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Matt McCord had a solid night for the Buccs as they open their season with a win.
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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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November 29, 2002 – COVINGTON
The term "future present" was never more in evidence than last night's boys' basketball opener against Bradford, which the Buccs won more easily than the 12 point margin might lead you to believe.
At one point, Roger Craft had three freshmen and a sophomore on the floor at the same time, something not even done in '98 with the last great freshman class of Meyer, Meyer, Burelison and Roeth. And yet, many of the capacity crowd that witnessed the youthful debut of freshmen Darrin Rhoades, Dusty Kimmel, Richard Canan and sophomore, Tyler Moore, did so out of a sense of respect for what had passed with the graduation of that last great freshman class...with anticipation that what they were seeing was the turning of the page to the next great chapter of Covington basketball.
If indeed it was to be the next chapter, it started out as a slow read. Not until freshman Darrin Rhoades hit his first of four consective three point shots at 6:25 in the first quarter did the Buccs show life. It was a nostalgic sight to see a three-pointer from someone wearing #22 beside Jason Meyer as Rhoades 21-footer cut into what was a 5 point Bradford lead. A scrappy stickback by Matt McCord on the next trip down tied the score...two of McCord's 17 game-high total for the night.
"I don't think there's any doubt that Matt brought what he did in football to the gym tonight," said Craft afterwards. "Whatever is necessary is what he gives you...whether it's scoring, rebounding or just all-out hustle. Good athletes can do that."
Bradford's Ben Rank was not to outdone, however, as he hit a long rainbow three midway in the second period to give Bradford what would be it's last lead for the night at 16-14. Another McCord bucket on a driving layup tied the score before Darrin Rhoades' second three-point bomb gave the Buccs the lead for good. The lead was extended when another freshman, Richard Canan was knocked into the first row on a three-point attempt and coolly knocked down three straight free throws to herald his own debut.
With the score 32-23 and five seconds on the clock, Darrin Rhoades again rained in a three at the buzzer to close the scoring and give the Buccs a 12 point lead at the half.
And while the night was a coming out of sorts for Canan and Rhoades, it was a nightmare for the third of the freshman trio, Dusty Kimmel, who got into early foul trouble with aggressive play on the offensive boards and went scoreless for the first 16 minutes of play.
"Dusty gave us a glimpse tonight of what we'll see for the next four years," said Craft. "He's very aggressive in going after the ball on the boards and will have to learn that there's three sets of eyes watching now (a reference to the officials). He's a good one, though, and he'll be fine."
Covington started the second half where it left off when Rhoades' fourth consecutive 3-pointer drew a foul and he converted the four-point play to extend the lead to 40-23. Finally, at the 6-minute mark of the third quarter, Kimmel scored his first varsity points off an offensive rebound to make it a 20 point lead.
A good thing, too, because turnovers began to give the 'Roaders a foot in the door and led to them outscoring the Buccs over the final 12 minutes of play. For the half...it was dead even at 26 apiece.
A not-so-unhappy Craft was philosophical about the win.
"I think the kids were more unhappy with the way they played than we as coaches were," he said. "These kids really are a bunch of gym rats...and even for their age, they've already played a lot of basketball. We had balanced scoring tonight, which is a good thing...and we'll get better when Tyler (Moore) gets it going, Ross Mohler gets healthier, and Dusty Rhoades gets more practice time. We coaches have to adjust, too...to the newness of this. At one point late in the game I looked down and saw our best free throw shooter for the night (Canan) sitting on the bench. We got him back in."
And so, the curtain rises on another campaign with something old...a win...from something decidedly new in the persons of three freshmen, a sophomore, an athletic junior contingent from last year's JV squad...and a major contribution from Matt McCord, who a year ago played 70 miles away at Hilliard Darby.
"We had way too many turnovers (16) and we shot free throws miserably (50%) and that's not Covington basketball," said Craft. "The kids knew they hadn't played their best and knowing them...that's reason enough to believe there's better things to come."
Future present, indeed!
Scoring Totals.......
Matt McCord........... 17
Darrin Rhoades....... 14
Richard Canan......... 9
Dan Kiser................. 8
Ross Mohler............. 4
Matt Maier................ 4
Dusty Rhoades.......... 3
Dusty Kimmel............ 2
