A group of Cooper girls are in the midst of a brisk finish to the regular season schedule, adding to their coach’s meteoric rise. A swift player from Dayton finally gets his grand moment. In the blink of an eye, a group of Camels have gotten over the hump and turned around their season. There are some big numbers out there. Likewise, here are the fastest 900 words in sports:
HOLTHAUS APPROACHING 100: If the Cooper High School girls basketball team wins out through the 9th Region tournament final, fourth-year head coach Justin Holthaus will get his 100th career Cooper win in the final. The coach is 93-22 in three-plus season for the Jaguars with an .809 winning percentage. The two-time defending regional champion Jaguars, 22-4 and ranked second in the Kentucky statewide media poll, have two remaining regular season games and would play two district tournament games and three regional contests if they make it back to a third straight regional title game.
“Credit goes to the girls,” said Holthaus, whose squad has won 19 of its last 20 games. “They bought into what we wanted to do and helped build this culture.”
Cooper’s win over Ryle in last year’s 9th Region final was the 200th for the program. In less than four seasons, Holthaus has accounted for nearly half the wins in the program’s 16-year history. His season records: 17-5, 25-10, 29-3, 22-4. Cooper opened its doors in 2008.
“I think we strive because we have really good coaching and we a lot of different weapons,” said leading scorer Logan Luebbers-Palmer (16.9 ppg). “If you try to take away one of us, we have different threats.”
JOHNSON GETS HIS 1,000TH: Dayton senior basketball player Mason Johnson joined the 1,000-point club Feb. 9 at home in a loss to Leslie County. Mason, one of the few constants for Dayton since he joined the team as a freshman, was leading the Greendevils in scoring with 21.9 points per game despite being out of action for several contests. That’s way up over last year when Johnson averaged 13.4 points. Johnson, playing for his third head coach in four years, finished his Dayton football career with 988 rushing yards, falling 12 short of 1,000, according to KHSAA statistics. Dayton senior basketball teammate Eric Solano recently surpassed 700 career points.
HUNT BLOCKS WAY TO 600: Holy Cross senior basketball player Julia Hunt recently surpassed 600 career blocked shots. A precious few three players in Kentucky girls high school basketball history have recorded at least 600 blocks, and a meager seven have reached 500. Hunt moved into third all-time when she passed former Highlands standout Heather Kruger, who swatted 586 shots from 1995-98. Hunt and Kruger rank 1-2 all-time in blocks in 9th Region history. Kentucky’s all-time top two are Jackson County’s Sarah Elliott with 821 blocks from 1999-04 and Fern Creek’s Teonia McCune with 741 from 2007-11. Of course, basketball isn’t even Hunt’s best sport. She’s heading to college volleyball power Washington as a prized recruit.
VINSON HITS 42, 30 AND 1,000: With Highlands’ second- and third-leading basketball scorers out with injuries, senior Nathan Vinson (17.9 ppg) has soared to another level with 72 points in the last two games (36 ppg). Brayden Moeves (17 ppg) and Hank Shick (8.7 ppg) missed games against Lloyd and Montgomery County. The two last played Feb. 2 against Bellevue. Since then, Vinson has scored 42 points against Lloyd, 30 against Montgomery County and surpassed 1,000 in his career. Highlands has won six of its last eight games despite less-than-ideal depth.
NKU DUO ADD TWO MORE: The Northern Kentucky University men’s and women’s basketball teams added to their list of weekly awards given out by the Horizon League. For the men, 6-foot-3 guard Randall Pettus III is the Horizon League freshman of the week after averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals during a 2-0 week for the Norse. Pettus, starring in a sixth-man role, is average 4.1 points per game without benefit of a start. He’s averaging 9.3 points over his last seven games, equaling his season high of 13 points Feb. 8 against Oakland. He’s originally from North Carolina.
For the women, 6-foot-1 center Carter McCray continues to be a first-year force, garnering her fifth Horizon League freshman of the week honor. McCray, from Oberlin, Ohio, averaged 12 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in two games. She posted her 11th double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Milwaukee. At the time of the award, McCray led the Horizon League in rebounding (10.8 rpg) and she was fifth in scoring (14.5 ppg) and third in field goal percentage (.528). She is seventh in NCAA Division I with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game. She was 12th in rebounding and tied for 26th in double-doubles.
SAINTS NUMBER SOME BIG NAMES: The Thomas More University football team continues to sign area football standouts, adding to an impressive local haul. Also in the fold for the Saints are Conner’s Adam Duncan and Elian Ruzindana, Cooper’s Jack Lonaker, Beechwood’s Xavier Campbell, Simon Kenton’s Jake Puthoff and Newport Central Catholic’s Kolton Smith.
SPEED READS: Highlands isn’t the only quality boys basketball team in the area dealing with injuries as Cooper can attest. The Jaguars, without Andy Johnson (25 ppg) for all but two games, has also been playing recently without Yamil Rondon (13.7 ppg), the standout who played with the Puerto Rican U-17 national basketball team last summer.
The Campbell County girls basketball team has emerged as a dragon slayer of late with a pair of wins against state-ranked local stalwarts. The Camels upset Notre Dame Academy 57-48 on Jan. 30 and surprised Ryle 47-43 on Feb. 9. Ryle is No. 12 in the Kentucky media poll. NDA is No. 13th. Prior to beating NDA, the Camels had lost three straight games and six of 10.
Conner junior football player Dylan Stewart, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound two-way lineman, has an offer from Troy University. It’s his second college offer.