By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
With four first-year starters in the lineup, Cooper boys basketball coach Tim Sullivan considered his team a “work in progress” coming into this season. It’s safe to say that defense is one part of the game the Jaguars have mastered pretty quickly.
Playing stifling half-court, man-to-man defense, Cooper is off to a 9-1 start and allowing just 45.3 points per game. On Saturday, the Jags shut down the state’s leading scorer on his home court to post their eighth straight win.
Cooper rolled to a 61-24 victory over Pendleton County to complete a three-game sweep in the Phil Wood Classic and took home the championship trophy.
Pendleton County senior guard Dontaie Allen had a 45.7 scoring average coming into Saturday’s game, but the University of Kentucky recruit managed to get only 10 points in the first half and sat out the entire second half with a sore knee.
“He’s a very special young man,” Sullivan said of Allen. “Obviously, our focus was to make sure we had bodies on him at all times and I thought we did a phenomenal job.”
Allen was 2-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the first half. Shortly after making his second 3-point shot, he crashed to the floor on a drive to the basket with 2:53 left in the second quarter.
A hush fell over the Pendleton County gym as trainers rushed on to the court to attend to their star player. He eventually got up and walked to the bench with a slight limp.
Allen returned to the game with 1:13 left in the first half. But Cooper had a commanding 34-13 lead at the break so the 6-foot-7 all-state player took a seat on the bench and rested his knee for the remainder of the game.
Cooper steadily pulled away in the second half and ended up shooting 43 percent (25 of 58) from the field while holding Pendleton County to 22 percent (7 of 31). Without Allen on the court, the Wildcats finished well below their 81.9 offensive average coming into the game.
“Defensively, we’re challenging our kids and letting them know that’s what we’re going to hang our hat on this year,” coach Sullivan said. “I thought for three straight days we came down here and guarded people and got after them really well.”
Cooper beat Bryan Station, 71-44, and St. Henry, 65-50, in its other two games at the Phil Wood Classic. The Jaguars are now averaging 61.5 points per game with their new starting lineup.
The team’s leading scorers in the win over Pendleton County were seniors T.J. Deere with 15 points and Blaine Walters with 11. There were eight other players in the Jags’ scoring summary with a total of 22 points coming off the bench.
“They’re a very unselfish group,” coach Sullivan said. “That’s what’s so good about coaching these guys. They don’t care who scores or who does what. They’re all about coming in and figuring out how to get a win every night.”
Walters is the only starter back from last year’s 25-6 Cooper team that lost in the 9th Region semifinals. He’s one of five seniors in this year’s starting lineup.
“Our team chemistry is unbelievable,” Walters said. “We want to be as good as last year. We have a high pedestal we want to reach so it’s pretty special.”
COOPER 17 17 14 13 — 61
PENDLETON CO. 9 4 4 7 — 24
COOPER (9-1): TJ Deere 6 1 14, Pearson 2 0 4, Baker 2 2 6, Rollins 1 3 5, Walters 5 0 11, Houston 3 0 7, Spencer 1 1 3, Jennings 1 0 2, Ollier 1 1 3, Hampton 2 0 4, J. Deere 1 0 2. Totals: 25 8 61.
PENDLETON COUNTY (9-4): Allen 2 4 10, Thomas 0 1 1, Volz 0 2 2, Booth 2 0 4, Monroe 3 0 7. Totals: 7 7 24.
Three-pointers: C — TJ Deere, Walters, Houston. PC — Allen 2, Monroe.