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Matt Maier had a career night for the Buccs with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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*Twin Valley South
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9-2
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17-3
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*Franklin Monroe
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9-2
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16-4
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*National Trail
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9-2
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15-5
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*Tri-Village
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9-2
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14-6
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Ansonia
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7-4
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10-10
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Tri-County North
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6-5
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12-8
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Mississinawa Valley
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4-7
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8-12
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Arcanum
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4-7
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7-13
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Newton
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4-7
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5-15
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Covington
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3-7
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3-17
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Bethel
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2-9
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3-17
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Bradford
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0-11
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0-20
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February 18, 2003 – PIQUA
How do you motivate a team that is 3-17 and has only won 1 out of it's last 15 games? How do you motivate a team that is facing an opponent in the first round of the sectional tournaments that defeated them earlier in the year on a last second shot after leading by double digits late in the game? How do you motivate a team that just can't catch a break?
Roger Craft knows the answer.
"I told the kids before the game that they should be proud to wear that name (Covington) across their chests," said coach Craft. "I stressed to them that those colors represent a long tradition of success and it's time they play like it."
Coach Craft's pep-talk worked wonders as the Buccs played their most inspiring basketball of the season. The result was a dominating 66-58 win and a bit of revenge on the Anna Rockets.
The early going was tough for both teams offensively as the Buccs held a 7-6 lead after one period of play.
Freshman Dustin Kimmel got the Buccs rolling in the second by scoring 8 of his 14 points in the period. The Buccs went on a 18-8 run in the period to build a 25-14 lead at the half.
"Dustin is such a talented kid," complimented coach Craft. "He is very physical and aggressive. To top it off, he's very coachable and a hard worker. He had a problem earlier in the season with picking up fouls, but we have corrected that problem. He's still physical, but he's worked on the little things we've asked of him."
Covington increased their lead to 42-29 by the end of the third and appeared to be running away with the contest. Dusty Rhoades and Ross Mohler took the ball aggressively to the basket on numerous occasions while Darin Rhoades nailed 2 three-pointers at opportune times.
"Darin hit some big shots," described coach Craft. "He's playing with more confidence and it's nice to see him score some points."
With a 13 point lead and all of the momentum on the Buccaneers' side heading into the final 8:00, Anna put together a run that had Bucc fans reliving a nightmare from January 18th when the two teams previously faced each other.
The Rockets scored 6 straight points in less than 1:00 to cut the Buccaneer lead to 42-35. After a Covington timeout, Anna went on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 46-46 with under 5:00 to go in the game.
Coach Craft again called a timeout to regroup and to give one last pep-talk.
"I asked the kids how they wanted the game to end," said coach Craft. "I asked them why they would play these guys hard for 24 minutes and then let it slip away. I left it up to the kids to decide which direction they wanted to go. We could either play aggressive and take it to Anna or continue playing on our heals and let them dictate the game."
What transpired was an answer the coach was looking for.
The Buccs outscored Anna 20-12 the rest of the way to advance to Friday night's game against the winner of the Fairlawn and Jackson Center.
Four Buccaneers scored in double figures with Ross Mohler leading the way with a game-high 17 points. Dustin Kimmel knocked down 14 points while Matt McCord and Darin Rhoades added 12 and 10 respectively. McCord also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"I'm very pleased with our performance tonight," concluded coach Craft. "Matt Maier gave us 10 solid minutes despite still being affected by the flu he had. Ross stepped up really big tonight and Dusty Rhoades played well. It was a total team effort tonight and that's what we needed."
Buccaneer Scoring:
Ross Mohler– 17
Dustin immel – 14
Matt McCord – 12
Darin Rhoades – 10
Dusty Rhoades – 7
Matt Maier – 3
Dallas Burelison – 3
Anna Scoring:
Berner – 15
Carter – 12
Barhorst – 12
Hoying – 8
Esser – 6
Burch – 2
Albers – 2
Egbert – 1
Scoring by Periods:
Covington.........7.......25......42......66
Anna................6.......14......29......58
