By Terry Boehmker
NKy sports reporter
When she started coaching girls’ grade school basketball three years ago, Mia Cooper had no idea how quickly she would attain her dream job. Earlier this week, Cooper was named head coach at Notre Dame Academy, where she was a three-year starter for the Pandas before graduating in 2000.
“This was my long-term goal, to get back to Notre Dame,” she said. “Like I told the (hiring) committee in my interview, this is not a stepping stone for me. This is the top of the mountain for me. I want to have longevity here and build the kind of prestigious program that Notre Dame is used to.”
Mia Cooper
After coaching girls’ grade school basketball at Beechwood for one year, Cooper was varsity head coach at Heritage Academy during the 2014-15 season and her team won the Kentucky Christian Athletic Conference title. She left that position to become an assistant coach at Ludlow last season.
Cooper, who has a degree in criminal justice and works for the Internal Revenue Service, said her first chance to see the Notre Dame’s players in action will be during an instructional camp on July 15 at Thomas More College.
The new coach’s last name was Bradford when she played at Notre Dame. She’s returning to her alma mater to replace Wyatt Foust, who resigned as head coach after compiling a 54-35 record over the last three seasons.
In Foust’s first season as head coach, Notre Dame was 9th Region runner-up, but the Pandas were eliminated in the 35th District playoffs the last two seasons. The district champion went on to win the 9th Region tournament both of those years.
Cooper is taking charge of a Notre Dame team that got most of its scoring last season from five underclassmen on the roster. But the team’s leading scorer, Jenna Martin, has transferred to Highlands for her final high school season.
“I do have a good core group coming back,” Cooper said. “It kind of hurts losing (Martin), but with me not being familiar with her I don’t see it as a huge loss. I understand a lot (of offense) was run through her, but I’m not overly concerned. We just have to move on and not worry about it.”
Dayton hires one head basketball coach, loses another
Steve Hunt has been named girls’ head basketball coach at Dayton High School, but another job on the athletic staff opened up this week when Billy Rogg resigned as boys’ head basketball coach.
Hunt, a former high school assistant coach, was hired to replace Bev Smith, who was head coach of the Dayton girls’ team the last three seasons. The Greendevils posted a 17-10 record under Smith last season and had only two seniors on the roster.
Rogg resigned as Dayton boys’ basketball coach on July 5, according to athletic director Barb Lukens. In his final season with the program, the Greendevils had a 13-15 record and the team’s top two scorers were juniors.
Dayton is one of seven Northern Kentucky girls’ basketball teams that will have a new head coach next season. The other new names in the local coaching directory are Chris Gramke at Beechwood, Kevin Bundy at Brossart, Joel Steczynski at Dixie Heights, Davey Johnson at Newport and Mia Cooper at Notre Dame. Boone County will also have a new girls’ head coach, but the school has not yet made an official announcement.
On the boys’ side, the new head coaches are Ken Collopy at Newport Central Catholic, Matt Otte at Conner and Steve Frommeyer at Scott. Dayton will join that list when it names a replacement for Rogg.
Ryle football team plans road trip to play in Turf Wars
Tanner Morgan
Ryle senior quarterback Tanner Morgan will get a chance to display his passing skills at the Southeastern 7-on-7 “Turf Wars” Championship on July 15-16 in Dalton, Ga.
Twenty high school football teams from six states are currently registered for the event. They’ll play games where passing is the only way an offensive team with seven players can advance the ball against a defensive team with seven players.
Each possession starts at the 40-yard line and a quarterback must release the ball within four seconds. A receiver is down when an opposing player touches him with one hand below the neck. A team can get a first down at the 20-yard line, but the only way to score is on a touchdown pass play.
Morgan was recruited by Western Michigan University because of his passing skills. He will enter his senior year with 7,664 total passing yards. If he throws for more than 2,400 yards, he’ll become one of the few Kentucky high school quarterbacks to surpass the 10,000 mark in his career.
Ryle will host its own 7-on-7 passing tournament this Tuesday. Games will start at 3 p.m. with the championship scheduled for 8 p.m. There will also be a Lineman Challenge, a series of events that test physical strength and endurance.
Campbell County pitcher accepts college scholarship offer
Alex Franzen, the top pitcher on Campbell County’s state runner-up baseball team, has accepted a partial scholarship from Kentucky Wesleyan University.
The right-hander won two games during the state tournament without giving up an earned run. He pitched a combined total of 15.2 innings, allowing eight hits with four walks and 15 strikeouts.
Franzen finished his first season as a starting pitcher for the Camels with a 12-3 record. He gave up 25 earned runs in 103 innings with 117 strikeouts.
After being named to the state all-tournament team, Franzen received calls from several college recruiters. He’ll be joining a Wesleyan team that competes on the NCAA Division II level and finished 36-14 last spring to set a team record for most victories in a season.
Local golfers among top finishers in Junior Met tournament
Notre Dame Academy senior Lauren Bracken placed second in the girls’ division of the Metropolitan Junior Championship golf tournament last week at O’Bannon Creek Golf Club in Cincinnati.
Bracken shot an 8-over 80 in the first round to lead the field of 17 golfers. She carded a 79 in the final round to finish with a 159 total that was tied for first place with Janisa Bondoc of Mason High School in Cincinnati.
Bondoc was awarded the first-place trophy based on a scorecard playoff that compares scores from the final round.
In the boys’ tournament, Brett Bihl of Newport Central Catholic placed sixth in a field of 84 golfers with a two-round total of 153 that was five strokes higher than the winning score. Brian Cantrall of Cooper finished in a three-way tie for 10th place with a 156.
The 2016 Kentucky high school golf season is set to begin July 29 for both boys and girls.
