By Kindsey Bernhard
NKyTribune Intern
Cooper senior Sean McNeil makes a strong move to the basket in a state quarterfinal game against Collins at Rupp Arena. (Photo by Jackson sports Photography)
LEXINGTON – You wouldn’t have know it was Cooper’s second game in less than 24 hours by the way the Jaguars played defense in a 58-33 win over Collins during Friday’s quarterfinal round of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA boys’ state basketball tournament at Rupp Arena.
Cooper started the game with a 6-0 run and Collins was never able to recover. The Titans couldn’t seem to buy a basket in the first quarter and the Jags took a commanding 17-4 lead.
Collins finished the first half shooting 26.1 percent (6 of 23) from the field and zero percent from 3-point range. The Jaguars capitalized on that poor shooting by taking a 30-15 lead at the half.
“I think our defense got us going with our offense,” said Cooper senior guard Sean McNeil, who scored a game-high 19 points. “Luckily, tonight I played with a little less just freaking out stuff and settled down a bit after we got our first game out of the way. My guys really got me going tonight, got me open looks. Luckily, our offense started clicking early.”
Collins continued to have a hard time hitting shots in the second half and ended up shooting 22.9 (11 of 48) percent from the field. The Jaguars took a 20-point lead with a little over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, sealing a spot in the “Sweet 16” semifinals.
Cooper (30-4) will play Fern Creek (35-2) at 8 p.m. Saturday with the winner moving on to the championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday. This is the fourth consecutive year that a 9th Region team has made it to the semifinals of the state tournament.
Cooper shot 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field in Friday’s game. That was much better than the 37 percent (17 of 46) the Jags had in their state tournament debut against Meade County on Thursday.
“Offensively, we knew we weren’t going to shoot it like we did (Thursday) night,” Cooper head coach Tim Sullivan said. “Our guys got way too much confidence and they play with a swag to them that, as long as we’re guarding, that offensive side of the ball will happen for us.”
Cooper junior guard Adam Kunkel dribbles past a Collins defender. (Photo by Jackson Sports Photography)
Cooper’s other double-figure scorer was junior Adam Kunkel, who was 7-for-9 from the field and netted 16 points. Senior forward Brayden Runion had six points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Chris McNeil had six points and five assists.
Defense continues to be the reason for Cooper’s success. The Jags have held their last four opponents in the state and regional playoffs to 39 points or less.
Collins head coach Chris Gaither recalled playing Cooper two years ago in a Christmas tournament and knew the only thing missing for the Jags to be a successful basketball team was a defensive mentality.
“They have developed that over the last couple of years,” Gaither said. “They come into this game holding opponents to 34 points a game in the postseason and they guard you really well. And they guarded us well tonight.”
Gaither said his team never got into an offensive rhythm because of Cooper’s lock-down defense, finishing with 10 turnovers and only four assists.
“You’ve got to be able to create shots for each other and early in the game, you know, we were creating shots for ourselves, not each other,” Gaither said. “We got out of rhythm by doing that and never found the rhythm we needed.”
Sullivan said his team‘s defensive success comes from his players trust in each other and the system.
“We pride ourselves on sitting in the stance and not gambling and getting ourselves out of position,” Sullivan said. “And I thought tonight was a real, real testament to the fact that our guys did. And they were locked in and our No. 1 key tonight was all five engaged, locked in on defense, and I think you could just see tip to buzzer they were there.”
Sullivan said the second key to the game was the “war in the paint.” Cooper won that with a 35-29 rebounding advantage.
Lindsey Bernhard is a journalism senior at the University of Kentucky. She is from Ft. Wright and played high school basketball at Notre Dame Academy.
COOPER 17 13 18 10 — 58
COLLINS 4 11 11 7 — 33
COOPER (30-4): Hendrix 3 0 6, Kunkel 7 2 16, Runion 3 0 6, C. McNeil 2 2 6, S. McNeil 7 3 19, Ollier 1 0 2, Walters 1 0 2, Baker 0 1 1. Totals: 24 8 58.
COLLINS (24-13): Feltner 1 2 4, Fort 1 0 2, McKnight 3 0 6, D. Turner 2 6 10, Harper 1 0 2, T. Turner 1 0 3, Perdue 1 0 3, Eades 1 0 2. Cochran 0 1 1. Totals: 11 9 33.
three-pointers: COOP — S. McNeil 2. COLL — T. Turner, Perdue.
WHITAKER BANK/KHSAA BOYS’ STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Rupp Arena, Lexington)
SATURDAY – Semfinals
Bowling Green vs. Scott, 6:30 p.m.
Cooper vs. Fern Creek, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship game, 2 p.m.
