Josh Burelison had a solid game against Franklin Monroe as the Buccs improve to 4-1 on the season.

2001-02 Season 2001-02 Covington Buccaneers 2001-02 Buccaneer Cheerleaders Jason Meyer goes on to college...

11/30/01 12/01/01 12/07/01 12/08/01 12/14/01 12/15/01 12/21/01 12/22/01 12/28/01 12/29/01 01/04/02 01/05/02 01/11/02 01/12/02 01/18/02 01/25/02 02/01/02 02/02/02 02/08/02 02/15/02 02/19/02 02/23/02 03/01/02 03/08/02 at Arcanum at Fairlawn Miss. Valley at Tipp City at Franklin Monroe Dayton Christian Newton at Anna Russia Marion Local at National Trail at Milton Union Tri Village Versailles Bethel Twin Valley South Tri County North Miami East at Ansonia at Bradford BRADFORD ANNA FORT LORAMIE CEDARVILLE W 79-47 L 70-76 W 72-49 W 53-49 W 63-53 W 55-50 W 70-39 W 52-49 L 57-58 W 55-47 W 58-43 W 73-53 W 56-45 W 68-56 L 64-68 L 53-55 W 67-64 W 54-47 W 88-51 W 88-65 W 84-55 W 97-58 W 66-50 L 39-48 Team Covington Bethel Tri-County North Tri-Village Twin Valley South Newton Franklin Monroe Arcanum National Trail Ansonia Mississinawa Valley Bradford CCC 9-2 9-2 9-2 9-2 8-3 6-5 5-6 4-7 3-8 2-9 2-9 0-11 ALL 16-4 16-4 16-4 14-6 15-5 10-10 9-11 5-15 5-15 4-16 3-17 0-20

December 14, 2001 – PITSBURG
Nothing comes easy for the Covington Buccaneers this year. Every opponent they face is looking to knock them off and capture a win that could become a springboard for the rest of the season. It's no secret that the Buccs are one of the favorites to win the CCC this season and that puts a big target on their backs.

Franklin Monroe came into tonight's game struggling to find their groove. This was a game that could get them rolling because of their high profile opponent but the Buccs had just too much firepower for the Jets to handle at crunch time. The end result was a 63-53 Buccaneer victory.

Franklin Monroe jumped out to an early 5-0 lead as the Buccs failed to find the bottom of the net on their first 6 shots. Jarod Meyer broke the ice with a lay-up and followed that with jump-shot to close the gap to 7-4. Franklin Monroe increased their lead to 11-7 before The Buccs began to take over. Jason Meyer found the mark with a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in the quarter to give the Buccs a 13-11 lead. Jason then closed out the quarter with a lay-up at the buzzer to put the Buccs up 15-11.

Josh Burelison started the Buccs off in the second with a jumper from the baseline. Franklin Monroe battled back and tied the game at 18 with 5:30 left in the quarter. Two 3-pointers by Jarod Meyer and buckets by Jason Meyer and Bert Roeth put the Buccs up 28-20 with 3:36 left and forced the Jets to call a time-out. After the time-out Franklin Monroe closed the gap to 35-29. The Buccs turned the ball over and Franklin Monroe got the ball inside and capitalized at the buzzer to send the game into half-time with a 35-31 Buccaneer lead.

The Buccs went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead 2 minutes into the third. Franklin Monroe was able to gradually close the gap throughout the period and trailed 47-42 with 4 seconds left in the period. Bert Roeth snuck behind the Jet's defense to give the Buccs a 49-42 lead heading into the final period.

Each team only managed a bucket a piece through the first 4 minutes of the fourth period as the Buccs held a 51-44 lead. After a bucket by Franklin Monroe, Jarod Meyer drove between two defenders to put the Buccs up 53-46 with 3:30 left in the game. Twice Franklin Monroe hit on 1 of 2 free throws while Jason Meyer nailed a jumper as the Buccs held a 55-48 lead with 2:30 left. A steal by Jason Meyer followed by a Franklin Monroe foul led to two more Buccaneer points with 1:36 left. Franklin Monroe began to send the Buccs to the foul line as time gradually ticked away. A few free throws by Jason and Jarod Meyer gave the Buccs the 10-point win.

The Buccs improve to 4-1 overall and host Dayton Christain tomorrow night.

Scoring breakdown:
Jason Meyer – 23
Jarod Meyer – 17
Bert Roeth – 14
Josh Burelison – 6
Matt Maier – 3

Buccs Survive Tough Road Stretch...
The folks who determined the early part of the schedule must have wanted to see just how good the Buccs are. Only a really good team could survive four out of five road games to start the season. Taking into account that half of the Buccaneer players were playing football in the middle of November, the early schedule seamed brutal for the Buccs going into the season.

The Buccs managed to get through the first five games with only one blemish on their record, a 6-point loss at undefeated Fairlawn. If few calls went a different way and if a few shots dropped in then the Buccs would be 5-0 but the one loss may have been a blessing in disguise. It showed the Buccs they are not invincible but it also showed them they could be in any game even when they are not playing their best basketball.

The Buccs did win their other three road games and their only home game to this point. The most important part of their 4 wins is 3 of them have come against CCC opponents which leaves them tied for the CCC lead. They are in excellent position to make a run at the CCC title because their early schedule has been so tough. All of their games have been physical which should prepare the Buccs for the long haul.

To top it off, the Buccs only have 5 road games left. That means they play 10 of their last 15 games on their own floor. Heading into the season the Buccs probably planned to be 5-0 at this point but 4-1 is still an excellent place to be.