbell Co. (52) — Gross 21, Weinel 11, Hamilton 9, Jackson 5, Hill 4, Sorgenfrei 2
Records: Cooper 1-1, Campbell Co. 1-2