LEXINGTON — One more for history.

ZaKiyah Johnson and Claire Russell made big plays in the fourth quarter to lead the No. 1-ranked Sacred Heart Academy basketball team to a 58-50 victory over No. 2 Cooper in Saturday’s semifinals of the Mingua Beef Jerky/KHSAA Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.

Sacred Heart (30-7) advanced to face No. 9 McCracken County (32-5) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the state final. It will be a rematch of last year’s state final, which the Valkyries won 68-53 for their third straight state title. No team in Kentucky history — boys or girls — has won four straight championships.

“We get to come back and defend our title, which is something you dream about,” Valkyries coach Donna Moir said.

Freshman point guard Tootie Jordan, playing with an injured ankle, led the Valkyries with 17 points. She suffered an injury to her left ankle in the second quarter and missed the rest of the period before returning in the third quarter.

“The biggest part is I want to win this championship, and I want to make history,” Jordan said. “I want to be a part of the team that everybody’s talking about. I know they needed me out there, so I wanted to go out there and give it my best.”

Johnson added 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Sacred Heart had to grind it out against a Cooper squad that sports one of the state’s stingiest defenses. The Valkyries used an 11-0 run early in the second quarter to take a 20-8 lead and held a 26-17 halftime advantage.

Haylee Noel opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to pull Cooper (31-5) within 38-33.

But Johnson and Russell combined for nine straight points to push Sacred Heart's lead to 47-35 with 3:14 remaining. The Valkyries hit 14 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal it.

Russell finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

“Everybody believes in her,” Moir said of Russell. “She put in all the work. She didn’t play AAU this summer … and just got in the gym and worked on her shot. You can tell the way she’s played in this tournament. It’s been outstanding. We knew we had Claire, but I don’t think everybody else did.“

Liz Freihofer led Cooper with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks. The Jaguars finished 11 of 25 from 3-point range.

The win gave Sacred Heart a 72-game winning streak against Kentucky opponents, including three wins over Cooper this season.

“They’re super physical, so it’s really hard to score on them in the halfcourt,” Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said. “They’re a matchup nightmare, and most of the state has seen that. … We were lucky enough to play with them in the fourth quarter in the three games that we played. At the end of the day, it was always a couple of possessions here and a couple of possessions there.”

COOPER              5       12      13      20 - 50

SACRED HEART  9       17      12      20 - 58

Cooper (31-5) – Bella Deere 9, Logan Palmer 15, Haylee Noel 5, Liz Freihofer 15, Addison Brissey 3, Brinkli Rankin 3.

Sacred Heart (30-7) – Claire Russell 10, Reagan Bender 6, Angelina Pelayo 8, Tootie Jordan 17, ZaKiyah Johnson 15, Emi-Lee Howe 2.

KHSAA Girls Sweet 16: Butler run, led by seniors and 1st-year head coach, ends in semifinals

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Sacred Heart basketball one win from 4th straight KHSAA Sweet 16 title