The Cooper Jaguars girls golf team three-peated as 7th Region champions in a huge way.
They shot a school-record 304 in the tournament that took place at the Pioneer Golf Course in Independence. Cooper had shot 305 on Sunday in the Kentucky Golf Coaches Association All-State Tournament.
“It’s been quite a good few days,” said Joe Deters, Cooper head coach. “You want to step up when it counts, which is the post-season. We did that.”
Deters said the par 71 course is easy to get around. He said the back nine holes are longer than the front nine. Deters described it as a fair course but it makes golfers work for good scores.
Cooper took the top three spots on its way to the crown. Sophomore Reagan Ramage led the way shooting two-under 69 and junior Eva Maley shot even 71. Junior Kendall Brissey shot 79 for third.
Senior Skylar Anderson rounded out the scoring shooting 85. Junior Ava Finke shot an 88 for the other score. Anderson said golf is about developing strong connections with her teammates.
“A lot of times we will meet up before tournaments after Coach (Deters) would give us his little spiel or whatever he needs to tell us and we would all kind of talk about what we wanted our day to look like, the kind of numbers we want to see,” Anderson said. “We always try to hype each other up. One of our teammates was not happy with how she played. We just tried to cheer her up.”
Notre Dame shot 346 to take second place. Senior Natalie Lovell took fourth overall shooting 79 and senior Sammi Flowers shot 80 good for fifth. Sophomore Didi Jiradamkerng shot 81 to take seventh overall with sophomore Leah Hickey shooting 106 to round out the score. Freshman Riley Pope shot 118.
Over in the 8th Region, Bishop Brossart took third place just missing out on the state tournament first round as a team shooting 386. But sophomore Emma Laker qualified for state shooting 80.
The state tournament first round site for the four area qualifying teams plus individuals is Heritage Hill Golf Course in Shepherdsville against teams from the fifth and sixth regions on Tuesday. Tee time is 8 a.m. The top three teams from each semi-state plus 15 individuals from the other squads advance to the final state round at the Bowling Green Country Club.
Other State First Round Qualifiers from Region 7: Ryle – Freshman Anika Okuda (81). St. Henry – Freshman Lexi McMillan (84), junior Brooklyn Callioni (88), sophomore Carly Apgar (89), junior Molly Brue (96). Simon Kenton – Sophomore Jenna Day (87). Dixie Heights – Sophomore Addyson St. John (92). Beechwood – Freshman Ellie Stamm (93). Walton-Verona – Senior Natalie Hall (95). Conner – Seventh grader Sofia Seals (96).
Other State First Round Qualifiers from Region 8: Highlands – Sophomore Jenna Richey (90). Bishop Brossart – Junior Bailey Ritter (98). Campbell County – Junior Allison Collins (98).
Boys Soccer
Ryle 2, Cooper 1
The game had to go to kicks from the mark to determine who earned the inside track to the top seed in the 33rd District Tournament in a few weeks at Boone County. But Ryle (8-3-2) came through winning them 5-4 to hand the Jaguars (9-1-3) their first loss this year.
Ryle wore shirts honoring the late Lance Paul. The 2020 Ryle graduate passed away suddenly one year ago.
Cooper has outscored opponents, 39-13 this season shutting out four of them. The Raiders have outscored opponents, 36-16.
“I’m really proud of our kids for keeping composed for 80 minutes,” said Stephen Collins, Ryle head coach. “We’ve had several games where we’ve come from behind down a goal or two.”
Senior defender Aidan Byrd, senior Shoopa Snowden and freshman Brice Denigan scored their kicks for Ryle and Cooper senior midfielder Taylor Moore, senior Maison Canfield and senior forward Alex Morris scored their kicks.
But Ryle senior goalkeeper Landon Barth came through on the fourth round blocking Cooper junior Landon Hughes after the fourth Ryle shot sailed high. On the sixth round, he blocked junior defender Angel Ramirez after Ryle junior defender Anes Smajlovic scored.
“I did it in honor of Lance Paul,” Barth said. “I told the guys I trust them. I got them as long as they bury their (shots). I went there and did what I could do. The guys in the actual game. I’m so proud of them because we dug that one out.”
The teams sent the kicks from the mark to an additional round after tying 4-4 after the best-of-five. Junior midfielder Diego Hoenderkamp made his attempt for Ryle and senior forward Adam Morris made his shot.
“You just have to pick a spot to shoot at and stick with it,” Hoenderkamp said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s going to go in. That’s what I did.”
Cooper outshot Ryle, 13-9. Adam Morris scored his 15th goal six minutes into the second half to put the Jaguars up 1-0. But freshman Marcos Hoenderkamp scored with 19:20 for his second goal of the season.
“I don’t know what happened before the ball came to me,” Marcos Honderkamp said. “I just had my chance and took the shot. It ran into the corner.”
Ryle plays host to Conner (8-3-3) on Thursday at 8 p.m. Cooper plays host to Grant County (10-3-1) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Dixie Heights 2, Conner 1
The red Colonels (12-2-1) ventured to Park Hills and edged the blue Colonels (6-9) in 9th Region play.
