Call it a battle, a war, or anything you like—Cooper vs. Covington Catholic is a 32-minute tussle.
On Wednesday, it needed 36 minutes to decide it.
Facing off against sixth-ranked Covington Catholic (per the statewide media poll), the Jaguars clawed their way to a thrilling 69-65 overtime victory over the Colonels.
“It’s good, old-fashioned Ninth Region basketball: the gym packed, high intensity, with two really, really good teams going toe to toe,” Cooper head coach Tim Sullivan said. “We’ve had some memorable nights. I think both teams bring out the best in each other. It’s always fun.”
The talent on display was undeniable. CovCath guards Athens McGillis and Cash Harney faced off against University of Illinois-Chicago commit Andy Johnson, leaving both teams with plenty to contend with.
“He’s a big time player,” Covington Catholic head coach Jake Thelen said of Johnson. “He’s a hard matchup for everybody in the region. You have to limit all of his easy buckets, whether it’s in transition or offensive rebounds because he’s a really good player.”
Johnson led the Jaguars with 26 points, while Isaac Brown and Roman Combs joined him in double figures, with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Johnson embraced the challenge of guarding McGillis, his former teammate from their younger days.
“I wanted him from the jump,” Johnson said. “That’s my boy at the end of the day, we just compete. We have been since we were 10 or 11 years old. I love competing against high-caliber guys like him.”
Harney led the Colonels with 29 points, while McGillis contributed 16.
With a hot start by Harney and an early 17-6 lead in CovCath’s favor, the Colonels appeared to be in the driver’s seat, holding a 21-12 advantage after the first quarter. It seemed they might finally snap Cooper’s three-game winning streak in the series.
But a CovCath-Cooper game was never going to be decided that easily.
The Jaguars clamped down defensively in the second quarter, holding the Colonels to just eight points and trimming the deficit to 29-27.
“Defensively, we were on our heels,” Sullivan said. “As much you you can try to talk about Athens and Cash’s speed, you have to get out there and see it. I trust this group, that we’re going out a way to fight and get back into a place where we’re in reaching distance.”
Cooper edged ahead with a 42-39 lead by the end of the third period, but the final eight minutes weren’t enough to determine a winner.
The Jaguars rallied in overtime, outscoring CovCath 15-11 to claim their third straight victory of the season.
With their win over Lloyd Memorial on January 14 added to the mix, the Jaguars (8-4) have firmly established themselves as one of northern Kentucky’s premier teams.
Next up for the Jaguars is a district matchup on the road against Boone County on Friday in Florence, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
Covington Catholic’s (14-3) schedule doesn’t get any easier as they travel to Louisville to face Trinity on Friday at 7:30 p.m. However, looking ahead, just like in the last three seasons, this may not be the last time they meet Cooper.
“I think we will see them again in the region tournament,” Thelen said. “They have a really nice team that plays extremely hard and Coach Sullivan is a really good basketball coach.”
Photo gallery below, provided by Charles Bolton:
JAGUARS 69, COLONELS 65 (OT)
COOPER — 12-15-15-12–15 — 69
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 21-8-10-15–11 — 65
Scoring
COOPER (69) — Johnson 26, Brown 15, R. Combs 12, Rodriguez 7, J. Combs 6, Knuckles 3
COVINGTON CATHOLIC (65) — Harney 29, McGillis 16, Bradshaw 8, Ruthsatz 8, Stava 4
Game Stats
Field Goals: Cooper 20/41, CovCath 26/61
3-Pointers: Cooper 1/10, CovCath 4/14
Free Throws: Cooper 28/40, CovCath 9/11
Rebounds: Cooper 35, CovCath 26
Assists: Cooper 7, CovCath 8
Turnovers: Cooper 17, CovCath 13
Records: Cooper 8-4, Covington Catholic 14-3
