One has heard the saying, “In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
The Cooper Jaguars basketball team (25-10 overall) had that challenge playing in the Girls Sweet 16 semifinals on Saturday. Their opponent in the defending state champion Louisville Sacred Heart Valkyries (35-3) had been there a number of times with five state championships overall in school history, which is tied with Laurel County (now North and South Laurel), Ashland Blazer and Louisville Butler for the most in Kentucky history.
Sacred Heart Head Coach Donna Moir has guided the Valkyries to four state titles during her tenure. She played on the first Sacred Heart state championship team that beat Louisville Butler, 68-55 in the 1976 title game.
Cooper may not have made it to the final game losing 50-29 Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. But the Jaguars still did well to make it to the state semifinals in their first appearance ever in the state tournament.
“We ran into a really good team with Sacred Heart,” said Justin Holthaus, Cooper Head Coach. “I thought in that first quarter, we kind of controlled the tempo. We got some stuff out of our half-court offense. We guarded really well. In that second quarter, they really turned up that pressure. We really got behind the ball right there. But I knew when we tried to make some adjustments at halftime, our kids weren’t going to quit. That’s not who they are. But at the end of the day, tip your cap to Sacred Heart. We did what we could to try to get some shots and some things like that. But at the end of the day, they just weren’t falling.”
The Jaguars did not have an answer for freshman forward/guard ZaKiyah Johnson in the post. Johnson led all scorers with 21 points making 9 of 13 shots and 3 of 4 free throws to go with three rebounds, one blocked shot and an assist.
“She was able to create some space and score around the rim,” Holthaus said. “We threw a bunch of girls at her. We sat a girl in the post to try to help. She’s a really good player. I know she has a lot of (NCAA) Division I offers. There’s a reason. She’s a really talented young lady.”
Sacred Heart saw junior guard Triniti Ralston scored 10 points making 3 of 5 shots and all four free throws to go with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Seven different players scored for the Valkyries.
Sacred Heart made 21 of 41 shots for 51 percent including none of the six three-point tries and 8 of 9 free throws for 89 percent. The Valkyries outscored the Jaguars, 38-12 in the paint.
“I thought our defense was outstanding,” Moir said. “We went to the hotel this morning, went over some film from Cooper and really noticed how they wanted to control the tempo of the game. We didn’t want them to be able to do that. I thought we really did a good job of taking them out offensively what they wanted to do.”
Cooper made just 8 of 38 shots for 21 percent including just 1 of 14 from three-point land for seven percent and all 12 free throws. The Jaguars were not able to attack the paint like the first two state tournament games.
“(Sacred Heart) has a lot of length,” Holthaus said. “They’re very physical. Anytime you have a girl cutting through the middle, they’re checking. They’re very strong. We tried to post a little bit. They mix it up in the half-court where they’re switching everything. It affects the continuity of our offense. They’re tough to score against.”
The Jaguars had 14 turnovers to 11 for Sacred Heart and lost the rebounding battle just 25-22. But Sacred Heart outscored Cooper, 18-10 in points off turnovers. Sacred Heart also had 16 assists, 13 fouls, four blocked shots and six steals. Cooper had five assists, 13 fouls, one blocked shot and six steals. Senior forward/guard Josie Gilvin had five assists to lead Sacred Heart.
“When your coach is like a friend, it’s easy to listen,” Gilvin said. “They’re very wise and I really appreciate all the effort they put in.”
Sophomore guard Liz Freihofer led Cooper with 14 points making all six free throws. Junior guard/forward Whitney Lind made all six free throws on her way to eight points.
Cooper hung tough with Sacred Heart in the first quarter. Sophomore guard/forward Logan Palmer scored the game’s first three points on a three-pointer from the left corner.
After the Valkyries took the lead, Liz Freihofer made two free throws then hit a jumper at the left post to give the Jaguars a 7-6 lead with 3:20 left in the first quarter. That marked the last lead for Cooper.
For nearly the next eight minutes, Cooper would not score and Johnson took over scoring eight of her 14 first-half points during this time to give Sacred Heart a 16-7 lead. Lind made a jumper in the center to end the drought and Kay Freihofer hit a fast-break jumper from the right wing to trim the margin to 16-11 with 3:35 left in the half.
“After we got down a little bit, we just said possession by possession,” Kay Freihofer said. “When I hit that jumper, I was thinking, ‘Now we have to go back and get stops.’ That was our goal the entire time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch up. But we never stopped fighting.”
But Sacred Heart finished the quarter with a 10-0 run to go up 26-11 at halftime. Ralston and Johnson scored four points each during that Valkyrie run.
Lind started off the third quarter making two free throws to trim the Valkyrie lead to 26-13. But Cooper came no closer in the quarter trailing Sacred Heart 36-19 entering the fourth quarter.
The largest lead the Valkyries held was 47-23 in the fourth quarter. Cooper did trim to 18 at 47-29 after a Liz Freihofer jumper in the middle with less than two minutes to go. Sacred Heart converted a three-point play with 50 seconds left to make the final play.
Holthaus did manage to get the reserves in that last minute. They’ve earned some experience playing at Rupp Arena.
“We’ve continued to talk about the process,” Holthaus said. “It’s a day by day process. You try to get better. Some things don’t happen overnight. I feel like the process for us has been sped up over the last two years. The commitment level to our kids and our girls to our program is really special. It’s one of those things with those girls that are playing (junior varsity) and some girls that played freshmen, we moved them up to be able enjoy this experience because they’re a part of why we’re here. I don’t want our girls or our program to forget the value of every single person in our program and what they bring to the table. They may not be girls that play a lot of minutes. But they have a part of the locker room, the hotels, taking care of themselves and representing Cooper the right way.”
Cooper only graduates one senior in starting guard Jesse Palmer. But the Jaguars know the importance of everyone improving because a number of teams in the 9th Region also only graduate one senior including their three 33rd District rivals.
“(The run) is truly amazing,” Jesse Palmer said. “It really hasn’t even sunk in yet. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else even though we didn’t make it to the end. It was still a really cool experience for our program and our school. We got to win (the 33rd) district (tournament) for the first time the same year we won (the 9th) region for the first time then come to state at Rupp Arena.”
Cooper placed two on the all-tournament team. They are Lind and Liz Freihofer.
KHSAA Sweet 16 Girls Basketball Tournament Results at Rupp Arena:
Wednesday, March 9 First Round:
Meade County 53, Boyd County 46
Bullitt East 67, Bardstown Bethlehem 50
Southwestern 67, McCracken County 56
Franklin County 46, Henderson County 43
Thursday, March 10 First Round:
Bowling Green 58, Letcher County Central 45
Cooper 57, Pikeville 37
George Rogers Clark 42, Corbin 35
Sacred Heart 48, Anderson County 38
Friday, March 11 Quarterfinals:
Southwestern 47, Franklin County 40
Bullitt East 62, Meade County 47
Cooper 55, Bowling Green 47
Sacred Heart 59, George Rogers Clark 40
Saturday, March 12 Semifinals:
Bullitt East 66, Southwestern 42
Sacred Heart 50, Cooper 29
Saturday, March 12 Title Game:
Sacred Heart 64, Bullitt East 46