LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Cooper High School boys basketball team will continue it special journey this season Friday night in Lexington.
The Jaguars defeated Henderson County 50-35 Thursday night in the first round of the UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. Senior Jaidan Combs led Cooper with 14 points and six rebounds. Andy Johnson contributed 13 points and four rebounds, while Isaac Brown had 12 points and four rebounds.
"I thought we did just a phenomenal job of continuing to guard the entire 32 minutes," Cooper coach Tim Sullivan said. "And we talked about it in huddles over and over. We were making mistakes but we talk about playing present. And tonight that was more than evident than it ever has been this year."
Cooper (24-5) will play Great Crossing (32-4) in a state quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Lexington.
"Try to get these guys something to eat, get them in bed real quick and us coaches will be up late trying to figure out to take the big fella (Great Crossing senior and University of Kentucky signee Malachi Moreno) - it's not just him - they've got some players," Sullivan said of Great Crossing.
"They've got length and they got guys who can really score. We got to figure out a way to limit his (Moreno's) touches and limit what he does. We can't change who we are. We're going to have to make some shots - that's for sure. Because he's going to be roaming in that paint."
Cooper, winners of the Ninth Region, made their first Sweet 16 appearance Thursday night since 2017, when the Jaguars were the state runner-up. Thursday night was Cooper’s first meeting with Henderson County, which was the Region 2 winner. Henderson County was making its first state tournament appearance since 1999.
"It's just really fun to continue to watch this group continue to jell," Sullivan said. "Even this time of the year in this long, long season. They just continue to get better. They continue to pour their hearts into each other. Just really, really proud of how we responded in our first game after a little break."
Cooper, which has a nine-game win streak, will look Friday to advance to Saturday’s state semifinal which occurs at 1:30 p.m. at Rupp Arena. The state final is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Cooper is ranked No. 6 in the MaxPreps Kentucky boys basketball rankings. The Jaguars were ranked No. 13 in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball RPI standings.
Great Crossing, ranked No. 1 in Kentucky by MaxPreps, was No. 5 in the KHSAA RPI standings. Great Crossing entered Thursday with a 23-game win streak.
The 107th installment of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center began with the first of back-to-back days of first-round matchups on Wednesday.
