By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Two senior starters on the Cooper boys’ basketball team, Dante Hendrix and Sean McNeil, have been playing sports together since they were in grade school. This is the last season they’ll be teammates, but they’re getting a shot at winning the team’s first 9th Region championship before they graduate and head off to different colleges.
Cooper knocked off Newport, 55-33, in a regional semifinal game on Saturday at BB&T Arena to make it to the title game. The Jaguars will play Covington Catholic at 7 p.m. Monday with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
“It’s a dream come true,” Hendrix said of playing in the regional final with his long-time friend. “We’ve talked about this so many times, especially this week. We know this is our last chance to play with each other. We want to live it out, and now we get the chance to.”
Hendrix scored 16 points and McNeil had 10 in the win over Newport to help make their dream a reality. They were two of four double-figure scorers for the Jaguars, who shot 48.7 percent (19 of 39) from the field and went 6-of-13 from behind the 3-point line.
Cooper also played well at the defensive end, holding Newport to its lowest point total of the season. The Wildcats shot 33.3 percent (12 of 36) and committed 11 turnovers during the game. Their opponents scored 19 points off those turnovers to make the mistakes even costlier.
“We knew we’d have to play a really good game, almost a perfect game, and them not shoot well,” said Newport coach Rodney Snapp. “But they made five threes in the first half, and when that happens you’ve got to play smart and execute and not turn the ball over like we did.”
Hendrix and his junior teammate Adam Kunkel both made two treys in the first half. The second one by Hendrix gave his team a 24-13 lead, but Newport cut the margin to 27-20 at halftime.
Cooper regained control of the game with a 13-5 run in the third quarter. McNeil got three of his four field goals during that period on a tip-in, jump shot and drive to the basket.
Early in the fourth quarter, Newport pulled to within 42-30 on a 3-point shot by junior McKell Burries, who finished with a game-high 18 points. But the Jaguars ran off nine straight points to put the game away.
The regional championship game will be a match-up between the top two teams in Northern Kentucky since the beginning of the season. CovCath won the regular-season game, 55-52, and Cooper coach Tim Sullivan expects the rematch to just as exciting.
“It’s going to be an electric atmosphere,” Sullivan said. “Everybody’s going to be nervous and if you’re not nervous you might need to check your pulse. When you’ve put so much time and energy into something, you’re going to be nervous, but it’s going to be fun.”
This is the fifth consecutive year that CovCath has made it to the regional final, but it’ll be a new experience for the Cooper players.
“It’s going to be an absolute battle,” Hendrix said. “Everybody on their team is good and everybody on our team is good, so we know we have to bring our ‘A’ game every single minute Monday night to be victorious.”
COOPER 19 8 13 15 — 55
NEWPORT 9 11 5 8 — 33
COOPER (27-4): Hendrix 5 4 16, Kunkel 6 0 14, C. McNeil 2 5 10, Walters 1 1 3, S. McNeil 4 1 10, Baker 1 0 2. Totals: 19 11 55.
NEWPORT (16-17): Burries 6 3 18, Najae Williams 2 0 4, Najee Williams 1 0 2, White 1 0 3, Harding 2 2 6. Totals: 12 5 33.
Three-pointers: C — Hendrix 2, Kunkel 2, C. McNeil, S. McNeil. N — Burries 3, White.