‘It wasn’t pretty,’ but Sacred Heart handles Cooper in Sweet 16 quarterfinals

An otherwise thrilling quarterfinal round in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 state tournament closed with a foul-ridden and ultimately lopsided showdown between two of the state’s top-ranked teams.

No. 1 Sacred Heart, in pursuit of its fifth straight championship, held back No. 3 Cooper 78-61 Friday night in Rupp Arena. The final margin of victory (17) almost matched that of the other three quarterfinals combined (21).

Both teams made more free throws than field goals — 20 to 19 for Cooper, 27 to 24 for Sacred Heart — and each finished with 22 turnovers. An 11-2 burst late in the first quarter helped the Valkyries create some early distance and they padded it through the remainder; Cooper never cut it closer than 10 points in the second half despite staying on the attack and, for the most part, trading blow for blow with the four-time defending champs after a rough start.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win,” Sacred Heart head coach Donna Moir said. “ … Survive and advance. There were a lot of fouls called in that game, so it was really hard to get some momentum, I think, at times, but overall we’re happy to be playing tomorrow morning for sure.”

Cooper starter Zene Thompson, the only senior on the Jaguars’ roster, fouled out with 6:42 left to play on a scoring drive by ZaKiyah Johnson. The LSU signee made the ensuing free throw to start a personal nine-point quarter; she finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Johnson, who’s all but certain to be named Miss Basketball on Sunday, got tagged with her second foul with 5:43 left in the second quarter. She re-entered a few minutes later after a small run by the Jaguars that cut the Valkyries’ lead to eight; that was in response to a 6-1 burst Sacred Heart managed without her on the floor.

“I used to have a rule where you didn’t play if you had two fouls in the first half, but I’ve kind of gotten away from that,” Moir said. “But when we kind of extended the lead I gave her a longer break. … The way they were calling it, I didn’t want Z to get a tacky foul. I was proud of my girls that they extended without her.”

Brianna Wilkins, a junior who transferred from Christian Academy of Louisville before this season, added 16 points for the Valkyries. While this scene is old hat for her teammates, she’s getting her first taste.

“Yesterday I was definitely nervous, my first time stepping into Rupp, but I knew my teammates have my back,” Wilkins said.

Cooper’s outlook

Few teams have faced off against Sacred Heart as frequently as the Jaguars, who should return all but Thompson from a squad that won the Ninth Region for a fourth straight season. This was their third meeting in the last four state tournaments.

Haylee Noel, a sophomore, finished with a game-high 34 points (10-for-17 from the field, 13-of-14 from the stripe). Thompson was the only other Cooper player to finish in double figures (she had 12) but the Jaguars figure to be a contender, if not the favorite, in their region once again next season.

And if they make it back to Rupp and meet Sacred Heart again, they won’t have to game-plan for a generational talent like Johnson.

“‘I’m glad she’s graduating,” Cooper head coach Justin Holthaus said, adding with a laugh: “She doesn’t have a COVID year does she?”

This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 12:08 AM.