Mark Cooper sat on the end of the Pirates’ bench after Ottawa’s 73-43 win at Princeton Tuesday night.

It stands to be his final game coaching at Prouty Gym and he couldn’t help but become sentimental.

“I grew up coming to Princeton High School for basketball, football, volleyball,” Cooper said. “I know Tony (former PHS coach Lavorato) really well. He was an awesome guy. And (athletic director) Walt and Arlene Windt. This brings back a lot of good memories. It’s a community that greatly supports Princeton athletics.”

When he looks around the confines of the now quiet gym, Cooper can still remember the days playing for Mendota in Princeton’s old Turkey Tournament.

“We were good. Kewanee was really good, (Princeton) was really good and Dixon was really good. Princeton had Freddie Cartwright,” he said of his senior season in 1986-87. “We went to the Super that year and we went 1-2 here. We lost to Kewanee in overtime and I think we lost to Princeton and beat Dixon. But it was loaded.

“That’s where I always was at Thanksgiving. I was here. I love coming back. This is what high school basketball is like. The old bleachers. It’s a great community. I’ve got nothing but good memories here.”

Cooper, who is in his 22nd year at Ottawa and stands as the storied program’s all-time winningest coach with 351 wins, hasn’t officially said he’ll be stepping down as the Pirates head coach. But he will be retiring from teaching at the end of the school year, marking the end of the long Cooper brothers era at Ottawa with his brother Mike, retired Ottawa AD and girls basketball coach.

Driscoll to have season-ending surgery

Princeton senior standout Camryn Driscoll is set to have season-ending knee surgery on Jan. 29 in Peoria. She was injured on a layup in the Tigresses’ Jan. 8 game at Erie-Prophetstown.

Her injury was diagnosed Wednesday morning to be a rare tear in the front third of her meniscus on her right knee, her father Garey said. Most tears are in the back of the meniscus, he said.

Driscoll’s injury has resonated around the basketball community from opposing coaches, players and fans to Hall of Fame coach Brad Bickett (Bureau Valley, Rock Falls) and retired Sweet 16 coach Roger Lowe (Princeton), who appreciate her old-school ways and commitment to the game.

Driscoll appreciates all the support and will rely on her faith to make this setback a positive.

“I mean it really has meant a lot,” she said. “Every game we’ve had since my injury I’ve had people from coaching staffs and parents from other schools coming up to me and asking how I was doing and letting me know they’d keep me in their prayers. And that has meant so much to me because it has let me know that there are people out there who care about me and care about the way I have played throughout the years, which is so sweet.

“And I’m hoping that through this trial people can see my faith exemplified as I recover and that people see how much God can help anyone through negative seasons in life.”

Driscoll said she is going to miss playing with her teammates and is very appreciative of being able to play with them the past four years.

After a 14-0 start, the Tigresses have gone 1-4 in Driscoll’s absence, two losses by four points or less.

Princeton senior Keighley Davis said she misses her longtime running mate.

“I hope she gets better. We need her,” she said. “It’s not fun playing without her.”