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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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February 1, 2003 – CASSTOWN
For a young team like the Covington Buccaneers to have a chance to beat a talented team like the Miami East Vikings they have to eliminate turnovers and easy baskets in transition. That never happened for the Buccaneers and the Miami East cruised to a 72-55 win.
The Vikings forced 8 Buccaneer turnovers and scored on 13 out of 14 shots in the paint in the first period alone. The result was a 28-9 lead for the Vikings at the end of the opening 8:00. The Buccaneers are not the type of team that can afford to fall behind by 19 early in the game and expect to win.
"We came out flat," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "We had a tough game last night against South and our legs were not there. We didn't hustle for loose balls and get back on defense. The 8 turnovers that early in the game really hurt us."
Miami East continued the defensive pressure in the second period as the Buccs continued to struggle with their own defense. The Vikings increased their lead to 45-21 by halftime.
The Buccs found their legs and intensity in the second half. Matt McCord scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the final two periods and the Buccs were able to outscore the Vikings 22-13 in the third period alone. At the end of the third period Covington had cut the Vikings' lead to 15 points, 58-43.
After a layup by the Vikings' Richie Beard to start the fourth, Covington's Dusty Rhoades canned a 3-pointer to get the Buccs within 14 points, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. The Vikings had too much firepower down the stretch and gradually increased their margin of victory to 17 points, 72-55.
"I was pleased with the way we played in the second half," continued coach Craft. "I let the kids know at halftime that they were not playing hard. That's the first time all season I had to do that, because these kids always give their best effort. This was a tough weekend for us traveling on the road to play two of the better teams we've faced all year in Twin valley South and Miami East on back-to-back nights. That's a tall order for anybody, but we need to play this type of competition to get better."
Matt McCord led all scorers with 21 points and the Rhoades brothers, Dusty and Darin knocked down 10 points each for the Buccs.
Miami East finished with four players in double figures, Armstrong 18, Mumma 15, Beard 12 and Vanover 12.
Covington drops to 3-15 on the season and plays Tri-County North next Friday for their third straight game on the road.
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 21
Darin Rhoades – 10
Dusty Rhoades – 10
Ross Mohler – 5
Dallas Burelison – 5
Dusty Kimmel – 3
T.J. Warner – 1
Miami East Scoring:
Carson – 4
Sowry – 9
Mumma – 15
Vanover – 12
Kirk – 2
Armstrong – 18
Beard 12
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington......9......21.....43.....55
Miami East...28......45.....58.....72
