Cooper stifles Henderson County to set up Boys’ Sweet 16 showdown with Great Crossing
One of its best defensive efforts in the last three years gave Cooper a wire-to-wire win in its return to the state tournament Thursday night.
The Jaguars defeated Henderson County 50-35 in the final first-round game of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 played in Rupp Arena. Up next: a showdown with No. 2 Great Crossing, a winner over Daviess County a couple hours earlier.
Henderson County managed to shoot 41.9 percent from the floor but got up only 31 shots en route to its lowest scoring output of the season. The 35 points were the second fewest Cooper has allowed over the last three seasons; Boone County’s 20 points against the Jaguars just a few weeks ago were the lowest in that stretch.
The Colonels, champions out of the 2nd Region for the first time since 1999, played a schedule consisting mostly of western Kentucky foes and teams from nearby Evansville, Indiana. They lost to 11th Region runner-up Frederick Douglass 69-39 in an early December game played in Georgetown.
“Evansville Harrison, Evansville Reitz, they all are really physical, good athletes,” Henderson County head coach Tyler Smithhart said. “But they’re a next-level defense in terms of not just the physicality, but in terms of their communication and their togetherness. They’re so connected.”
That connectivity led to 11 Cooper steals and a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers. Andy Johnson led the Jaguars with four takeaways.
Henderson County missed its first five shots but got to within two possessions after going down nine midway through the second quarter. Cooper closed the period on a 7-2 run capped by a trio of free throws via Johnson. He was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key and calmly sank ’em all.
Johnson, the top-scoring player in the state among teams still alive in the Sweet 16, finished with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting but missed all five of his attempts from beyond the arc. He spent much of the night guarding Cooper Davenport, the Colonels’ leading scorer at 14.3 points per game. Davenport was held scoreless on only five shot attempts.
The Illinois-Chicago commit credited teammate Cole Stanton, who simulated Davenport during practice in the lead-up to Thursday’s game.
“We were great in preparation before the game,” Johnson said. “ … He was great all week and did what Davenport usually does and gets an open shot wherever he can. I had an off night offensively for sure and my teammates picked me up. But I knew if I had an impact on the game, it was gonna be on the defensive end and I thought I did a great job on that.”
Henderson County with 4:34 left cut Cooper’s lead to eight — the narrowest it had been in the second half — but a steal-and-score by Johnson capped a swift 4-0 run that helped push the game into a free-throw contest at the end. Jaidan Combs, who had a game-high 14 points, and Roman Combs combined to make seven freebies down the stretch to ice it for Cooper (24-5).
Great Crossing and freshly crowned Mr. Basketball Malachi Moreno pose a substantial challenge in the next round for the Jaguars, who are possibly playing their final games this weekend with head coach Tim Sullivan at the helm.
“We’re gonna try to get these guys something to eat and get ’em in bed real quick and us coaches will be up late trying to figure out how to tame the big fella,” Sullivan said. “And it’s not just him. They’ve got some players, man, and they’ve got length and they’ve got guys that can really score it.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to limit his touches and what he does, but we can’t change who we are. … We’re gonna have to make some shots for sure, because he’s gonna be roaming in that paint and you’re not gonna get a whole lot at the rim.”