Sacred Heart Blows Out Bethlehem; Cooper Holds Off Henderson County To Make Final Four

The KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament quarterfinals proved to be competitive early on Friday, but the later two games were not as close. The third battle of the day was an old-fashioned smack down while the fourth game was back and forth until the end.

We will take a closer look at what happened in the game between Sacred Heart (Louisville, KY) and Bethlehem (Louisville, KY), followed by a deeper dive on the final game of the night, Cooper (Union, KY) vs. Henderson County (Henderson, KY).

Which teams have made it to Saturday’s semifinals? Let’s find out.

Sacred Heart Jumps On Top Early And Never Looks Back

The third quarterfinal matchup of the day between the Sacred Heart Valkyries and the Bethlehem Banshees was a highly anticipated game. Right off the bat, it was clear who was coming out on top, and that was Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart outscored Bethlehem 23-9 in the first quarter. Although the second quarter was closer in terms of scoring, the Valkyries already maintained a 40-25 lead going into halftime.

Junior forward and five-star recruit Zakiyah Johnson had 10 of Sacred Heart’s 40 points in the first half. The Valkyries came out even stronger in the second half and outscored Bethlehem 19-7 in the third quarter alone. Going into the fourth, Bethlehem trailed 59-32. The Banshees outscored Sacred Heart 13-12 in the fourth with help from Leah Macy, another top-ranked recruit in the class of 2025.

Macy finished the game with a double-double after scoring 13 points and pulling down 14 boards. Even though the highly-rated Bethlehem junior had a solid night, Sacred Heart’s Johnson was the star of the show, helping guide her team easily over the Banshees.

Johnson led all players in scoring as she had 21 by the end of the night, along with five rebounds and five assists. She was not the only Sacred Heart player who finished in double figures though. Forward Reagan Bender had 17 while center Angelina Pelayo came away with 10 points of her own as her team picked up the 71-47 victory.

Cooper Takes Over the 2nd Half Against Henderson County

The final game of the night started one-sided in favor of Henderson County but quickly changed after a solid second half from Cooper kept them ahead the rest of the game.

The Henderson County Lady Colonels jumped out on top early and went into the second quarter with a 10-5 lead. However, thanks to a final layup in the final seconds before halftime courtesy of Cooper’s Liz Freihofer, the Jaguars took an 18-15 lead.

Coming out of the locker room, it was a Cooper advantage the rest of the game as they outscored the Lady Colonels 29-22 in the second half. Free throws made a huge difference in the outcome of the game with Cooper going perfect (7-7) from the charity stripe while Henderson went 71.4% from the line.

Henderson County’s Atylia Green led all scorers with 21 points playing all 32 minutes. Cooper only had one player score in double-figures as Haylee Noel added 11 points on 4-5 shooting.

Sacred Heart and Cooper are now set to face off in the second semifinal on Saturday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m. EST at Rupp Arena. That game will take place right after McCracken County vs. Butler. The winners will advance to the championship game which will be played at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.