Cooper uses stout defense to stifle Butler in season-opening girls basketball victory
Cooper entered the 2023-24 girls basketball season knowing defense would be its calling card.The Jaguars returned three starters from last season, when the team allowed 39 points per game.
In its season opener Tuesday night, Cooper faced a loaded Butler lineup led by Kentucky commit Ramiya White and Christian Academy transfer Mariah Knight, but the Jaguars ended up acing the early season test, 55-38.
“It’s huge,” Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said about the season-opening win. “Especially the first week of the season you know what you have, you’ve been practicing six weeks and you’ve just been beating each other up. You haven’t played a whole lot other than a couple scrimmages, so to get out to a quick start, shooting it well, it’s a huge bonus.”
The Jaguars forced seven turnovers in the first quarter and 10 in the half. The stifling defense in the first half helped the Jaguars jump to an 18-0 lead before the Bearettes scored.
Senior Liz Freihofer, an Eastern Kentucky signee and second-leading scorer from last season, scored 16 points in the victory. Knight led the Bearettes with 16 points, and White added six points.
“Coming into this, we knew it would be a really big task, right out of the gate,” Freihofer said. “With Butler, they’re a top-10 team in the state, so we just focused on being together whether we turn over the ball, we’re together, or whenever we have a really good play we just stay together as a team.”
Although Butler cut its double-digit deficit to 45-31 early in the fourth quarter thanks to a 1-2-2 press that sped up the Jaguars, Freihofer responded and scored five points in quick succession. Fellow senior guard Logan Palmer (15 points) put the game out of reach after her layup put the Jaguars up by 20.
“I should’ve went to the press sooner,” Bearettes coach Candyce Wheeler said. “I’m still learning my team, but I think we got after it; (the press) allowed us to play a little bit faster because we were having trouble scoring, so we needed to speed them, which allowed us to score.”
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA girls basketball: Cooper defeats Butler in season opener
