Justin Holthaus talked with a fellow 9th Region coach about a reality check earlier in the week.
But the head coach of the Cooper Jaguars girls basketball team smiled with his assistants at the one they saw on their home floor. The Jaguars (2-0) showed they can not only knock off perennial state contenders with their disciplined, hard-nosed defense, but do so convincingly in their 67-36 victory over the Mount Notre Dame Cougars (4-1).
“It doesn’t matter who they have in their lineup. They’re going to be solid physically,” Holthaus said. “We knew coming in it was going to be a dogfight. In that first half, I felt like we had a lot of open looks. They weren’t falling. I thought we guarded well enough. I told the girls we’re getting open looks. The statistics will fall in place and we’ll get some shots to fall. I thought we were more aggressive going downhill and getting to the rim.”
Mount Notre Dame came into the game having lost just one game in its last 103, winning the Ohio Division I state championship in 2021 and 2019. The Mason Comets ended their 98-game winning streak last year with a 43-41 win in the region championship. The Cougars graduated five players off that 26-1 squad including Notre Dame signee KK Bransford.
Cooper had its struggles in the first half trailing 20-14 with 2:09 left in the half. But eighth grader guard Haylee Noel and junior forward Logan Palmer hit consecutive three-pointers to tie the game at 20 at halftime.
“Even if we know the post is going to be open or the shot is going to be there, we have to get it moved around a couple times,” Palmer said. “We can’t force it. It’s about trust. If I don’t have my shot, my teammate is in my corner and she’s going to help me.”
Senior forward Whitney Lind hit a free throw with 45 seconds into the second half and the Jaguars never gave up the lead. Up 27-24, the Jaguars used a 9-0 run to go up 36-24 extending it to 14 three times before entering the fourth quarter up 43-31.
Cooper kept adding to the lead in the fourth. The second half went so well that Lind tried to put up a shot with her knees on the ground and drew a foul.
“We came into the locker room and just decided we needed to be more connected,” Lind said. “We just didn’t come out clean. We were sloppy and turning it over. Matching their physicality made it much better for us in the second half.”
Lind finished with 15 points as the Jaguars found the holes in Mount Notre Dame’s 2-3 zone defense. Palmer led the Jaguars with 16 points and junior guard Liz Freihofer and senior guard Kay Freihofer added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Cougars had six different player score. Junior center Laila Harrison and senior guard Taylor Stanley came into the game leading the Cougars averaging 11.3 and 10 points per game. Stanley hit her average making two threes in the first half. But Cooper held Harrison to just eight points.
Cooper takes on the defending state champion Louisville Sacred Heart Valkyries (3-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Basketball, Girls
Highlands wins Donna Murphy Classic
The Bluebirds (3-1) won both games Saturday at Newport to take the Donna Murphy Classic.
It started with a convincing 67-55 win over Walton-Verona. The balanced Bluebirds put four players in double figures. Sophomore guard Adrienne Harris and freshman guard Kaylee Mills scored 16 points each. Freshman guard and the tournament’s most valuable player in Saylor Macke scored 12 and senior point guard Alyssa Harris scored 10.
“The Walton game was our best game of the tournament,” Macke said. “We came together better as a team. We knew our effort was not great against Dixie Heights (in a loss Tuesday).”
Highlands knocked down nine 3-pointers and made 20 free throws to go with 26 rebounds. Adrienne Harris led the Bluebirds with six rebounds.
Highlands held Walton-Verona senior wing Grace Brewer to 10 points. Sophomore guard Cam Christy tried to pick up the slack scoring 21 points.
“We told the girls going in they’re really good shooters so we didn’t want to help in,” said Jaime Walz-Richey, Highlands head coach. “We weren’t going to double. If they were going to score, we wanted them to take the ball to the basket. But we did not want them to put up threes. We did that for the most part. They did hit six. But not as bad as it could have been. I’m really proud of how the girls adapted to the game plan.”
Highlands knocked off Augusta, 72-46 to win the tournament championship making an astounding 14 3-pointers. Macke made six triples on her way to 24 points with freshman guard Kaylee Mills and Alyssa Harris scoring nine and eight points, respectively.
Walton-Verona travels to Campbell County (2-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Bluebirds take on Holy Cross (3-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Ryle 68, West Jessamine 41
The Raiders (2-1) finished the week strong with a convincing win over the Colts (1-1) in the Hoops for Harvest Classic at Dixie Heights. Ryle led 34-15 at halftime and 50-26 entering the fourth quarter.
“They responded the way that we were hoping they would in the sense of owning it,” said Katie Haitz, Ryle head coach. “In the game of basketball, there are going to be errors from both sides. But the other part of it is the even scoring. We had multiple kids make outside shots. We constantly remind them those are the things that we want. Credit our defense. Everyone is starting to realize what they need to do and how we need to play on a regular basis.”
Ryle had three different players in double figures making seven three-pointers. Senior guard Abby Holtman made four three-pointers on her way to 16 points with junior forward Quinn Eubank and junior center Sarah Baker scoring 12 each. Junior guard Gracie Carrigan added eight.
“I think after the loss to (Simon Kenton on Wednesday), we were all just really upset about it so we just came together and decided we were going to start playing as a team,” Holtman said. “We were going to move the ball because every one of us can score. We have a really talented group of girls. That’s what we accomplished these last two games.”
Ryle travels to George Rogers Clark (2-1) on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Dixie Heights 74, South Laurel 63
The host Colonels (2-1) grabbed the lead for good at 7-5 in the middle of the first quarter when Sammy Berman made a three-pointer.
The Cardinals (1-2) made their runs. But the Colonels made the plays when needed against the trapping 2-3 defense.
“We knew coming into this game we would not be running a whole lot of our typical offense so our focus going into this game was knowing we were going to get a run and jump (defense) from the moment the game started to the moment the game ended,” said Joel Steczynski, Dixie Heights head coach. “I think our girls did a really good job understanding where the pressure was coming from and getting rid of the ball before they were in that trap situation. We saw a little bit of that with Cooper. But (the Jaguars) were doing more of that with their halfcourt defense. Their defense was about as strong as we’re going to see. That’s something we’re going to need to continue to do moving forward.”
In particular, freshman guard Coralee Pelfrey earned some key putbacks scoring 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Senior guard Ella Steczynski had a double-double of 19 points and 10 steals. Berman and senior guard Reese Smith followed with 15 and 13 points respectively.
“We’ve been working really hard on that in practice,” Pelfrey said. “We’ve been doing rebounding drills. Coach Joel always tells us to want the ball more than anybody else on the court. I feel that really played into this game.”
Dixie Heights plays host to Holy Cross (3-0) on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game.
Other Girls Basketball Scores
Bishop Brossart 86, Ludlow 20
Beechwood 60, Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 17
Dayton 57, Covington Latin 11
Lloyd Memorial 62, Harrison County 37
Holy Cross 59, Lexington Catholic 37
Lewis County 46, Scott 44
Mason County 45, St. Henry 40
Notre Dame 47, Mercy McAuley (Ohio) 42
Paris 72, Holmes 11
Boys Basketball Scores
Newport 72, Augusta 57
Tates Creek 61, Boone County 57
Covington Catholic 87, Lexington Dunbar 58
Foundation Christian Academy 58, Covington Latin 44
Bishop Brossart 90, Ludlow 81
Newport Central Catholic 70, St. Henry 57
