By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
And then there were four. The four you expected would be there for Sunday’s Ninth Region boys’ basketball semifinals at NKU’s Truist Arena.
And in the same matchups in the same order as a year ago: Lloyd Memorial (22-8) against Newport (30-3) at 2 p.m. and Covington Catholic (26-5) vs. Cooper (23-8) at 3:30.
The return of Cooper’s Andy Johnson from a fractured wrist has given the team a new look. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
“It’s what people wanted to see,” Cooper Coach Tim Sullivan agreed now that he could allow himself to talk about it since it’s the next game after his Jaguars took apart Highlands, 81-46, in Wednesday’s final quarterfinal game. “It’s here now.”
And so is Cooper. While Newport and CovCath barely escaped first-round upsets with two-point wins against Ryle and Dixie Heights, Cooper was rocking and rolling through a 35-point win over Kevin Listerman’s Bluebirds (17-16), a team that never really caught fire this season.
But Cooper, having worked through injuries and roster-limiting late starts, is on fire. All the Jags did Wednesday was shoot 59.6 percent (31 of 52) from the field, 56.3 percent (nine of 16) from behind the arc and 90.9 percent (10 of 11) from the free throw line.
“They’re really good,” Listerman said. And getting better now that 6-foot-4 junior wing man Andy Johnson, who can both dunk it and shoot it from long range and is maybe the toughest matchup in Northern Kentucky high schools, is back fully from a fractured left wrist that caused him to miss 16 games this season.
Highlands Coach Kevin Listerman begs to differ. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
Indeed, with 1:51 left in the first half, Andy Johnson led the Bluebirds 15-12 all by himself on his way to a game-high 22 points. “I knew I was hot,” he said.
But he was more than that. He was flying, as in twice finishing off alley-oop dunks on the fast break with perfectly timed and placed lobs from fellow junior, Yamil Rondon. “Meel,” as he’s called, tossed one of those up on a no-look improvisational “alley” that had Johnson, who was trailing Rondon, knowing where and when to jump and that the ball would be there, high above the basket to “oop” it.
“We’re doing that to create some spirit,” Johnson said. And maybe to have some fun, as well, with their own version of the Lakers’ “Showtime” that they’re carrying over from practice to games now.
Cooper’s Yamil Rondon soars between Highlands’ Nathan Vinson and Lincoln Hicks. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
And coaching up their coach in the process. “I think Coach Sullivan is doing a great job,” said Rondon who led the Puerto Rican National Under-16 team this summer in the Tournament of the Americas. “He’s learned how to adapt to the new generation.”
Sullivan agrees. “Old-school me would have lost my mind,” he says about some of this free-wheeling. Now he just mostly encourages the spirit and creativity that “this group has challenged me” to change with the times.
That’s as long as they play the kind of physical defense and rebound – and yeah, shoot lights-out the way they did Wednesday. “We have a connection and a chemistry,” says Rondon, who dished out nine of Cooper’s 18 assists – compared to Highlands’ five – in addition to his 12 points with a pair of deep three-pointers.
“A lot of that (shooting success) goes to the way we share the ball,” Sullivan said, “we trust one another . . . I’m really proud of the way they’ve stayed focused.”
Which is the challenge now. Andy Johnson realizes that after beating CovCath, 65-55, at CovCath, Jan. 23, without him, some Cooper fans are looking ahead. “Are you ready for Newport?” they’ll ask.
Sullivan says that so far they’ve shown they can handle the spotlight that’s coming their way. “I’m really proud of how they’ve stayed focused . . . we just want to go 1-0 every day we play.”
And that 1-0 Sunday will have to come against a CovCath team similar to his, Sullivan says. “Two teams that are physical and share the ball,” Sullivan says.
After coaching a Highlands team that won the state championship the year his Bluebirds were just No. 3 in a tough Ninth Region, much as it is now, Listerman says any of the Sunday teams is capable of going downstate and doing well. But don’t limit it to the top three – Newport, CovCath and Cooper, “Better talk about four,” Listerman says. Don’t forget Lloyd.
Highlands’ Brayden Moeves challenges an off-balance Jaiden Combs from Cooper. (Photo by Dale Dawn/NKyTribune)
But Wednesday, Listerman got a close, in-person look at a Cooper team shooting sensationally. “When you’re a good team playing free and playing well, that’s what happens,” he said of the astronomical shooting percentages by the Jags.
Of his Bluebirds, “I love ‘em,’ Listerman said. “They gave everything they had. We’ve been solid for five-six years now.”
Nathan Vinson led Highlands with 15 points. Daniel Schick added 12. Jaiden Combs reached double figures for Cooper with 11.
SCORING SUMMARY
HIGHLANDS 4 13 19 10—46
COOPER 16 15 27 23—81
HIGHLANDS (17-16): Moeves 1-9 0-4 0-0 2, Schick 4-11 1-4 3-3 12, Listerman 1-3 0-0 2-6 4, Rickard 1-4 0-0 0-0 2, Wallace 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Messmer 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Hicks 2-3 2-3 0-0 6, Yelton 1-1 1-1 0-0 3, Ebert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Buchert 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Boulden 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Vinson 6-13 0-13-8 15, Kirst 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Carnahan 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Gregory 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 17-48 4-13 8-17 46.
COOPER (23-8): Blackburn 1-1 1-1 0-0 3, Brown 1-3 0-2, J. Combs 4-8 0-0 3-3 11, Rodriguez 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Murphy 3-5 3-4 0-0 9, Ja. Pouncy 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Jo. Pouncy 2-3 0-1 0-0 4, Hartman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, I Johnson 2-3 1-2 0-0 5, A. Johnson 8-11 2-3 4-5 22, Rondon 5-9 2-2 0-0 12, Hampton 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, R. Combs 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, S. Pouncy 3-5 0-0 3-3 9; TOTALS: 31-52 9-16 10-11 81.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.