“We played pretty well,” said Trey Crone, Dixie Heights Head Coach. “We came out a little sloppy. But we settled down. We got two goals early and we were able to defend from there. Our defense stayed super organized. It was a good win.”
Senior Bennett Gerak and freshman Trevor Bolte scored the goals for Dixie Heights. Senior Ryder Kennedy had an assist. Senior Braden Blackburn had three saves for the Colonels.
Dixie Heights plays host to Highlands (9-4-2) on Thursday at 8 p.m. CovCath plays host to Boone County (5-8) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Highlands 5, Simon Kenton 3
The Bluebirds (9-4-2) knocked off the Pioneers (6-7-2) in non-district play for their fifth straight win.
Seniors Colin Pieper and junior Jack Haggard had one goal and one assist each for Highlands. Seniors Casey Stiles, Jack Lavin and Peyton Helminiak had the other goals and junior midfielder Chad Gesenhues. Junior goalkeeper Jack Wilson had three saves.
Junior Dominick Dornbusch had a goal and assist with senior CJ Neidenbach and junior Draven Dean scoring the other two Pioneer goals. Sophomore defender Cole Garnett had an assist with junior goalkeeper Owen Thoerner making 10 saves.
Highlands travels to Dixie Heights (12-2-1) for an 8 p.m. game Thursday. Simon Kenton plays host to CovCath (6-9) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Other Boys Soccer Scores
Campbell County 10, Calvary Christian 0
Conner 0, Holy Cross 0
Beechwood 1, Grant County 0
Sayre 7, Covington Latin 0
Boone County 7, Scott 2
Walton-Verona 2, Villa Madonna 1
Volleyball
Cooper 3, Conner 2
The two 33rd District rivals will meet again in a few weeks on the opposite floor for the right to move on to the 9th Region Tournament at Newport.
But they both learned how much each play will count in that game when they showcased another battle at Cooper in a battle for seeding play. Cooper (13-3) outlasted Conner (10-6), 15-8 in the decisive fifth game to pull out the win and earn the second seed in 33rd District Tournament.
“It helps us every time they push through,” Cooper Head Coach Michelle Isaac said of the battle. “It helps them overcome some adversity. It just builds their character. It is that time of year when you have people trying to get some rest and you have school starting back. You’re at that midway point where you have to tell them to start taking care of their bodies and be smart about what you’re doing. Conner wasn’t going to lay down. We have to get it over in three and not play around.”
Cooper won the first two games 25-17, 25-20 before Conner won the next two 25-22, 25-23. But the Jaguars would not let this one slip away unlike a week ago when they lost 3-2 after winning the first two games against Ryle.
“We just worked really hard. We didn’t want to feel the same way we did playing against Ryle,” said Ryle Kuehn, Cooper senior defensive specialist. “We just dug deep, pushed through and we got the win.”
Cooper had 42 kills, 39 assists, 52 digs, 16 aces and 10 blocks. Senior libero Chloe Fortner had 25 digs and seven aces and junior Sadie Smith had 37 assists for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars had a number of players involved on the attack. Senior Holland Morris had 17 kills and two blocks with senior Rylie Depue recording 11 kills and two blocks. Junior Abby Kniffin had four kills and five blocks with sophomore Audrey Schilling tallying eight kills and 13 digs.
“It’s important to keep playing together and we know that no matter what, we always have each others’ backs,” Schilling said. “For the districts, they’re going to come out with a lot of fire. But we have to want it more like we did (Tuesday) so we come out stronger.”
Conner unofficially had 51 kills, 43 assists, four blocks, 54 digs and 15 aces. Junior libero Anna Hamilton had 25 digs and four aces with junior setter Aubrey Depenbrock recording 30 assists. Junior power hitters Lilly Hamburg and Peyton Walker had 20 and 16 kills respectively. Junior Carly Nehus had nine kills.
“They’re a good team and we’re a good team,” said Douglas Rabe, Conner Head Coach. “I think it will probably go five again. That’s what it did last year. It does not matter if we’re down six or up six, our girls play every single point. Playing down doesn’t seem to bother us. It’s all about trying to get the momentum back on our side of the court. We know that we can make nice runs even if it’s a two for one or three for one. We’re good to go.”
Conner plays host to Calvary Christian (11-7) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Cooper plays in the Kentucky Challenge on Friday at Dunbar against Tates Creek at 5:30 p.m. and South Warren at 7:30 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
Calvary Christian 2 (25-13, 25-15), Bellevue 0
Grant County 3 (14-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-14), Walton-Verona 1
Bishop Brossart 2 (25-15, 25-18), Harrison County 0
Dayton 2 (25-17, 22-25, 29-27), Heritage Academy 1
Notre Dame 3 (25-15, 25-8, 25-14), Dixie Heights 0
Pendleton County 2 (25-20, 25-17), Newport 0
Ryle 3 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16), Highlands 0
Beechwood 3 (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-18), Scott 1
Simon Kenton 3 (25-7, 25-11, 25-16), Campbell County 0
Villa Madonna 2 (25-12, 25-5), Ludlow 0