The Cooper girls basketball team makes their way to Lexington Thursday for the Mingua Beef Jerky KHSAA Sweet 16 basketball tournament.
It’s their third straight trip to the state tournament, reaching the semifinals in 2022 and bowing out in the first round in 2023.
Here’s a primer on Thursday’s game against Danville Christian, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. Thursday’s winner advance to Friday’s quarterfinals, facing the Owensboro/Henderson County winner at 8:30 p.m.
Who: Cooper (29-4) vs Danville Christian (29-2)
What: Mingua Beef Jerkey KHSAA Sweet 16 girls basketball tournament
When: Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington
How: Cooper won the 9th Region championship with victories over Bellevue (70-27), Holy Cross (42-30) and Ryle (51-26), Danville Christian won the 12th Region championship with wins over Wayne County (61-47), Rockcastle County (62-47) and West Jessamine (63-46)
Cooper: The Lady Jaguars center their success around the defense. No matter what happens offensively, the defense is going to show up. They allow 39.8 points per game and have played one of the toughest schedules in the state. They’ve held the opponent under 40 points 20 times this season and are allowing 27.6 points per game in the postseason so far. They’re senior led with four seniors in the starting lineup, all four signed to play at the next level in college, Liz Freihofer (EKU), Logan Palmer (Evansville), Maleah Alexander (Liberty) and Bella Deere (Gannon College). The fifth starter is Haylee Noel, who is drawing Division I interest and holds a couple of Division I offers. Zene Thompson is the first off the bench and can provide a scoring punch when needed. Addyson Brissey rounds out the primary rotation of seven players that have played in at least 30 games this season.
Danville Christian: Enters the tournament with the best record in the field at 29-2, however the RPI has them 12th, the opponents’ winning percentage hovering around .500. The center of attention is Grace Mbugua, the 6-foot-4 junior Liberty commit averaging 25.4 points and 15.4 rebounds per game. Both totals are top 10 in the state. The Lady Warriors lead the state in rebounding with 43.4 rebounds per game. They have three players that average double figures in scoring. They’re the 12th Region All “A” champs, winning their first round game in the All “A” Classic state tournament over Shawnee before losing to Owensboro Catholic in the quarterfinals, 79-49, Cooper defeated Owensboro Catholic at the Queen of the Commonwealth in Louisville, 68-56.
What the coaches are saying about the opponent: Cooper coach Justin Holthaus: “Grace just basically sits around the post and she’s contesting a lot of shots. That’s one of the things last year where we made an early exit against Mercy. I thought we settled for a lot of jump shots against Mercy with Leah Macy in the post for them last year. I think that’s one of the big things going into this is our shot selection and not falling in love with with shooting threes and shooting perimeter shots.”
Danville Christian coach Billy Inmon, “They’re impressive. They’re a very big team. They’ve got everybody seems like almost on their roster at least 5-11 to 6-1. I think one of the other big things is their experience. This is their third year in a row making it through the region. They’re going to present a real challenge for us, that’s for sure.”
Leading Scorers: Cooper — Logan Palmer (16.1 ppg), Liz Freihofer (12.0), Bella Deere (7.7), Haylee Noel (7.7)
Danville Christian — Grace Mbugua (25.4 ppg), Paisley Metz (12.1), Amauri Blackford (10.7), Grace Meyer (6.4), Braxtyn Heck (5.5)
Leading Rebounders: Cooper — Haylee Noel (5.6 rpg), Liz Freihofer (4.7), Logan Palmer (4.5), Bella Deere (3.3)
Danville Christian — Grace Mbugua (15.4), Amauri Blackford (9.8), Grace Meyer (5.5), Braxtyn Heck (4.2), Emily Musasi (3.7)
Field Goal Percentage: Cooper 41.6%, Danville Christian 39.9%
3-Point Percentage: Cooper 31.2%, Danville Christian 23.7%
Free Throw Percentage: Cooper 69.5%, Danville Christian 55.1%
Points Per Game: Cooper 57.5, Danville Christian 61.5
Points Allowed Per Game: Cooper 39.8, Danville Christian 40.5