By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The day after Cooper won the 9th Region boys’ basketball championship game, head coach Tim Sullivan and members of his staff drove all the way to Owensboro to find out who they would be facing in the first round of their first trip to the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA state tournament.
The coaches watched Meade County defeat Daviess County, 52-50, in the 3rd Region championship game to earn the match-up with Cooper at 8 p.m. Thursday at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Meade County (13-21) has the worst record in the 16-team field for the state tournament, but most of the Green Wave’s losses came while senior center James Baker was out with an injury.
“Obviously, their record is not indicative of how good they are (after) playing with their big kid out,” Sullivan said. “The Baker kid is 6-5 or 6-6 and he can really play, and really score.”
Baker has played in 19 of his team’s 33 games and averages 16.3 points and 6.6 rebounds. Two of his teammates — junior center Aiden Matthews and junior guard Noah Schwartz — have 10-point scoring averages. In the 3rd Region final, sophomore forward Chesney Wieck got 16 points, 11 above his season average.
“Defensively, we’ve got to keep them out of the paint, especially the Baker kid,” Sullivan said. “He’s really sneaky and really good about getting into the paint, and he’s long so he can shoot over people.”
Cooper (28-4) has five guards in the starting lineup, but the team’s 49.5 defensive average ranks among the best in the state. Senior guard Dante Hendrix received a Best Defensive Player award from the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association for his role in the team’s success in that facet of the game.
Meade County is allowing 61 points per game and could have a tough time containing the Jaguars’ balanced scoring attack. Junior guard Adam Kunkel and senior guard Sean O’Neill are both averaging 16 points per game and junior Brayden Runion has a 10.3 average.
Kunkel and O’Neill were named co-winners of the 9th Region Player of the Year award by the local coaches association. They also honored Sullivan at the awards banquet by naming him 9th Region Coach of the Year for leading the Jaguars to their first appearance in the state tournament.
Sullivan said he put together a challenging schedule this season to prepare his team for a run at the state title if they did make to Rupp Arena.
“You don’t know how 16- and 17-year-olds are going to react when they get on the floor at Rupp,” the coach said. “But I think our kids understand that on offense we may struggle a little bit shooting the ball, especially early on, but as long as we’re guarding people and focusing in on that defensive end we’ll be OK.”
WHITAKER BANK/KHSAA BOYS’ STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Rupp Arena, Lexington)
WEDNESDAY — Upper bracket
Bowling Green vs. Graves County, noon
Pikeville vs. Perry County Central, 1:30 p.m.
SCOTT vs. Harlan County, 6:30 p.m.
Scott County vs. Pulaski County, 8 p.m.
THURSDAY — Lower bracket
Louisville Fern Creek vs. Hopkinsville, noon
Louisville Ballard vs. Taylor County, 1:30 p.m.
Collins vs. Elliott County, 6:30 p.m.
COOPER vs. Meade County, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
Upper bracket quarterfinal games, noon & 1:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinal games, 6:30 and 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Upper bracket semifinal game, 6:30 p.m.
Lower bracket semifinal game, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship game, 2 p.m.