By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Simon Kenton junior guard Brynli Pernell and her teammates waited several years to post a victory against Cooper and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
After the Pioneers defeated the Jaguars, 61-50, Thursday in a showdown between two of the top 10 girls basketball teams in the state rankings, Pernell left the Cooper gym with a smile of satisfaction on her face.
“Since I’ve been playing (varsity), which was my seventh grade, we have not beaten Cooper,” Pernell said. “I’m really glad we pulled it out this year. I mean we knew we had the people, we had the bench, we had the starters. We knew that we could, we just had to prove it.”
In this week’s statewide media poll, Simon Kenton (23-1) was ranked No. 5 and Cooper (15-5) was No. 7.
The Pioneers’ only loss came against a team from Florida. The Jaguars now have a 1-4 record against opponents ranked in the state top 10 with the lone victory coming against No. 1 Louisville Sacred Heart.
The game between the two local teams that won region titles last season was postponed twice due to weather. Both coaches were glad they found a way to reschedule it, especially the one who came away with the win.
“They’ve been the queens of Northern Kentucky for the last three or four years,” Simon Kenton coach Jeff Stowers said of Cooper. “I’ve been telling our girls all week, ‘You know what, if you want some of their thunder, you’ve got to go out and take it.'”
There were seven lead changes before Simon Kenton went on a 14-0 run during the third and fourth quarters. Pernell got 12 of her game-high 28 points during the surge that put the Pioneers ahead, 48-34, with 6:40 remaining in the game.
The Jaguars scored six straight points to pull within 48-40, but they couldn’t sustain the rally. Pernell got seven of the last 13 points for the Pioneers, who had a 39-22 scoring advantage in the final 16 minutes.
“Second half, we were closing down gaps and they weren’t getting to the basket, ” Stowers said. “So we buckled down on defense, and then we ran our offense. We ran our stuff.”
Cooper junior guard Haylee Noel finished with 16 points, five below her season average. She was limited to five points in the first half, but her teammates picked up the slack. The Jaguars were ahead, 28-22, at halftime.
In the second half, Simon Kenton shot 56 percent (14 of 25) from the field with three 3-point goals and made 8 of 9 free throws to come out on top.
It was the 12th consecutive victory for the Pioneers, who now have a 21-0 record against in-state opponents. Pernell was asked if she’s surprised by her team’s success.
“Not really, I definitely know we’ve worked super-duper hard for it, so I think it’s very much well earned,” she replied. “I think as long as we stay humble and stay on track with ourselves, I think we’ll keep our streak.”
Cooper lost to No. 3 George Rogers Clark, 67-56, on Saturday before the setback against Simon Kenton. The Jaguars have one of the toughest schedules in the state, and coach Christian Prohaska likes it that way.
“That is to prepare our team, through the adversity and through the good and the bad, for down the stretch,” Prohaska said. “I think it’s something that’s important to give them confidence. Whether or not it’s a loss that we have to learn from or a win we have to grow from, either way, we have to take everything from every game and build on it.”
The other double-figure scorers for Cooper were juniors Brinkli Rankin and Alivia Scott and junior Lyric Hooper with 10 points each. Simon Kenton senior Haylie Webb and eighth-grader Angela Kabaya both had 12 points.
“Our younger kids have been coming along,” coach Stowers said of Kabaya. “Now we’ve got some kids we know we can count on.”
SIMON KENTON 12 10 19 20 — 61
COOPER 14 14 6 16 — 50
SIMON KENTON (23-1): Pernell 9 8 28, Ober 0 2 2, Kelch 2 0 5, Wiggins 1 0 2, Kabeya 4 2 12, Webb 5 0 12. Totals: 21 12 61.
COOPER (15-5): Brissey 1 2 4, Hooper 4 1 10, Noel 5 5 16, Rankin 4 0 10, Scott 4 0 10. Totals: 18 8 50.
Three-point goals: C — Rankin 2, Scott 2, Noel, Hooper. SK — Pernell 2, Kabaya 2, Webb 2. Kelch.