Hamilton's Cooper Matthews and Badin's Gracie Cosgrove have huge nights!
For decades Hamilton has been one of the focal points of high school basketball in southwest Ohio. Schools have come into the City of Sculpture and at the end of the night, looked up at the scoreboard and realized they’ve lost to either the Big Blue or the Rams.
Despite the long history of the two athletic programs, there is still ground to be forged. In January, two record setting performances flashed the talent this city has and will forever go down in history.
On January 6, senior Cooper Matthews lit the Hamilton Athletic Center ablaze as he scored an arena record 39 points. To drop 30+ in a highschool game you’ve got to get started early and Matthews did just that.
“When the game started I got a quick layup and the next possession I got an and-1 three,” he said. “I started feeling it and it all went into place. Everything just went my way that night.”
Matthews hit four 3-pointers on seven tries, went 10-21 from the field and made 15 free throws on 20 attempts.
When you’re on the hardwood and having a good night you often have a feel for how much you’re scoring. But when you get into the stratosphere of the upper 30s, it's hard to keep track.
“Usually I’m just playing. Maybe toward the end of the night I’ll try to count up,” said Cooper on if he knew how good of a game he had. “But on a night like that, I didn’t have an idea. I thought I had 31 or 32.”
Matthews almost didn’t believe it when he was told he dropped 39 points. While his total is a record for the Hamilton Athletic Center. Hamilton’s program record was set by Norm Grevey during the 1984-85 season, he scored a total of 42.
Matthews’ dad, Ross, was a standout hooper in his own right. Ross was a member of the 1992 Lakota state championship team who beat Lima Senior in the finals. And basketball has always been at the forefront of Cooper and his dad’s relationship.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” said Cooper. “His love for basketball has always affected me and pushed me to put in my 100% best effort.”
His dad might be a state champion, but he never put up 39 points in the Hamilton Athletic Center.
One week after Matthew lit up the HAC, across town, Badin’s Gracie Cosgrove stamped her name not only in the Rams record book, but the state’s as well.
Cosgrove scored 48 points on January 11, as Badin beat Chaminade-Julienne 78-33. Meaning Gracie outscored the Ram’s opponent by herself.
Just like Matthews, Cosgrove jumped out to an incredible start. The sophomore hit three 3-pointers to open the scoring that night– and she didn’t let up. She book-ended the game with 14 points in the opening period and 16 points in the 4th. In total she went 17-26 from the field including going 14-23 from the 3-point line.
Her performance landed atop not only the girls single game scoring record for Badin, but surpassed the boys as well. The girls record was previously held by Lizzy Sunderhaus, who put up 36 points against Springfield South in 2007. The boys record is held by Randy Osborne who scored 43 points against Talawanda in 1979.
Gracie’s 14 3-pointers put her in a three-way tie for the Ohio High School Athletic Association record for a single game performance. She is tied with Olentangy Liberty’s Caitlin Splain and Massillon Jackson’s Taylor Mikesell.