By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
It didn’t come easy, but Cooper become the first girls basketball team to win four consecutive 9th Region tournament championships on Friday at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena.
A 3-point shot that kicked off the back of the rim just before the final horn sounded allowed Cooper to come away with a 60-57 win over Notre Dame in the history-making game on the 50th anniversary of the tournament.
“We knew coming into this game it was going to be tough,” said Cooper coach Justin Holthaus. “We knew we were going to see a lot of pressure (defense), but at the end of the day we felt like we were the tougher team and we showed that tonight.”
Zene Thompson is the only senior on the Cooper roster and she’s one of four first-year starters for the 25-5 Jaguars.
But the young team is returning to the “Sweet 16” state tournament and will take on the winner of the 6th Region championship game between Louisville Mercy and Whitefield Academy at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Rupp Arena.
“Definitely, a new experience for everybody, but I feel like we’re going to be ready and feel like we’re going to go very far at state,” said sophomore Haylee Noel, who was named most valuable player on all-region tournament team.
Noel scored a team-high 17 points in the region final. Thompson got seven of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jaguars hold off a Notre Dame rally.
With 28 seconds left, Thompson’s two free throws gave her team a 60-57 lead. After her junior teammate Lyric Hooper missed a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining, Notre Dame senior Megan McGraw got off the final 3-point shot that missed the mark.
Notre Dame coach Kes Murphy was satisfied with his team’s effort at both ends of the court. The Pandas scored 18 points off turnovers, won the battle on the boards, 29-25, and had a 22-7 advantage in second-chance points.
One statistic Murphy did not like was 22 fouls called on his players compared to 13 for Cooper. Notre Dame’s senior team leader Maya Lawrie fouled out late in the fourth quarter, but the coach would not comment on the officiating.
“We executed defensively, we rotated and played fast,” Murphy said. “On the offensive end, it was super physical and we tried our best to play through it. But hats off to Cooper. They’ve been here before and know how to win. Things just didn’t go our way.”
Notre Dame senior center Sophia Gibson finished with game-high totals of 20 points and eight rebounds. She scored the final field goal in the second quarter and the first one in the third quarter that cut Cooper’s lead to 28-27.
The Jaguars pulled ahead once again and a driving basket by Thompson made it 53-45 early in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame made it a one-point game, 58-57, on a basket by Gibson with 42 seconds left, but the Pandas missed shots on their final two possessions.
“We made history and it just feels so amazing to do that,” Noel said of winning a fourth consecutive region title. “We had a target on our back this whole year. We just kept fighting, knowing that we could make it back here, and that’s what we did.”
Coach Holthaus was pleased with how his young team withstood the late charge by Notre Dame to pull out the win.
“We knew coming in Notre Dame as going to press for 32 minutes, it was how we were going to handle it,” Holthaus said. “I thought our kids, especially late in the game, didn’t try to jump pass as much and tried to get in some windows to help each other out.”
COOPER 15 13 16 16 — 60
NOTRE DAME 7 18 12 20 — 57
COOPER (25-5): Brissey 3-6 4-4 12, Hooper 1-1 0-2 2, Noel 7-15 3-4 17, Rankin 2-3 0-0 6, Scott 2-5 2-3 7, Thompson 5-10 6-10 16. Totals: 20-40 15-23 60.
NOTRE DAME (22-8): Gibson 9-17 2-5 20, Stallard 2-4 2-2 7, M. McGraw 0-2 4-4 4, Young 1-2 0-0 2, Holtzapfel 4-8 0-0 11, A. Lawrie 1-5 0-0 2, M. Lawrie 3-7 2-2 8, Humphrey 1-3 1-2 3. Totals: 21-49 11-15 57.
Three-point goals: C — Brissey 2, Rankin 2, Scott. ND — Holtzapfel 3, Stallard.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Cooper — Haylee Noel (MVP), Addyson Brissey, Zene Thompson. Notre Dame — Sophia Gibson, Maya Lawrie. Highlands — Marissa Green, Ty Berry. Dixie Heights — Catherine Buddenberg, Asia Carner. NewCath — Caroline Eaglin. Holy Cross — Aumani Nelson. Ryle — Jaelyn Jones. St. Henry — Clare Slocum