The Cooper Jaguars (15-2) took their talents to Louisville for the Raatz Fence/O’Shea’s Classic at Louisville Mercy to face the Bowling Green Purples (13-8) in a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinals.
Cooper trailed 13-6 after the first quarter. But the Jaguars came back to win their 13th in a row as the dynamic 6-foot-2-inch senior forward Whitney Lind scored her 2,000th career point finishing with a team-high 15 points.
Lind is the second player in Cooper history to hit the mark. Lexi Held, a 2018 alum, tops the list with 2,430 points.
“Going up against Bowling Green was a great game. They’re a very tough team,” Lind said. “It’s an individual accomplishment I’ve always dreamed of getting. I worked toward it.”
Cooper made 37 percent of its shots including 28 from three-point range facing a 1-2-2 zone press and 67 percent of the free throws. Junior Liz Freihofer followed with 12 points and eighth grade guard Haylee Noel scored nine.
“Coming in, we knew they had a ton of strong girls so we knew we were going to have to lock down on the defensive end,” Freihofer said. “I thought we struggled some in the first quarter. But once we got up and started pressuring them, we created turnovers that led to our offense.”
Bowling Green made 37 percent of its shots including just 25 percent from three-point range and 50 percent of its free throws. The Purples had 14 turnovers to 10 for the Jaguars. Senior small forward Meadow Tisdale, a Northern Kentucky University signee, led the Purples with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds and senior guard Tanaya Bailey added 10 points. Tisdale came in averaging 12.6 per game.
“We were concerned with Tisdale because she’s kind of the face of that program,” said Justin Holthaus, Cooper head coach. “She’s really talented. In that first quarter, we played a pack line defense. That caused us some fits. Bowling Green was able to reverse the ball a bit. Tisdale is so big and strong. They were able to get her the ball in the post and get some free looks.”
Cooper faces Assumption to start the Louisville Invitational Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Walton-Verona 78, South Oldham 72
The Bearcats (8-11) snapped a four-game losing streak with the home win over the Dragons (11-7). Senior wing Grace Brewer led the way scoring 40 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for a double-double. Senior wing Jenna Rodgers followed with 12 points with senior point guard McKaila Hatton scoring nine.
Sophomore 6-2 post Braylin Terrell gave Walton-Verona some balance scoring eight points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots. The Bearcats made 53 percent from inside the arc and 33 percent outside it and hit 21 of 27 free throws for 78 percent.
Walton-Verona travels to Trimble County (8-12) on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Bishop Brossart 73, Newport Central Catholic 48
The Mustangs (16-5) won their seventh in a row with a convincing win over the Thoroughbreds (10-8).
Bishop Brossart made 64 percent of its shots including 9 of 12 from three-point range for 75 percent and 67 percent of its free throws to go with 28 rebounds. Senior guard Olivia Lloyd led the Mustangs with 20 points and sophomore guard Zoee Meyers scored 17 with senior guard Jill Planeaux scoring 15. Senior forward Molly Kramer had a team-high nine rebounds.
Newport Central Catholic made 12 of 20 free throws for 60 percent. Sophomore guard Caroline Eaglin continued to lead the Thoroughbreds with 26 points and junior guard Delaney Green scored seven.
NewCath takes on Bellevue (13-8) at home Monday at 7:30 p.m. Bishop Brossart takes on Jackson County (15-4) in the All “A” State Tournament on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Eastern Kentucky University.
Other Girls Basketball Scores
Lloyd Memorial 67, Bellevue 48
Dixie Heights 59, Ursuline Academy (Ohio) 29
Dixie Heights 70, Villa Madonna 8
Newport 1, Covington Latin 0 (forfeit)
Notre Dame 46, Akron (Ohio) Hoban 37
Louisville Mercy 81, Ryle 47
Conner 74, Campbell County 37
Boys Basketball
Cooper 60, Bracken County 43
The Jaguars had less than 24 hours to go on the road for another game after knocking off Boone County on Friday. Cooper (12-7) proved to be up to the task taking down the Polar Bears (12-9) in the Coach Lake Kelly Classic at Fleming County.
Cooper made 22 of 52 shots for 52 percent including four three-pointers and 12 of 18 free throws for 67 percent to go with 23 rebounds. Sophomore guard Andy Johnson made two triples on his way to 17 point and sophomore point guard Yamil Rondon also made two three-pointers on his way to 15 points. Johnson added six rebounds and three assists and Rondon had five assists and five rebounds.
“We all have trust in each other so if one of us is getting hot, we get the ball to each other,” Johnson said. “I think if we crash the boards and push the pace, we score. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year. If we learn each other, we’ll be fine.”
The Jaguars saw six different players score. Senior guard/forwards Nnamdi Ajaezu and Gavin Lutz scored nine each.
Cooper contained the Reed brothers in the win. Junior guard Blake Reed, a career 3,000 point scorer, scored 21 and sophomore guard Cayden Reed scored 12. They average 29.5 and 15.8 points per game respectively.
“They’re very passionate,” said Tim Sullivan, Cooper head coach. “Blake’s a very talented kid. I thought we did a really good job team defensive-wise not only trying to take away Blake, but his brother and the other guys that can play as well. I thought out team defense was really good being relentless on the ball and off the ball just making them work for everything they get. I thought our depth and our length really bothered them as the game went on.”
The Polar Bears made 40 percent of their shots including 32 percent from three-point range and 75 percent of their free throws to go with 22 rebounds. Cayden Reed had a team-high six rebounds as Bracken County dropped to 1-3 against 9th Region opponents.
Cooper plays host to Covington Catholic (16-2) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Highlands 75, Newport Central Catholic 45
The Bluebirds (15-6) dominated the Thoroughbreds (9-11) for their seventh straight win in the series making 11 three-pointers and 12 of 16 free throws for 75 percent.
Ten different Highlands players scored. Senior Will Herald led the way scoring 24 points on seven three-pointers and junior guard Nathan Vinson scored 14 with junior Brayden Moeves adding 12.
NewCath saw nine different player score making 9 of 18 free throws for 50 percent and eight three-pointers. Junior JJ Luhn led the way with 11 points.
Highlands travels to Bishop Brossart (12-6) on Monday for a non-region game at 7:30 p.m. NewCath does not play again until Jan. 31 against Beechwood at 7:30 p.m.
Other Boys Basketball Scores
Collins 58, Simon Kenton 54
Whitefield Academy 87, Covington Latin 51
Newport 69, Cincinnati (Ohio) Aiken 48
Western Hills 71, Scott 65
Portland Christian 76, Calvary Christian 42
Villa Madonna 45, Ripley-Union (Ohio) 42
Beechwood 83, Ludlow 72
Boyd County 110, Campbell County 107 (2OT)