By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
In their first games after Christmas, the Cooper girls basketball team continued an impressive winning streak and the boys team won a holiday tournament game in exciting fashion on Wednesday.
The Cooper girls defeated Ashland Blazer, 64-47, in a home game to post their seventh straight win and they’ve all been by double-digit margins. It also gave the Jaguars a 6-1 record against teams ranked among the top 25 in the state in one preseason coaches poll.
Cooper (10-3) had four double-figure scorers. The leaders were senior forwards Logan Palmer and Bella Deere with 18 points each. Freshman guard Haylee Noel scored 11 points and so did senior guard Liz Freihofer, who also had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Ashland (5-4) finished with its lowest point total in nine games.
Entering the season ranked No. 4 in the state, Cooper’s girls lost to top-ranked Louisville Sacred Heart in early December. But they have won games against No. 5 McCracken County, No. 8 Owensboro Catholic, No. 9 Louisville Butler, No. 13 Ashland Blazer, No. 14 Meade County and No. 23 Russell.
The Jaguars, who won the girls 9th Region championship the last two years, will play a home game against No. 20 Boyd County at 1 p.m. Thursday and visit Dixie Heights at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
An off-balance basket by junior point guard Yamil Rondon in the closing seconds gave the Cooper boys team a 65-64 win over Madison Southern in the opening round of the WGM Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic on Wednesday.
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Rondon was fouled while putting up an awkward shot from the right side of the 3-point arch. The ball went into the basket and he converted a free throw for a four-point play that put the Jaguars ahead, 65-64, with 18 seconds left. That turned out to be the final score.
Rondon finished with 22 points and five assists. His senior teammate Shaun Pouncy posted his third double-double in four games with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Jaguars got off to a 4-3 start while Pouncy was waiting for doctors to give him permission to play after undergoing knee surgery last spring. Since his return, the 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward has averaged 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds in four games and his team won three of them.
Cooper (7-4) will play Woodford County (8-1) in a quarterfinal game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Lexington Catholic. The final rounds of the double-elimination tournament are set for Friday and Saturday.
Kinney gets scholarship offer from nationally ranked college team
Newport sophomore point guard Taylen Kinney received a scholarship offer from the University of Tennessee’s nationally ranked basketball team following his impressive performance in the King of the Bluegrass holiday tournament last week.
In four games, Kinney scored 91 points for a 22.9 average and pulled down 17 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. He shot 50 percent (31 of 62) from the field, 42 percent (11 of 26) from 3-point range and 86 percent (18 of 21) at the line.
Kinney’s season scoring average is 19.8 in 11 games for the Wildcats, who have an 8-3 record going into a tournament at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) High School that starts on Thursday. Newport entered the season ranked No. 8 in a statewide coaches poll.
Tennessee was No. 6 in the latest Associated Press rankings for NCAA Division I college basketball teams. Kinney has also received scholarship offers from No. 9 Illinois, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, Xavier and others.
Holy Cross graduate on Detroit Lions team that clinched division title
Holy Cross graduate Derrick Barnes is among the leading tacklers on the Detroit Lions pro football team that has clinched its first NFL division championship since 1993 with two games remaining in the regular season.
In his third season as linebacker for the Lions (11-4), Barnes ranks fourth in total tackles with 70 (35 solo, 35 assisted) in 14 games. He missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury, but he participated in practice the last two days to prepare for Saturday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys (10-4).
The Lions clinched first place in the NFC North Division to earn a berth in the playoffs. The Cowboys have lost their last two games and slipped to second place in the NFC East Division.
Barnes, who wears the No. 55 jersey, made 30 tackles in four games before getting hurt. He already has a higher number of tackles (70) than the did in his first two seasons. He made 40 in 15 games in 2021 and 59 in 17 games in 2022.