By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
When asked about his team’s defensive effort after the 9th Region boys basketball championship game on Tuesday, Cooper coach Tim Sullivan had a succinct reply.
“Locked in,” Sullivan said of the tough-minded performance that carried the Jaguars to a 53-38 victory over Lloyd before a crowd of more than 4,000 fans at Northern Kentucky University.
“We truly believe it’s not about what (opponents) do, it’s how we react,” Sullivan added. “And it’s our kids, all five guarding as one, being connected, staying engaged on the ball … and just trusting one another and having each other’s back.”
That’s how the Jaguars limited Lloyd to its lowest point total of the season to win their first region championship game since 2017. Cooper (23-5) will play 2nd Region champion Henderson County (24-6) in the final first-round game of the state tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27 at Rupp Arena.
The last time Sullivan took a team to the state tournament they returned with the runner-up trophy. The seniors on this year’s roster were in the fifth grade that year.
“I just went down and said, ‘Fellas, you have no idea how much fun we’re getting ready to have and what kind of a ride we’re getting ready to go on,” Sullivan said of the state tournament that couldn’t be played this week because NCAA tournament games are scheduled at Rupp Arena.
Cooper senior guard Andy Johnson, a starter on Cooper teams that lost in the region final the last two years, is looking forward to playing on the big stage.
“I’m so excited. It’s a dream come true, for sure,” said Johnson, named most valuable player on the region all-tournament team. “There’s definitely more (for us) to prove. Teams in the state probably don’t know who Cooper is, but now they do. We’re going to shock some people, for sure.”
Sullivan said school officials asked him to resign as head coach after this season. He put all that aside and asked his players to do that same so they could focus on what has been a highly successful post-season playoff run.
The Jaguars got off to a great start in Tuesday’s game. They made six of their first eight field goal attempts, including a pair of three-pointers by Johnson, and had a 14-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Lloyd trimmed the margin to five points, 19-14, but Cooper responded with a 9-3 run in the final minutes of the second quarter to forge a 28-17 halftime lead. After the break, the Jaguars scored the first seven points in the third quarter to go ahead, 35-19, and they maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Cooper ended up shooting 47.7 percent (21 off 44) from the field and had four double-figure scorers. Lloyd shot 31.4 percent (16 of 51) with junior guard Anthony Blaackar getting a game-high 14 points, but his teammates got a combined total of nine field goals.
Lloyd’s 6-foot-8 senior forward EJ Walker was limited to seven points, 11 below his average. He went 2 of 13 from the field with Cooper 6-foot-1 senior Jaiden Combs guarding him for most of the game.
“My job was to let him score as least as possible,” Combs said of Walker, a University of South Carolina recruit. “I’m just trying to be a pest in the paint right there because he’s obviously bigger and stronger than me. But if I have more heart than him, he’s not going to do that much.”
Combs and his brother, Roman, scored 18 of the Jaguars’ 25 points in the second half. Roman finished with a team-high 13 points, followed by senior guard Chris Rodriquez with 11. Jaiden and Johnson had 10 points each.
Johnson finished well below his 23.3 scoring average, but that pointed to how well balanced the Cooper team has become over the course of the season.
“I don’t think Andy scored after halftime and we ended up winning by 15, so that says something about the rest of this group, ” coach Sullivan said. “That’s the way we’ve been playing all year. They’re together, man, and it’s powerful.”
Lloyd’s record in 9th Region finals slipped to 0-5 with Tuesday’s loss. It was the first time since 1996 that the Juggernauts made it to the region championship game and they finished with a 26-7 record.
“I’m just proud of my guys,” said Lloyd coach Michael Walker, whose son, EJ, was one of eight seniors on the roster. “Instead of talking about the stuff we didn’t do, I’m going to talk about how great our program is and how great these seniors are and how much they’ve done and built this program.”
COOPER 14 14 10 15 — 53
LLOYD 4 13 7 14 — 38
COOPER (23-5): R. Combs 5-5 3-3 13, Brown 2-5 0-0 5, J. Combs 4-13 2-3 10, Rodriguez 4-6 2-2 11, Sullivan 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 4-11 0-0 10, Knuckles 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-44 7-8 53.
LLOYD (26-7): Golsby 3-6 1-2 8, Blaachar 7-14 0-0 14, Sebastian 2-6 0-0 5, Walker 2-13 3-4 7, Humphrey 1-4 0-0 2, Crenshaw 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 16-51 4-6 38.
Three-point goals: C — Johnson 2, Rodriguez, Brown. L — Golsby, Sabastian.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Cooper — Andy Johnson (MVP), Isaac Brown, Chris Rodriguez. Lloyd — EJ Walker, Anthony Blaackar. CovCath — Cash Harney, Athens McGillis. Newport — Yamil Rondon, Amontae Lowe. Highlands — Nathan Rickard. Dixie Heights — Griffen Derry. Holy Cross — Luke Arlinghaus. Ryle — Landon Lorms.
Sack Coach Sullivan after the Jaguars win the 9th Region Championship game by 15? Does the A.D. have Coach Pitino lined up or perhaps the ghost of John Wooden?