Cooper Jaguars head coach Tim Sullivan calls every game in the 33rd District dog fights.
His second-seeded Jaguars (15-12) and the top-seeded Conner Cougars (19-7) survived the semifinal games and will play for the district championship back at Cooper for the fourth time in the past five years on Friday at 7 p.m.
Conner has won the last three district championships.
Cooper downed the third-seeded Boone County Rebels (5-20), 58-40 to make it back to the district title game. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association just declared standout forward Shaun Pouncy, who played for the Rebels last year, eligible and he made a huge difference scoring 22 points for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars saw six different players score. Sophomore point guard Yamil Rondon added 13.
Boone County also saw six different players score. Junior guard Thomas Williams led the Rebels with 13 points and senior forward Will Raleigh scored 10.
Conner 75, Ryle 53
Top-seeded Conner (19-7) downed the fourth-seeded Ryle Raiders (10-18), 75-53. The four Cougar senior guards scored all but one point. Dalton Kramer led the way scoring 21 and Daniel Campbell added 20. Landen Hamilton scored 18 with Ayden Lohr scoring 15.
The Raiders saw eight different players score. Sophomore Landon Lorms led the way with 17 points and junior Logan Verax scored 10.
Cooper last won the district championship in 2019 in what was the final of three straight. Ryle won its last district crown in 2014 and Boone County last won it in 2009.
34th District Semifinals
St. Henry 57, Dixie Heights 53
The host Crusaders (14-12) had to fend off the determined Colonels (7-18), who did not want to see their string of 22 straight 9th Region appearances snapped without a fight.
St. Henry made four three-pointers and 9-of-20 free throws. Senior guard Jack Grayson led the Crusaders with 23 points and senior Matt Resing scored 15.
Dixie Heights made five three-pointers and 10-of-12 free throws. Junior Hudson Blank led the Colonels with 14 points with senior Jacob Bock and junior Jaxson Gray contributing 11 and 10, respectively.
Lloyd Memorial 73, Villa Madonna 31
The top-seeded Juggernauts (17-9) handled the Vikings (10-20) to make it back to the district championship for the second straight year. They take on host St. Henry at 6 p.m. Friday.
Fourteen different Juggernauts scored. Sophomore forward EJ Walker led the way with 20 points and freshman forward Anthony Blaackar scored 15.
Villa Madonna saw just four players score. Junior Henry Thole led the Vikings with 14 points.
Highlands 81, Newport Central Catholic 61
36th District Semifinals
The host Bluebirds (23-8) knocked off the Thoroughbreds (11-19) for the seventh meeting in a row to make it back to the district championship game for the fifth straight year.
Highlands made just one three-pointer in this game, but did hit 38-of-46 free throws. Junior guard Nathan Vinson hit 20-of-23 free throws on his way to 28 points and senior guard Seth Ryan scored 22. Senior guard Will Herald added 15.
NewCath made seven three-pointers and 12-of-16 free throws. Sophomore Ian Mann led the Thoroughbreds with 21 points and junior JJ Luhn scored 14. The Thoroughbreds last made it to the 9th Region Tournament in 2018.
Newport 79, Bellevue 42
The Wildcats (24-6) won their eighth straight game dominating the Tigers (13-16) to advance to the district championship game for the ninth year in a row. The Wildcats and Bluebirds square off at 7 p.m. Friday.
Senior forward Marquez Miller led the Wildcats with 17 points. Sophomore guard/forward Noah Silverton added 15 as 11 different Wildcats scored.
Bellevue saw seven different players score. Junior guard Noah Frommeyer led the Tigers with 11 points and sophomore guard Zach Mertens scored 10.