Cooper knew the task would be a tall one.
Great Crossing’s seven-footer and University of Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno was just too much in the Warhawks 49-36 victory over the Jaguars Friday night in Lexington at the UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 quarterfinals at Rupp Arena.
Moreno scored 13 points to go with 16 rebounds, but where his presence was most felt was with seven blocked shots on the evening and altering many others as Cooper went 14-of-48 shooting.
“You can’t mimic and you can’t show that at any level,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “If you had a week to prepare for that, I don’t know if you can really prepare for that. He’s just so long and he’s so good at his timing and he’s always roaming.”
Outside of Moreno, the Warhawks length provided the problems on the night, outrebounding the Jaguars 37-21 and earning a 19-7 advantage in second chance points. Vince Dawson was one of the other main culprits, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
Cooper was able to keep the game at arms length for the majority, trailing 12-10 after one, 22-16 at halftime and 36-28 after three. After Isaac Brown’s layup made it 36-30 with 7:03 to play, the Jaguars went on a 5:41 scoring drought, Moreno adding three more blocks to his total in that timeframe. By the time Andy Johnson broke the drought on a triple, it was 46-33 Warhawks with 1:22 to play, too late to pull off a comeback.
Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team, ending his career with a hug from Sullivan in the closing seconds of the game as he and other seniors exited the floor for the last time. It could be the last time Sullivan is on the sidelines for Cooper as well as his future is uncertain after a January 21 meeting with principal Michael Wilson where he was informed his contract would not be renewed.
“Tomorrow I’m going to wake up and I’m still the head coach at Cooper High School,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to be fine. And these guys are always going to be my my sons. I got two sons in that locker room right now, a 10-year-old and a 16-year-old, but I’ve got a whole group of other sons that are part of my family now and are their legacies on this program. The sun will rise tomorrow and we’ll figure it out.”
Johnson’s hug from Sullivan caps off his career where he was the Co-KABC 9th Region Player of the Year this season and just the third in program history to clear the 1,000-point marker.
“No matter what happens at the end of the day, we’re all family,” Johnson said. “No matter what, everywhere he goes, we’re gonna follow him. Doesn’t really matter where he’s going. If he stays, if he goes, we’re all gonna be around him.”
Brown led the Jaguars with 14 points, Johnson adding 12. Johnson and Brown will both move on to the college level, Johnson at Illinois-Chicago for basketball, Brown at Southeast Missouri State for football. They are two of a five-member senior class that also includes Jaidan Combs (headed to play football at Thomas More), Chris Rodriguez and Jordan Hampton.
They depart a four-year run in which they won 88 games, a region title, made three region championship games and won three 33rd District titles.
“It’s the second to worst day as a coach when you have to look your kids in the eyes when it’s over and you have to talk about how proud that you are the way they went out there and competed not just tonight, but the entire year,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know how many people thought we were going to be in this situation at the end, at this time of year for these kids, but what they did this year is, we talk about leaving a legacy, and the legacy they left is bigger than a state quarterfinal Sweet 16. They learned how to be men. They learned how to grow up and make decisions for themselves and stand up for what they believe in.”
It closes their season at 24-6.
Great Crossing moves on to Saturday’s semifinals to face Montgomery County, a 69-66 winner over North Laurel in Friday’s quarterfinals. That game will take place at 1:30 p.m. The first semifinal features South Oldham and Bowling Green at 11 a.m., the two other Friday quarterfinal winners.
PHOTOS: Cooper-Great Crossing Sweet 16 Quarterfinals (provided by Charles Bolton)
WARHAWKS 49, JAGUARS 36
COOPER — 12-4-12-8 — 36
GREAT CROSSING — 14-8-14-13 — 49
Scoring
Cooper (36) — Brown 14, Johnson 12, Sullivan 3, J. Combs 3, R. Combs 2, Knuckles 2
Great Crossing (49) — Dawson 20, Moreno 13, Richardson 6, Orem 4, Cooper 2, Holman 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Cooper 14/48, Great Crossing 18/44
3-Pointers: Cooper 5/18, Great Crossing 1/10
Free Throws: Cooper 3/5, Great Crossing 12/19
Rebounds: Cooper 21, Great Crossing 37
Assists: Cooper 7, Great Crossing 10
Turnovers: Cooper 6, Great Crossing 9
Steals: Cooper 3, Great Crossing 3
Blocks: Cooper 1, Great Crossing 9
Fouls: Cooper 17, Great Crossing 10
Records: Cooper 24-6, Great Crossing 33-4