By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Here’s the problem when two of the state’s top four teams, teams that haven’t played each other all season — both from Northern Kentucky’s Ninth Region and both proud of how physical and aggressive they are with a combined 45 wins in their last 47 games — run into one another in the regional semifinals.
The problem: They run into each other – again and again and again. By design.
Bodies on the floor from the first play. Multiple bodies on many plays. Bodies on the floor on rebounds, dribble-drives, loose balls, shots, you name the play, they collided with one another.
The Cooper Jaguar bench could not be happier here. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
“There was a lot of bumping, definitely,” said Cooper’s Logan Palmer with a big grin. “We got to play our game.” And that game in a word? “Pressure,” said Jordan, who finished with a game-high 14 points – same as teammate Liz Freihofer, with six rebounds and two steals.
In one of those “immovable object against unstoppable force” games that looked and sounded a bit like football – or maybe rugby, there were more personal fouls than field goals. Neither team hit 30 percent from the field.
With the score, 27-26, with Cooper leading Holy Cross in the first minute of the final quarter, you started thinking about that NBA broadcaster’s famous rule: “First team to 100 wins.”
Only in this case, you were thinking “First team to 30 wins.” Which is exactly what happened. “I think if we’d have gotten the lead, it’s a whole different story,” Holy Cross Coach Ted Arlinghaus said. And they had two shots to do just that.
Cooper’s Logan Palmer makes her move against Holy Cross’ Julia Hunt (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
But Cooper wouldn’t allow the Lady Indians to go ahead. And then Freihofer, who hit the floor on the game’s first play as well as whoever was in her way – came down to the other end, scored through traffic, got fouled and converted to make it a four-point lead, 30-26.
And in this game, four was more like 14 – or 40 – as Cooper took off on a 13-0 run that eventually decided this one at the foul line as a trio of Holy Cross starters – Miyah Wimzie, Aaliyah Hayes and Aumani Nelson – fouled out on three straight plays with just over a minute to go.
“Just another fight,” Cooper Coach Justin Holthaus said. “I told our kids the tougher team was going to win this one.”
“We knew coming in they were going to play physical,” Freihofer said of how maybe she was trying to set the tone with her charge and collision in the first minute. “A little bit . . . I knew I wanted to be aggressive . . . we’re not going to back down.”
In the end, the Jaguars did not, finishing off a 42-30 final score with 10 of their last 12 from the line as a trailing Holy Cross (28-6) was forced to foul.
But it was Ryle’s denying defense, that bumped the dribbler just off their path to the basket and almost completely shut down Holy Cross’ ability to get the ball into the post where 6-2 Julia Hunt, the Ninth Region’s Player of the Year, was limited to five points on two-of-12 shooting with many of those desperate hurried attempts as she attempted to follow up on her game-high 13 rebounds.
Holy Cross’ Miyah Wimzie making life tough for Cooper’s Liz Freihofer on this shot. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
Holthaus says that’s a credit to senior Bella Deere who doesn’t get as much credit with Freihofer and Palmer getting the attention but Deere doing the inside work on defense.
“It’s really a testament to our entire team,” Holthaus said of the ability to finish. “We turned them over” in that final run. And the Jags had a third player in double figures – freshman Haylee Noel.
Holy Cross would make six of eight from the line while Cooper’s totals were 14 of 23 which meant there were more free throw attempts – 31 – than made field goals – 24.
Good thing these teams got to the line. Cooper won with 26.5 percent (13 of 49) shooting from the field while Holy Cross managed just 11 of 46 (23.9) in a game where there were almost no easy open looks.
But for Holthaus and his team, there would be less than 21 hours to get ready for Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship game against district, county and Union rival Ryle. “We’re up for the challenge,” Holthaus said of the two teams’ third meeting this season with Cooper winning two defensive battles, 38-32, and 45-34.
Holy Cross’ Aniyah Carter tries to find a lane through Cooper defenders Logan Palmer and Bella Deere (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
“That’s why they haven’t lost to a Northern Kentucky team in two-plus years,” Arlinghaus said, looking at those defensive numbers in the 30’s.
But mostly he wanted to pay tribute to his team, to Hunt and Wimzie, who led Holy Cross with 10 points “and has come so far this year,” Arlinghaus said. And while he didn’t want to say that these last two years, marked by two Kentucky All “A” championships and 54 wins, were the best-ever run by Holy Cross, it’s hard to imagine they weren’t.
With four senior starters, Arlinghaus wouldn’t say “It’s the end of an era,” for Holy Cross, “but they’ve left a mark.”
In a game this physical, both teams left a lot of marks.
SCORING SUMMARY
COOPER 8 11 6 17–42
HOLY CROSS 7 4 13 6—30
COOPER (28-4): Brissey 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Noel 2-6 1-3 5-6 10, Rankin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 0-3 0-2 2-4 2, Scott 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Deere 1-4 0-2 0-4 2, Thompson 0-4 0-2 0-0 0, Cooper 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Freihofer 4-13 1-2 5-5 14, Palmer 6-17 0-6 2-4 14, 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 13-49 2-17 14-23 42.
HOLY CROSS (28-6): Hunt 2-12 1-1 0-0 5, Arlinghaus 1-2 1-2 0-0 3, Hodge 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 1-9 0-3 0-0 2, Nelson 1-8 0-1 4-4 6, Rhodes 0-1 0-1 0-0 0, Wimzie 4-8 0-0 2-3 10, Carter 1-5 0-1 0-1 2, Klass 1-2 0-0 0-0 2; TOTALS: 11-46 2-9 6-8 30.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.
