Not only was it a matchup of two top 10 teams in the state, but bragging rights for the best girls basketball team in the Northern Kentucky area were on the line when Simon Kenton traveled to Cooper on Thursday night.

As the Lady Jaguars have held firm to the crown for years on that title, the Lady Pioneers can now see it fit around their head after a 61-50 victory in Union.

Coming out with a fury out of halftime, Simon Kenton turned a 28-22 deficit into a 43-34 advantage by the end of the third quarter to flip the game on its head.

“First half we weren’t covering our assignments,” Lady Pioneers coach Jeff Stowers said. “Second half we were closing down gaps, they weren’t getting to the basket and they were missing shots. We buckled down on defense and then we ran our offense, ran our stuff.””

Simon Kenton closed with composure as Brynli Pernell scored 19 of her game-high 28 points in the second half for the victory.

After the Lady Pioneers continuously settled in the game’s first 16 minutes from the 3-point line, they started to attack the inside more and got positive results from it.

“We usually settle a lot from the three-point line, because that’s where our home is pretty much,” Pernell said. “We recognized that we weren’t hitting those shots, we saw that and just started driving more.”

PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton

Haylie Webb added 12 points while eighth grader Angela Kabeya came up big off the bench for 12 points. After Meg Gadzala hit some early foul trouble, it was Kebaya stepping in and providing another scoring punch for the Lady Pioneers.

“Angela has really been coming on the last six or seven games. She’s been our second or third leading scorer in those games,” Stowers said. “We took her off from playing JV games and was maybe a little frightened right off the bat, but she’s a real difference-maker.”

Despite struggling in the battle of the boards for the majority of the night, Cooper was able to turn Simon Kenton over early and hit five first half 3-pointers on their way to a 28-22 halftime lead. After taking a 14-12 lead into the second quarter, the Lady Jaguars closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 28-22 advantage into the break.

Then the third quarter came as Simon Kenton came out with a purpose and a 12-2 run to take a 34-30 lead after an Anna Kelch 3-pointer.

“We stopped executing,” Lady Jaguars coach Christian Prohaska said. “We let our offense kind of impact our game defensively because we weren’t hitting shots.”

Lyric Hooper’s layup followed by a Haylee Noel layup knotted things at 34 with under three minutes in the quarter, but Simon Kenton followed with another run, this one 9-0 to end the frame and take a nine-point advantage into the fourth.

“Rebounding was a big factor, too,” Prohaska said. “You give them second chances and they’re going to make you pay.”

The run swelled to 14-0 in the fourth after a Pernell 3-point play, Noel able to stop the damage and break an over four-minute drought with a 3-pointer to make it 48-37 with under 6:30 to play.

Cooper was able to get within eight, but Simon Kenton closed by hitting 5-of-6 from the free throw line and able to break the Lady Jaguars pressure with multiple layups to claim their stake as Northern Kentucky’s top girls basketball team.

“They’ve been the queens in Northern Kentucky for the last three, four years, and we’ve been telling the girls all week, ‘If you want some of their thunder, you got to go out and take it.’” Stowers said.

Thursday’s win over Cooper was their first since 2020, having lost four straight meetings between the two.

Things won’t get any easier for Simon Kenton as they’re set to play in the Camel Classic at Campbell County against Spire Academy out of Ohio, featuring the No. 1 ranked player in the nation, Saniyah Hall. From there, they close out the regular season with Frederick Douglass, Sacred Heart and Highlands to gear them up for the postseason.

“Our road the rest of the way is pretty tough, but we’re gonna learn something,” Stowers said. “We’re gonna learn something from it. Saturday, we’re gonna learn a lot, and the next game we go down to Frederick Douglass, we’re gonna learn something.”

Cooper was led by Noel’s 16 points, one of four in double-figures as Brinkli Rankin, Alivia Scott and Lyric Hooper put up 10 points apiece.

They return to action Saturday at the Raatz Fence/Oshea’s Basketball Classic at Louisville Mercy against Taylor County, facing another top 10 team in the state. Holy Cross follows on Wednesday.

LADY PIONEERS 61, LADY JAGUARS 50

SIMON KENTON — 12-10-21-18 — 61

COOPER — 14-14-6-16 — 50

Scoring

Simon Kenton (61) — Pernell 28, Webb 12, Kabeya 12, Kelch 5, Wiggins 2, Ober 2

Cooper (50) — Noel 16, Rankin 10, Scott 10, Hooper 10, Brissey 4

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