Things were a little nervy early on, but Cooper’s relentless ball pressure ended up weighing on Danville Christian.
It didn’t come without a furious Lady Warriors rally, however.
In a game where both teams led by double figures, it was the Lady Jaguars hanging on for a 65-63 victory in the first round of the KHSAA Mingua Beef Jerky Sweet 16 girls state basketball tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
“This is March,” Cooper head coach Justin Holthaus said. “It was an emotional game, especially early. Danville Christian did a really good job of building that lead on us and then we had to kind of fight and battle back. At the end of the day, some key stops and hitting some big time free throws helped us prevail.”
The win gets them to Friday’s quarterfinals where they’ll face Henderson County at 8:30 p.m.
Remember the name Grace Mbugua, Cooper sure will. The Danville Christian 6-foot-4 junior poured in 34 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, blocked four shots and collected two steals. She nearly willed DCA to victory.
“She does everything,” Danville Christian coach Billy Inmon said. “She helps break the press, she hits threes, she gets steals, she posts up.”
Cooper (30-4) has seen some premier players all season, including players within their own region and some that are nationally ranked. What they saw from Mbugua was unlike any other.
“I thought Bella (Deere) did a good job on her not letting her get open looks, but she’s a super talent with her ability to handle the ball and her ability to stretch the floor,” Holthaus said. “Just her her ability to score around the rim. But our kids fought, got her in foul trouble a little bit early and I think that definitely helped us out.”
Mbuaga scored with variety, too. Knocking down three 3-pointers, scoring in the post and the free throw line.
The Lady Warriors (29-3) couldn’t do much wrong in the game’s first eight minutes led by Mbugua. Mbugua scored 17 of the team’s first 20 points as they built a 20-12 lead after one.
But early foul trouble put a limit on things for the talented junior.
With three fouls, Lady Warriors coach Billy Inmon decided to roll the dice and put her back in the game with four minutes left before halftime. He crapped out as Mbugua picked up a fourth foul with 3:03 left in the half.
“She’s only fouled out of one game all year and I looked at my assistant and said, ‘If we want to have a second (half), we have to put her back in now,” Inmon said. “I wanted to have a second half to play for so I rolled the dice. Not going to comment on the fourth foul, but I was very proud of her and the way she played smart after that honestly. She only fouled out of one game all year.”
Cooper had to deal with some foul trouble themselves as 26 total fouls were whistled in the first half, Liz Freihofer, Logan Palmer and Zene Thompson with three first half fouls, Bella Deere and Haylee Noel with two.
The reserves stepped up when they needed to and closed out the half strong as Addyson Brissey and Alivia Scott hit key buckets, Cooper outscoring DCA 24-13 in the second to take a 36-33 lead into halftime.
“That was huge, especially being down the first quarter and then we come out and have three fouls,” Freihofer said. “We had to adjust to the officiating, everyone from the bench came in and really stepped up.”
It looked as if Cooper’s pressure was starting to weigh on Danville Christian in the third, Cooper’s defense forcing seven turnovers as they took a 58-47 lead into the fourth. The Lady Jags forced the issue by pushing the tempo and the evidence was in the scoring, this being the second highest scoring game they’ve played in all season.
“We really wanted to try to play fast because our mindset was trying to beat them down the court because we knew what they have with the rim protector,” Holthaus said. “From what we have seen, they don’t go very deep on their bench so we thought we could wear them out. Testament to their team because they fought and they competed for 32 minutes.”
Cooper forced 22 turnovers while only committing nine, creating a 26-13 edge in points off turnovers.
The Lady Warriors made quite a run in the fourth. They opened the quarter on a 12-2 spurt to get within one on a Amauri Blackford layup, making it 60-59 with 3:27 to play.
Cooper’s stall game worked off nearly two minutes of clock before Mbugua blocked a Freihofer shot, giving DCA a chance for the lead. But Cooper got a stop, Logan Palmer securing a rebound and hitting two free throws on the other end.
DCA got within one on a layup with 29 seconds to play to make it 62-61 and Freihofer hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts on the other end. Cooper forced a turnover on the next possession, Freihofer knocking two down from the line to help secure the victory.
The win is Cooper’s 30th of the season, the most in program history after winning 29 last season. Palmer led Cooper with 15 points and collected four of the team’s 14 steals. Freihofer added 14 with five rebounds and three assists, Noel with 11 points, four assists and three rebounds while Deere finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.
JAGUARS 65, WARRIORS 63
DANVILLE CHRISTIAN –20-13-14-16 — 63
COOPER — 12-24-22-7 — 65
Scoring
Danville Christian (63) — Mbugua 34, Metz 8, Meyer 6, Heck 6, Musasi 6, Blackford 3
Cooper (65) — Palmer 15, Freihofer 14, Noel 11, Deere 10, Brissey 6, Thompson 5, Alexander 2, Scott 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Danville Christian 20/37, Cooper 21/54
3-Pointers: Danville Christian 7/14, Cooper 4/10
Free Throws: Danville Christian 16/26, Cooper 19/26
Rebounds: Danville Christian 32, Cooper 23
Assists: Danville Christian 12, Cooper 13
Turnovers: Danville Christian 22, Cooper 9
Steals: Danville Christian 4, Cooper 14
Blocks: Danville Christian 6, Cooper 3
Fouls: Danville Christian 20, Cooper 19
Records: Danville Christian 29-3, Cooper 30-4