By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
When two of his starters picked up their second foul in the second quarter, Cooper boys’ basketball coach Tim Sullivan scrapped his team’s man-to-man defense and switched to a 1-3-1 zone. That move and an impressive scoring performance by junior guard Adam Kunkel carried the Jaguars to a 51-38 win over Covington Catholic in the 9th Region championship game on Monday at BB&T Arena.
Cooper guard Adam Kunkel launches a jump shot over CovCath defender Michael Mayer during the 9th Region championship game (Photo by Bob Jackson)
It was a surprising victory since Cooper was playing in its first regional final and CovCath was the top-ranked team in the 9th Region all season. But the Colonels struggled to score against the 1-3-1 zone and ended up with their lowest point total in five years.
“It’s an incredible feeling and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” Kunkel said of winning the school’s first regional title in basketball. “These are my guys. We love each other and we love playing with each other. This is the closest I’ve ever felt to a team, so it feels nice.”
Kunkel, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, pumped in 19 of his game-high 24 points during the second half. During that 16-minute span, he nearly outscored the entire CovCath team, which only got 21 points in the final two quarters against the zone.
“We knew coming in that it would be tough guarding them man,” coach Sullivan said. “We didn’t know when we’d go to (the zone), but Dante (Hendrix) and Brayden (Runion), our two best defenders, picked up two fouls and we said, ‘Let’s try it once.'”
The zone defense was so effective that the Jaguars stayed with it, and that was a major factor in the outcome of the regional final that was played before a crowd of more than 5,000 fans.
CovCath did take a 27-22 lead in the third quarter when senior guard Cole VonHandorf hit three straight 3-point shots over the zone. But Cooper ran off 10 straight points to go on top, 32-27, heading into the fourth quarter and pulled away in the final period when Kunkel scored 13 of the team’s 19 points.
Cooper (28-4) earned a berth in the “Sweet 16” state tournament with the victory. The Jaguars will play the winner of the 3rd Region championship game between Meade County and Daviess County in a first-round game at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 16 at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
CovCath junior center Jake Walter wins a battle for the ball under the basket. (Photo by Bob Jackson)
This is the second consecutive year that CovCath has lost in the 9th Region final. The team’s offensive breakdown against the 1-3-1 zone was something coach Scott Ruthsatz couldn’t explain.
“We practiced for it,” Ruthsatz said. “I have no idea why our guys weren’t more aggressive towards it. They kind of froze. We ran sets to go against it and we weren’t effective at doing that. We have guys who are experienced in this situation and it was very disappointing to see that kind of reaction to it.”
In the first quarter, CovCath jumped out to a 14-4 lead with 7-foot-1 center Jake Walter scoring five points. Cooper ran off seven straight points and made it 14-11 on a 3-point basket by Brayden Runion early in the second quarter. Both teams struggled offensively after that and CovCath had a 17-12 lead at halftime.
The Jaguars shot an anemic 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from the field in the first half, but they were only five points behind and the zone defense was working better than expected.
“We knew we shot bad, but we were only down five from shooting that bad,” Kunkel said. “Our spirits weren’t down. We knew this could be our last game so we just kept fighting.”
CovCath made only six field goals in the second half. VonHandorf got four of them and ended up with 13 points. Cooper was 13-of-23 from the field in the second half with Kunkel leading the way. In addition to making five field goals he was 8-for-8 from the foul line in those last two quarters.
“I told (our seniors) before this game started we’re not letting this be their last game,” Kunkel said. “We’re making our dreams come true and going to Rupp.”
COOPER 8 4 20 19 — 51
COVCATH 14 3 10 11 — 38
COOPER (28-4): Hendrix 2 0 5, Kunkel 6 11 24, Runion 4 0 10, Walters 0 1 1, S. McNeil 3 2 9, C. McNeil 1 0 2. totals: 16 14 51.
COVCATH (29-6): Fredrick 3 0 7, VonHandorf 5 0 13, Mayer 2 5 9, Ruthsatz 1 0 3, Walter 2 2 6. Totals: 13 7 38.
Three-pointers: COO — Runion 2, Hendrix, Kunkel, S. McNeil. COV — VonHandorf 3, Fredrick, Ruthsatz.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Cooper — Adam Kunkel, Sean McNeil, Dante Hendrix. CovCath — Cole VonHandorf, A.J. Mayer. NewCath — Brennan Hall, Trey Wurtz. Newport — McKell Burries, Najee Williams. Holy Cross — Will Volpenhein. Lloyd — Devin McClendon. Dixie Heights — Hunter Meyer. Ryle — Vince Rankin.
