By: James Weber, jweber@enquirer.com
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS Aiden Ruthsatz was an eighth-grader when his brother Nick led Covington Catholic to a state basketball championship in 2014.
Now a senior, his hopes of doing the same thing are still alive after the Colonels outlasted rival Cooper 53-49 in the Ninth Region semifinals Saturday night at BB&T Arena. Both teams are ranked in the top six in the state.
CovCath (30-4) will face Dixie Heights (18-14) in the championship game 7 p.m. Monday.
"Just having an older brother to look up to is great," he said. "Everyone knows he won region and won state. I got some big shoes to fill."
Ruthsatz led the Colonels with 18 points, 10 from the foul line in 12 attempts. Many of the foul shots came in the homestretch with Cooper trying to come back.
The game lived up to its billing in front of roughly 6,000 at the arena.
The teams were tied at 36 early in the fourth quarter. Senior CJ Fredrick made two foul shots, and Ruthsatz made four straight around a missed 3-pointer by Cooper and a turnover.
Cooper missed four shots in a row after that and the Colonels managed the clock the rest of the way. Fredrick stole away Cooper's last chance, literally, with CovCath leading 48-43 and Cooper having the ball. He picked off a pass in the lane and got fouled, making one of two at the line.
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CovCath students celebrate the win. (Photo: James Weber/Enquirer)
"We've lost in the regional final the last two years," Ruthsatz said. "There's no way I could have lost this game. It would have killed me. We played our hearts out."
Like their previous meeting Jan. 21 in the same building, won by CovCath 47-32, two of the top defenses in the state won the night. CovCath shot just 40 percent from the floor (12-30) but made 24 of 28 free throws. CovCath only had four assists.
Cooper, who had 25 assists in its quarterfinal win over Newport Central Catholic, had only one tonight. Cooper shot 17 of 38 for 44.7 percent but rarely found anything easy.
Both Mr. Basketball finalists had tough shooting nights as the focus of the other team's game plan.
Senior Adam Kunkel, in his final game for Cooper, had 18 points and three rebounds, shooting 5 of 13. Fredrick scored 16 points on 4 of 9 shooting.
"Our scouting the last week has been crazy," Aiden Ruthsatz said. "The coaches are watching the film nonstop. We perfected it in practice, knowing all their plays. We knew most everything they were going to do. A lot of these guys are seniors, so they're going to play their hearts out....The only way we're going to win is to get stops. They're a really good offensive team. They got shooters everywhere. Kunkel is dominant offensively. It took us three games to learn his game and figure out how to stop him, and he still scored 16."
Other players stepped up on both sides. Senior AJ Mayer, who didn't play either previous game against Cooper, had 11 points and eight rebounds for CovCath. Junior Blaine Walters scored 13 for the Jaguars, going a perfect 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
Cooper started the game leading 10-5, with five of the points from Walters. CovCath went on an 11-0 run to lead 20-14 late in the second quarter. Fredrick had four points, Ruthsatz three, Jake Walter two and Michael Mayer two.
Walters stemmed the tide with another basket. Fredrick hit a 3-pointer to give CovCath a 23-16 lead.
On CovCath's next possession, Fredrick hit an open 3. Nearby, Cooper senior Braydon Runion was called for a foul on the Colonel screening for Fredrick, After a conference, officials called the foul on Runion but waved off the shot by Fredrick.
Cooper then scored the last two buckets of the half on shots by Kunkel and Chris McNeil, and CovCath led 23-20 at the break.
CovCath led 30-22 in the third after a controversial call against Kunkel. With CovCath leading 26-22, Cooper went in transition. A Jaguar missed a layup. Kunkel flew in for a followup dunk but couldn't corral the ball. He hung on the rim in the midst of heavy traffic and was called for a technical foul. Ruthsatz made both foul shots and CovCath retained possession. Mayer scored in the lane right away to put CovCath up by eight.
Cooper responded well, going on a 14-6 run to tie the game at 36. Kunkel had nine points in the sequence, which ended on the first possession of the fourth period.
Ultimately, CovCath advanced to play Dixie, who CovCath beat 81-37 Feb. 9.
"They're a good team," Ruthsatz said. "They got a lot of shooters. They'll come out with good defense. It will take a lot of energy and practice to learn their offense."
COVCATH (30-4): Fredrick 4 7 16, A. Mayer 3 4 11, Ruthsatz 3 10 18, Nowak 1 0 3, M. Mayer 1 0 2, Walter 0 3 3. Totals: 12 24 53.
COOPER (25-6): Kunkel 5 7 18, Runion 2 2 6, McNeil 1 0 2, Walters 5 0 13, Shidler 1 0 2, Houston 2 0 5, Spencer 1 1 3. Totals: 17 10 49.
Halftime, CC 23-20. 3-pointers: CC 5 (Ruthsatz 2, Fredrick, A. Mayer, Nowak), CO 5 (Walters 3, Kunkel, Houston).