The Notre Dame Pandas employed a 3-2 zone defense and rotated well to cover the Cooper Jaguar shooters.
But as the game went on, the experience took over for the Jaguars as they pulled away for a 56-35 win.
The Jaguars (20-3) improved to 7-0 in 9th Region play and only cross-town rival Ryle has come within single digits of the Jaguars in region action.
Cooper won on its Senior Night celebrating three of them in guard Kay Freihofer, forward Whitney Lind and guard/forward Yamilet Rondon. Lind exploded for 19 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead all scorers and Freihofer finished with eight as eight different Jaguars scored.
“In that third quarter, we got it going a bit,” said Justin Holthaus, Cooper head coach. “We got some stuff in transition. We had some big shots. We were starting to get the ball inside more and kick it out, which was giving us more opportunities.”
Rondon may have seen limited action this year. But she still has a role for the Jaguars.
“That means a lot helping my teammates in practice and making memories while still being on the bench,” Rondon said. “It’s actually pretty fun. I was very nervous, didn’t start out the way I wanted to. My team came out and had my back when I needed it.”
Cooper made nine three-pointers against the extended zone. Eighth grade guard Haylee Noel scored all eight of her points in the first half including two threes to help the Cooper cause until Lind took off.
“It was my team’s all-around energy that gave me the confidence to shoot it,” Noel said. “We do a lot of shooting drills at practice. It helps us build confidence in the game.”
Notre Dame did have some success pounding the ball inside to sophomore 6-foot-4-inch center Sophia Gibson in the first half. She finished with eight points and the only Panda in double figures was senior forward Noelle Hubert with 11. The two were limited to one field goal each in the second half.
The Pandas did not have anyone score more than three points in the second half. They scored 18 in the first as the two were tied 18-18 after eight minutes of play. Notre Dame scored 17 points the rest of the contest.
The Pandas built a 22-19 lead in the second quarter behind two Gibson scores. But the Jaguars finished the half with an 8-0 run finished off by a junior guard Liz Freihofer three.
“I felt as though our kids had a good first half,” said Kes Murphy, Notre Dame head coach. “We always warn them and make sure they’re ready mentally for that third quarter. We have a hard time maintaining that intensity in the third quarter. We once again kind of crumbled a bit. We ran into a buzzsaw. Based on the way they shot the ball, there was nothing we really could have done.”
Notre Dame plays host to Conner at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Cooper plays again at St. Henry on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Girls Basketball Scores
Bellevue 49, Fairview 19
Western Hills 57, Dayton 45
Cumberland County 64, Newport 46
Newport Central Catholic 65, Beechwood 42
Ryle 65, Bishop Brossart 58
Grant County 63, Campbell County 62
Mason County 33, Scott 31
St. Henry 53, Ludlow 40
Williamstown 49, Covington Latin 7
Boys Basketball Scores
Central Hardin 77, Newport Central Catholic 61
Bourbon County 72, Bishop Brossart 63
Augusta 86, Calvary Christian 49
Covington Catholic 82, Louisville DeSales 76
George Rogers Clark 85, Scott 56
Highlands 94, Bellevue 42
Holy Cross 87, Beechwood 60
North College Hill 50, Villa Madonna 43
Simon Kenton 62, Oldham County 50
St. Henry 80, Holmes 48
Walton-Verona 96, Bracken County 85