LEXINGTON, Ky. - While the Alabama Crimson Tide were scoring 113 points in the NCAA Sweet 16, and the Indiana Pacers were putting 162 on the Washington Wizards in an NBA contest, the Cooper Jaguars boys basketball team won their Kentucky state tournament opener by doing what they do best: Good, old-fashioned, hard-nosed defense.
Cooper outlasted Henderson County 50-35 in the first round of the UK HealthCare Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball Sweet 16 Thursday night at Rupp Arena.
Cooper (24-5) advances to Friday night's 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal against Great Crossing. Henderson finishes 25-7.
"To win championships and really tough games, there are no gimmicks," Cooper head coach Tim Sullivan said. "You got to be able to sit down and guard and trust one another. They fight every single day."
Cooper held Henderson to 42 percent shooting (13 of 31). Several of those buckets came in transition. Cooper forced 16 turnovers.
The Jaguars held Henderson's leading scorer, senior guard Cooper Davenport, without a point in the game. With senior Andy Johnson guarding him most of the time, Davenport, a sharp-shooting guard, went 0 for 5 shooting in the game, 0 of 3 from 3-point range. Davenport averaged 14.3 points with 82 made 3-pointers coming in.
Henderson, averaging five 3-pointers made per game, was 0 for 7 from behind the arc.
"A ton of credit to them," Davenport said. "They're very athletic. They did a great job."
Johnson credited Cooper sophomore Cole Stanton for pretending to be Davenport in practice.
"I thought we were great in preparation for the game," Johnson said. "(Stanton) was great all week. He did what Davenport usually does, gets an open shot whenever he can."
Cooper limited Henderson County to 12 points in the first half with all five players guarding.
Henderson County head coach Tyler Smithhart said his Colonels didn't see any teams this season that play defense the way Cooper does.
"I give Coach Sullivan and his program credit," Smithhart said. "We haven't seen anybody that guards quite at that level. They are a next-level defense. Not just their physicality but in terms of their communication and their togetherness. They're so connected in how they play and how they guard. They take pride in their one-on-one matchups but then they do a great job with their team defense as well."
Cooper shot 45 percent from the floor, only 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
Johnson, averaging 23 points per game, had a tough night from outside (0-5) but was 5 of 6 inside the arc and scored 13 points.
Jaidan Combs had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Isaac Brown posted 12 points and 4 rebounds. Roman Combs had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
"What he preaches is you want to play for me, you got to play defense," Jaidan Combs said "Defense wins games. If you only score 20 and you hold them to 17, it might be a boring game, but defense is going to win the game."
The teams combined for one basket in the first four minutes of the game. A Roman Combs blocked shot led to a layup by Andy Johnson, Cooper's first points in the tournament in eight years.
Layups by Combs and brother Jaidan Combs made it 6-0. Cooper led 10-4 after one quarter, with both Colonels baskets coming in transition.
Cooper scored the first 5 points of the second quarter to lead 15-4 on a 3-pointer by Isaac Brown and a basket by Johnson.
Henderson went on a 6-0 run to pull within 5 points at 15-10.
Brown scored a layup to make it 17-10. Roman Combs stole a pass at midcourt and raced the other way for a dunk to make it 19-10. After a Colonels basket, Cooper held the ball for the last shot. Johnson was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots to put the Jaguars up 10 at the break, 22-12.
Johnson had 9 points in the half. Brown scored 7, Roman Combs 4 and Jaidan Combs 2.
The Jaguars took their biggest lead at 14, 30-16, as the Combs brothers began doing a lot of work together in transition. A Roman pass to Jaidan for a layup that was goal-tended was the last basket. Isaac Brown also had a putback on an Andy Johnson missed 3.
In the fourth quarter, a steal and a layup by Brown put Cooper up by 12, 34-22, with 6:43 left. Henderson County pulled within 8 after a turnover with 4:30 to go and then began aggressively trapping the Jaguars.
After a missed 3 by Davenport, Roman passed to Jaidan for a layup, then Johnson scored in transition to put Cooper back up by 12 at 40-28 with 3:20 left.
Following a Xavion Johnson basket for Henderson County, Roman passed to Jaidan again in the post. Jaidan drew a foul and made both foul shots with 2:15 to go, and Cooper led by 12 at 42-30.
With 1:49 to go, Henderson started fouling liberally. Cooper made 5 of 8 foul shots the rest of the way before Henderson conceded. Sophomore Parker Lutz made a 3-pointer for the Jaguars' final points.
The Jaguars (24-5) will play Great Crossing (32-4) in the quarterfinals 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Great Crossing advanced with a 69-37 win over Daviess County Thursday night in the first round.
Malachi Moreno, a University of Kentucky signee who was named Mr. Basketball earlier this month, led the way with 21 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. The 6-foot-11 center shot 10-of-13 from the floor.
Senior guard Vince Dawson, a Morehead State commit and the team's second-leading scorer for the season (18.1 ppg.), had 16 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds. Gage Richardson posted 13 points. The Warhawks limited Daviess to 32 percent shooting and outrebounded the Panthers 37-20. GC had 44 points in the paint to 12 for the Panthers.
Richardson averages 9 points for the Warhawks and L.J. Holman 11. GC averages 74 points per game for the season. The Warhawks are ranked second in the state and the highest-ranked team left in the field after St. Xavier lost on Wednesday.
"Us coaches will be up late trying to figure out how to tame the big fella," Sullivan said. "It's not just him. They got some players. They got length. They got guys who can really score. We got to find a way to limit his touches. We're going to have to make some shots because he's going to be roaming the paint and you're not going to get a whole lot at the rim."