By: James Weber , jweber@communitypress.com
Covington Catholic forward A.J Mayer (21), center, reacts after scoring the go-ahead basket in the fourth quarter during the high school basketball game between Cooper and Covington Catholic, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, at Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Ky. Covington Catholic won 55-52.(Photo: The Enquirer/Kareem Elgazzar)
Last year, AJ Mayer may not have been able to make the clutch decision, or shot.
This year, the Covington Catholic junior was called upon for a winning play as the Colonels looked to break a tie against rival Cooper. And he delivered.
Mayer drove the lane and made a layup and was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. His three-point play gave Cov Cath a 55-52 win over Cooper Wednesday night in a showdown of the top two teams in the Ninth Region.
"They beat us last year in the beginning," Mayer said. "So they wanted to come in here and beat us. Both teams were going at it. We both want to win a lot of games. They're a good team. They make a ton of shots, they have a great coach. I definitely expect to see them in the (regional tournament)."
Cov Cath took possession with 17 seconds to go. Mayer took a handoff at the top of the key and took his defender to the rim. The three-point play gave him seven points for the quarter and 10 for the game.
Head coach Scott Ruthsatz said Mayer had the option to shoot or pass depending on the defense, and he made the right play. Something he might not have done last year.
"AJ has been a warrior," Ruthsatz said. "Last year he was a rebounder - give the ball up, go set screens. Now he's more versatile. He can score. He's very physical."
Mayer's basket capped a thrilling finish to a contest that had been a slugfest for three quarters.
The Colonels and Jaguars brought two of the Ninth Region's top-scoring offenses into their showdown at Cov Cath, which came in front of a sold-out crowd. Cov Cath came in averaging 67 points per game and Cooper 64.
A lot of those points came in convincing wins over lesser foes, so when they got together in what was a marquee match in all of Kentucky, no one was surprised that it turned into a defensive struggle. Most drives to the basket ended with the offensive player on the floor.
Both student sections got there in full force an hour before tipoff. They had identical attire themes (sports jerseys) and were cheering at each other the whole night.
"Cooper had a lot of fans," Mayer said. "We always get our students here, but it's a lot different when someone's yelling at you. It was a lot of fun. It gets you going and fired up."
Cov Cath led 52-47 with 40 seconds left. Cooper forward Blaine Walters hit two free throws. After a missed free throw by CCH senior Cole VonHandorf, Cooper got the ball back.
Senior guard Dante Hendrix found junior Tyler Ollier on the baseline. Ollier hit a wide-open 3-pointer to tie the game with 17 seconds left. It was Ollier's first points of the game.
Hendrix had given Cooper a four-point lead at 44-40 with 3:40 to play, following a three-point play. The Colonels then went on a 12-3 run. Junior guard Aiden Ruthsatz scored seven of his game-high 22 points in that spurt.
With Cooper leading 47-46, Ruthsatz lobbed a perfect pass to Jake Walter, Cov Cath's 7-foot-1 center, who dunked it home to give CovCath the lead. Ruthsatz made it 50-47 with a floater in the lane, then added two free throws to put CCH up five. Ruthsatz was 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the 3-point line.
"He's been doing it for the last four games, 20-plus," coach Ruthsatz said. "We don't diagram it that way, but you look around, they're going to take others away and leave him open and he hits shots. Even in practice yesterday, he didn't miss a shot."
VonHandorf ended with 12 and is on pace to reach 2,000 career points and break CovCath's all-time record of 1,980 during the next two weeks. Hendrix had seven of his team-high 15 points in the fourth for Cooper. Brayden Runion had 13 and Adam Kunkel 11.
"Dante is an absolute winner," said Cooper head coach Tim Sullivan. "He does everything. He was the first one to talk (postgame). He handles the ball, plays defense. He made the right play to pass to (Ollier) for the three. He's just a special kid."
Sullivan will remind his team to regroup quickly. Cooper has three 33rd District games in the next 10 days, starting with Boone County on Friday. The Jaguars played once again without starting brothers Sean and Chris McNeil. Sullivan said both of them had protective devices removed this week and are on track to return as soon as next week.
"They made a couple of more plays than we did," Sullivan said. "The passion and the belief that our kids played with tonight - if we do that every day, we'll be fine. The fact the kids went out there and believed and played in this environment is pretty special. We just got beat by one of the best teams in the state on their floor. (I told them) you didn't lose, you got beat."
The first half featured two big runs. CovCath went on a 9-0 run to lead 15-8 late in the first period. Leading 11-8, VonHandorf stole the ball at the three-point arc and raced the other way for a layup. Moments later, junior Casey Nowak stole a pass at midcourt and outran the Jaguars to the hoop for a layup.
Cooper responded with a layup from Daniel Wasser to end the period. Runion hit a 3-pointer and a floater early in the second period, and Kunkel scored on a flashy drive in traffic to give Cooper a 17-15 lead. The lead changed twice after that, and Cooper went into the locker room up one at 23-22.
Several key players went into halftime with two fouls. Runion led Cooper with nine points in the half, Kunkel had eight. Ruthsatz led CCH with seven points.
Walter had CovCath's first two buckets but was scoreless until his crucial dunk at the end. He had seven points and six rebounds. Cooper ran two defenders at him all night and coach Ruthsatz praised his decision-making and not forcing shots. CovCath outrebounded Cooper by 11, 29-18, including nine offensive boards
Coach Ruthsatz said junior standout CJ Fredrick will be at least three weeks but could be back before the district tournament. With both teams adjusting to injuries, they could be even better at the end.
"Giving these guys who don't play a lot of minutes some big minutes now is going to pay off down the road," coach Ruthsatz said. "You take the good with the bad and just keep rolling along."
Cooper (14-4): Hendrix 5 5 15, Kunkel 4 3 11, Ollier 1 0 3, Runion 4 3 13, Walters 1 2 5, Shidler 1 0 3, Wasser 1 0 2. Totals: 22 13 52.
Covington Catholic (16-4): VonHandorf 4 3 12, Mayer 3 4 10, Ruthsatz 8 2 22, Nowak 1 0 2, Thelen 1 0 2, Walter 3 1 7. Totals: 20 10 55.
Halftime, Cooper 23-22. 3-pointers: Cooper 5 (Runion 2, Shidler, Walters, Ollier). CovCath 5 (Ruthsatz 4, VonHandorf).