Less than a minute into Tuesday’s 9th Region boys basketball championship game between Cooper and Newport, things got rather quiet.
Newport’s Taylen Kinney was down on the floor after a slip and unable to get up. He was unable to walk off on his own power and had to be helped off the court.
TheWildcats then rallied for their injured teammate and leading scorer to win back-to-back 9th Region titles, 46-39.
“We always say you need eight guys to make a run,” Wildcats coach Rod Snapp said. “When Kinney went down, guys had to pick up bigger roles. Our two seniors were fantastic. These guys all trust each other. “
With two teams that buy in and defend at a high level, nothing came easy at Northern Kentucky’s Truist Arena in front of a raucous crowd. It was one of those street ball games with the chained nets and double rims. You better have brought your hard hat with you too while you were in the paint. No blood, no foul.
The last five times these teams have played, no one has got into the 50’s, Tuesday being no different.
After Kinney’s injury in his hamstring, the Wildcats rallied to open on a 10-2 run five minutes into the game.
“Tay’s worked so hard, we wanted to get it done for him,” Wildcats senior Jabari Covington said. “It sucks, but we had to step up and do what we had to do to get the win for our brother.”
Cooper went over six minutes without a point, Isaac Brown’s 3-pointer ending the drought helping get Cooper within 12-7 after a quarter of play.
A Covington layup opened the second, then it was Cooper’s turn to rally, scoring the next 10 points as they took a 17-14 lead that turned into a 19-18 advantage at halftime.
“I thought when Tay went down it kind of changed the mood in the gym,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “It was really weird. I thought we may have looked at it differently where all the sudden the focus isn’t taking Tay away, it’s more a team defense. We grinded through that first half and took a lead at half.”
But then Newport continued to show their poise behind senior backcourt members Deshaun Jackson and Covington. They helped control possessions for minutes at a time in the third quarter as they outscored the Jaguars 13-2 and took a 31-21 lead into the fourth. The two combined for eight of the 13 points in the quarter.
“It was scary seeing Tay go out the first minute,” Jackson said. “We knew us two seniors had to step our game up and lead us to a win.”
On the other side, Cooper had come too far and fought through too many injury problems themselves this season to lay down for the final eight minutes. Yamil Rondon came into the game with a shoulder injury suffered in the fourth quarter of their region semifinal matchup on Sunday with Covington Catholic, but battled through.
The Jaguars would open the fourth with a Shaun Pouncy 3-point play followed by an Andy Johnson triple to get them within 33-27.
A Rondon triple, Johnson jumper followed by a Johnson three from deep got them within 39-35 with under three minutes to play.
Tanner Murphy’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds to go suddenly made it a 40-38 game. The Jaguars then forced a turnover with a chance to tie or take the lead.
Rondon was unable to get a contested layup to fall, Newport freshman Griffin Starks converting a 3-point play on the other end with 33 seconds to play, virtually sealing the Wildcats deal to return to Rupp Arena for the state tournament. With Rupp seconds away, the sea of red erupted.
“Gave me chills,” Starks said. “Love this sport, couldn’t live without it. Great envrionment.”
Starks added three blocked shots on the defensive end as he and James Turner helped contain Shaun Pouncy to 11 points. Turner took just one shot on the offensive end and finished with four points, but snagged five three rebounds and added three steals.
Covington was named tournament MVP, finishing with 15 points to go with three rebounds and three assists. Amontae Lowe added six points off the bench, four of them coming towards the end of the first half to keep Newport within one.
“Just came down to guard play and decision making there at the end,” Snapp said. “Felt like our bigs did a great job walling up, being tough and getting their hands on rebounds.”
Jackson tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds. They’ll face Campbell County in the first round of the state tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington on Thursday, March 20 at 8:30 p.m.
Cooper’s season comes to a close in the same spot they finished last year, region runner-up. They finish with a 24-9 record.
“Like I just told Austin Alexander, the Lord never gives you anything that you can’t handle,” Sullivan said. “Having these kids that continue to grow and continue to give, being selfless and not asking for things in return and being a good dude on and off the court, that’s what we have in our locker room and something I’m so proud of.”
The Jaguars started four juniors on Tuesday to go with senior Shaun Pouncy. Evan Blackburn and Tanner Murphy were part of the three-member senior class for the Jaguars. Pouncy finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. Blackburn and Murphy both hit key 3-pointers. Andy Johnson led the way with 12 points.
With what both teams have returning, a Part III could very well take place next season.
The region title was Newport’s 14th in program history.
WILDCATS 46, JAGUARS 39
COOPER — 7-12-2-18 — 39
NEWPORT — 12-6-13-15 — 46
Scoring
Cooper (39) — Johnson 12, Pouncy 11, Brown 5, Blackburn 3, Rondon 3, Murphy 3, Combs 2
Newport (46) — Covington 15, Jackson 14, Lowe 6, Starks 5, Turner 4, Anderson 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Cooper 14/44, Newport 16/33
3-Pointers: Cooper 6/18, Newport 2/6
Free Throws: Cooper 5/11, Newport 12/16
Rebounds: Cooper 25, Newport 27
Assists: Cooper 9, Newport 5
Turnovers: Cooper 7, Newport 8
Steals: Cooper 1, Newport 6
Blocks: Cooper 3, Newport 6
Fouls: Cooper 16, Newport 10
Records: Cooper 24-9, Newport 32-3