Cooper boys basketball coach Tim Sullivan believes in having fun.
The Ninth Region champion Jaguars meet Second Region champion Henderson County in the UK HealthCare Boys Sweet 16® at 8:30 p.m., Thursday at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
“It’s been pretty fun,” Sullivan said Friday. “I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m always trying to have fun, but I am very intense.”
To senior and Illinois-Chicago commit Andy Johnson, it’s the leadership that stands out.
“Seniors have been great for our younger guys,” Johnson said.
Cooper (23-5) also made it to Rupp Arena in 2017, and the Jaguars seek to become the second 33rd District team to take the state since Simon Kenton (now in the Eighth Region’s 32nd District) did it in 1981.
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The 33rd District has been well-represented in Lexington. Since 1942, 10 teams have won the Ninth Region – Walton-Verona (1942), Simon Kenton (1981 and 1995), Boone County (1956, 1985, 1996 and 2012), Conner (1993), Ryle (2002), and St. Henry (2003).
Walton also won the 10th Region in 1933 before consolidating with Verona in 1935.
What is more, Cooper was 15-0 against the Ninth Region, one of the three toughest regions in Kentucky along with the Seventh and 11th.
Shaping up
Seven Jaguars – Xavier Barbour, Isaac Brown, Ryker Campbell, Jaidan Combs, Roman Combs, Drew Hartman and Cooper Czirr – were part of the football team that reached the Class 5A finals before falling to Bowling Green.
Brown said it took four or five games to round into basketball shape. As for now …
“I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve been in a while since football season,” he said.
Good thing Cooper had Johnson.
In the Jaguars’ 51-41 season-opening win on Dec. 10 over Simon Kenton, Johnson had 36 points on 15-of-22 shooting. He followed that with 30 and 14 rebounds in a 73-68 loss to South Oldham, 20 in a 67-59 win over Newport Central Catholic, 33 in a 62-49 victory over Dayton (Ohio) Northridge and 18 in a 58-43 triumph over Holy Cross.
Johnson scored 137 of Cooper’s 306 points (44.7%) in the Jaguars’ 4-1 start. He was hardly the only contributor – Roman Combs had 14 points against South Oldham and 10 against Holy Cross, and Brown added 22 points against NewCath.
A 1-3 skid followed – losses to Frederick Douglass and Woodford County, a win over Louisville Trinity and a loss at George Rogers Clark. Johnson averaged 22.7 points and six rebounds, and Roman Combs chipped in another 12.7 and 5.5.
“It was a decent stretch to figure out ourselves,” Johnson said. “It was a great period. We knew where we could compete at, we knew how we could handle ourselves through facing top 10 teams in the state … It was a good period for sure.”
Roman Combs scored 18 points against GRC, mainly from the low block; he said the setback was a highlight because he usually was a forward instead of a center.
Losing three of four games and falling to 5-4 was not the only challenge.
Sullivan was reportedly told in a Jan. 21 meeting with Cooper principal Michael Wilson that his contract will not be renewed for next year due to not addressing the culture of the program with urgency and that he should resign after the season. Sullivan later said he and Wilson haven’t spoken since, but he met with Boone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hauswald.
“It was good, it was good,” Sullivan said of the meeting. “He just wanted to hear my thoughts and anything I had. He knew I wanted to speak to him, and I really appreciated the fact that he came and sat down and listened to me.”
Cooper’s 18-1 run since – including 15-0 against Ninth Region teams – was mostly a series of runaways – 11 double-digit wins, and just two by fewer than five.
Except for winning the region, the most exciting win possibly was a 69-65 overtime triumph over Covington Catholic on Jan. 22. Johnson had 26 points, Brown had 15, and Roman Combs added 12. (Jaidan Combs grabbed nine rebounds, and Roman Combs and Chris Rodriguez had six apiece.)
The lone loss in nearly three months came on a rather mild winter day. It was around 57 degrees in Union on Feb. 8 (according to wunderground.com). Inside, however, the atmosphere was colder than the minus-22 in Havre, Montana – Walton-Verona spoiled Cooper’s Senior Night, 64-57.
Johnson scored 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but no other Jaguar managed more than eight. Cooper shot 44.8% (22-of-49) from the field, and 5-of-17 from three.
“It was rough for us,” Johnson said. “We didn’t shoot the ball great, we didn’t guard as well as we wanted to.”
You could consider the Jaguars stirred from slumber over the last eight games – a 62.6 scoring average and 43.5 allowed.
Fear the Dinosaur
Sullivan learned as much as his team – he realized methods he used in 2008 don’t automatically work in 2025. He said being more transparent with the team is helping.
“One of my biggest fears as a coach is becoming a dinosaur, that the game or the society or the kids have passed me up,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had a lot of really, really good talks in the locker rooms about how I’m trying to learn as well. But, you know, I still love to win and I’m still gonna hold you accountable. I’m still gonna coach you hard, but I’m gonna love you even harder.”
Henderson County (25-6) brings a trio of double-digit scorers: Cooper Davenport at 14.3 points, Lacon McKinney at 11.3 and Elijah Suggs at 11.0. Suggs and McKinney averaged 6.3 and 5.9 rebounds, respectively.
“They look well-coached,” Johnson said of the Colonels. “They look like they can guard a little bit. It’s gonna be a great game for sure.”
Whatever happens, Sullivan intends to enjoy the moment – and have fun.
“Every year is special for whatever reason,” Sullivan said. “Obviously this group has really come together and is doing something special. There’s definitely something special going on in our locker room right now.”