About the only thing that went wrong for Haylee Noel on Wednesday night was her nose ring falling out.
Otherwise, 23 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and scoring her 1,000th career point. Most importantly, a Cooper 64-54 victory over Dixie Heights in the St. Elizabeth Healthcare 9th Region girls basketball tournament semifinals at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena.
Noel and the Jaguars are now on the brink of 9th Region history. No other team has won four straight 9th Region titles. On Friday night, they can change that.
“That’s that’s the special thing about these kids,” Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said. “They’ve always been waiting their turn behind some really talented kids and for them to kind of step out and showcase their talents, it’s been really special to watch. It all goes back to the kids and the culture that they built, the trust that they built in each other.”
A hot start is also to thank for their 11th straight 9th Region tournament victory. They were blazing the nets with 23 points in the first seven minutes of the game with five 3-pointers made and a 23-13 advantage. That eventually blossomed to a 34-15 lead after a Noel triple a couple minutes into the second.
“That was a really good start. We shared the ball very, very well,” Noel said. “We played as a team.”
The trust Noel has in her teammates is taking them a long way. As the lone returning starter, it was a process that continues to evolve. On Wednesday, it was five players with at least nine points as Addyson Brissey had 13, Brinkli Rankin tossed in 10 and Zene Thompson and Alivia Scott posted nine points apiece. The team had 15 assists on 21 made field goals.
“It has evolved with trusting them,” Noel said. “We came in with four new starters this year and that was definitely challenging at first, just knowing everybody’s role. We overcome that with practice, getting together and stuff like that. I just have to trust my teammates that they will do the right thing and be in the right spot at all times.”
But a Dixie Heights team that had won 21 games this season wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. They countered with a 12-0 run to get within seven before trailing 39-30 at the break.
“Dug ourselves out of that hole pretty well I thought,” Colonels coach Joel Steczynski said. “Switched up what we were doing defensively and probably waited a little too long to do those adjustments that we did. I probably should have done things a little differently.”
Much like Sunday’s quarterfinal against Holy Cross, Cooper never let it get any closer than seven in the second half. After the high scoring first half, the two combined for 16 points in the third, Cooper taking a 48-37 lead into the fourth.
Dixie senior Catherine Buddenberg started to develop a bit of a rhythm in the second half as she scored 11 of the Colonels first 13 points to get them within 50-43, but picked up a fourth foul early in the fourth that brought her to the bench.
Noel answered with a jumper and a free throw to get the lead back to 10, Dixie going in a scoring drought at the wrong time that lasted over four minutes as they were unable to get any closer than eight the rest of the way.
“We were right there knocking down the door, shots just didn’t fall,” Steczynski said.
Buddenberg led the Colonels with 19 points, Asia Carner adding 16. Dixie struggled to shoot it Wednesday, especially inside the 3-point line as they hit just 8-of-32 on two-pointers while going 8-of-22 on 3-pointers.
“Their interior defense was just really aggressive, physical and disciplined,” Steczynski said. “We shot better from three than two and they had a lot to do with that.”
Bella Crawford chipped in nine, Aubrey Elkins with seven points and seven rebounds. Second leading scorer Coralee Pelfrey was held scoreless as Pelfrey and Crawford struggled from the field, combining to go 1-for-20. The loss puts an end to the Colonels season at 21-9, their seventh 20-plus win season in the last eight years. They’ll graduate three seniors, all of them starters in Buddenberg, Crawford and Jordan Puitz.
Cooper will face Notre Dame in Friday’s championship, the Pandas a 52-43 winner over Highlands in Wednesday’s other semifinal. The two met once this season, a 52-49 Cooper victory on Feb. 1.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Dixie-Cooper 9th Region semifinals (provided by Charles Bolton)
JAGUARS 64, COLONELS 54
COOPER — 23-16-9-16 — 64
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 15-15-7-17 — 54
Scoring
Cooper (64) –Noel 23, Brissey 13, Rankin 10, Scott 9, Thompson 9
Dixie (54) –Buddenberg 19, Carner 16, Crawford 9, Elkins 7, Gibson 3
Game Stats
Field Goals: Dixie 16/54, Cooper 21/43
3-Pointers: Dixie 8/22, Cooper 9/20
Free Throws: Dixie 14/15, Cooper 13/17
Rebounds: Dixie 31, Cooper 31
Assists: Dixie 11, Cooper 15
Steals: Dixie 3, Cooper 6
Blocked Shots: Dixie 0, Cooper 6
Turnovers: Dixie 7, Cooper 11
Fouls: Dixie 16, Cooper 13
Records: Dixie Heights 21-9, Cooper 24-5