The Cooper Jaguars deflected the game’s final attempted pass making sure their cross-town rival Ryle Raiders did not have the chance to tie the game with 1.3 seconds left.
Cooper (9-6, 1-1) earned the needed 33rd District seed win over the Ryle Raiders (5-8, 0-2), 51-48. Cooper will take on Boone County for the second seed in Florence on Jan. 20 and Ryle will be the fourth seed in the district tournament that will take place at Cooper.
“They came in and punched our kids in the mouth with haymaker after haymaker and it wasn’t a night that we had it going,” said Tim Sullivan, Cooper head coach. “I’m throwing some guys who don’t get to play a lot in a 33rd District seed game. They inched back and we sat down and started guarding better. It wasn’t about the x’s and o’s. It was about the mindset of next play. We understand we’re going to take everyone’s best shot. We talk about each day about playing for 32 minutes and our kids are starting to figure that out.”
Cooper needed some help from the bench as Ryle built a 15-point lead in the first half making 13-of-17 free throws. Senior Trevor Ollier and sophomore point guard Yamil Rondon led the Jaguars scoring 19 and 13 points, respectively.
“We always come with confidence,” Ollier said. “We always have guys in our corner. We had a good week of practice and it led up to this big game. It meant a lot.”
But junior guard Evan Blackburn made a critical basket and two free throws to help Cooper trim the lead to 31-21 at halftime. Then junior Tanner Murphy made two critical three-pointers. His first one tied the game at 33 and his second one gave the Jaguars a 40-33 advantage before Ryle trimmed it to 40-36 at the end of three, holding the Raiders to five points in the frame and outscoring them 19-5.
“Our coach always tells us to be ready,” Murphy said. “All of us just go in with energy. We worked on practice focusing in on every guy being ready to look and see where the open guy is. I went in and knocked down the shots my teammates set up for me.”
Cooper saw a number of players do little things in that third quarter. Sophomores Isaac Brown and Austin Alexander even came in to score one bucket each and help against Ryle’s mixture of defenses including the 2-3, 1-3-1 and 1-1-3 zone defenses.
Ryle cut the lead to one three times in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders could not get over the hump. Junior Logan Verax led the Raiders with 15 points and sophomore Landon Lorms scored 13.
“Our kids are going out there and executing our game plan,” said Nick Dorning, Ryle head coach. “We gave ourselves a chance. That’s all you can ask for.”
Cooper led 50-47 after sophomore Andy Johnson scored. But a jump ball occurred after a Ryle miss and Cooper missed the front end of a one-and-one. Cooper elected to foul senior Landen Reed with 3.5 seconds left and he made the first free throw, but not the second one. Murphy made one of two free throws at the other end to make the final score.
“It’s a feel,” Sullivan said. “We do practice it so we understand. The percentages are if you foul, you give yourself a higher chance to win because now, they have to miss a free throw and you have to make them. Now, we didn’t make all our free throws. But we were still able to win.”
Ryle plays host to Walton-Verona (11-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Cooper plays host to Beechwood at 5:30 p.m.
Scott 71, Lloyd Memorial 62
The Eagles (6-11) won their third in a row with a home win over the Juggernauts (7-6).
Scott had five players score in double figures making 19 of 23 free throws and five three-pointers. Junior center Carter Eten led the way with 18 and junior forward Connor Griffin scored 13. Junior guard Dylan Giffen and junior point guard Jon Evans scored 12 each with senior guard Brayden Howell scoring 11.
“It’s a typical Scott High team. The December schedule is usually pretty tough,” said Steve Fromeyer, Scott head coach. “We get the football kids late. It takes time to gel. Our motto is we want to be better in January. We want to be the best version of ourselves in February and March. They’re practicing as hard as they’ve ever practiced. They’re great teammates. They love being with each other. It makes my job a lot easier.”
Lloyd Memorial made 15-of-20 free throws and four three-pointers. Senior guard Jeremiah Israel led Lloyd with 21 points and sophomore forward EJ Walker scored 17.
Scott plays host to Dayton (6-10) at 4:45 p.m. Saturday. Lloyd Memorial plays at Newport Central Catholic (9-8) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Conner 73, Boone County 58
The Cougars (11-4) clinched the top seed in the 33rd District Tournament with the win over the Rebels (1-11).
The Cougars saw five players score in double figures. Senior guard Landen Hamilton scored 16 points to lead the way. Senior guard Daniel Campbell scored 14. Senior guards Ayden Lohr and Dalton Kramer scored 13 and 12 respectively with senior center Grant Reece scoring 10.
Boone County had three players in double figures. Junior Maddox Jones led the way with 24 points. Junior guard Thomas Williams scored 15 and senior forward Will Raleigh scored 12.
Conner plays Hamilton (Ohio) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Scott. Boone County plays at Beechwood (5-10) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Boys Basketball Scores
Campbell County 73, Harrison County 48
Highlands 72, Dixie Heights 58