There was a certain poetic justice to Sam Cooper scoring the last basket of Grayslake Central’s storybook season.
On the Rams’ biggest stage Monday night, the senior guard continued to show the significant strides he has made.
“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t shooting it really well, and then I started to see some go in,” he said. “My confidence kept building as the season progressed.
“If you’re shooting the ball with confidence, there’s a better chance of it going in.”
Cooper looked plenty confident during the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Supersectional at NOW Arena. He hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, but the Rams lost 67-60 in double overtime to St. Ignatius.
“He’s a special shooter of the basketball,” Grayslake Central coach Brian Centella said. “When you look at his efficiency shooting the basketball, it’s amazing. As we saw today, he can make some tough ones too.”
That efficiency includes Cooper’s free-throw shooting. He shot 84% from the line, 55% from the floor and almost 44% from 3-point range this season.
The third of his 3-pointers against St. Ignatius (24-11) gave the first-time sectional champion Rams (29-6) a 52-50 lead with a little more than two minutes left in regulation in a game where the pace was more revved up than they’re used to playing.
Although Cooper did most of his damage from long distance against the Wolfpack, it was his midrange shot that arose during the season and announced him as a truly well-rounded scorer.
“The better I got from 3-point range, the more people would attack me, and the closeouts allowed me to pump-fake and go to dribble pull-up, which I got pretty good at,” he said. “I got very comfortable with the midrange.”
Cooper’s comfort level started to develop in his driveway during the summer since that area isn’t configured for long-range shooting. He also had a productive summer playing for a club team after a junior season in which he missed significant time with an illness and didn’t really hit his stride.
Senior guard Dennis Estepp has played with Cooper for almost a decade, dating back to their early days in Grayslake Central’s feeder program, and knows what Cooper did to get better.
“He put the work in and blossomed as a player,” Estepp said. “He and I are always putting up extra shots. Knowing that when I’m driving to have a shooter like him in the corner was a great option. He’s always making that right read and is really fun to play with.”
Personal improvement wasn’t Cooper’s only goal this season. He wanted to help the Rams realize the promise he and his classmates saw years ago.
“I’m definitely proud of the season I had,” he said. “If you had told people around the Chicagoland area that Grayslake Central would be playing in a supersectional, they wouldn’t have believed it or even know who we are. Getting our program’s name on the map and our town on the map, I think that makes this year a big success.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.