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Dallas Burelison goes up for a shot against Russia.
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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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December 27, 2002 – RUSSIA
The Russia Raiders built a 19-point first period lead over the Covington Buccaneers and cruised to a 62-40 victory in non-conference action. The Buccs were never able to recover and committed some of the same mistakes that have haunted them the entire year.
"We continue to struggle handling the ball," commented Covington coach Roger Craft. "When you can't bring the ball up the floor you'll get beat and that's been a problem for us. They pressured us early and forced some turnovers that gave them easy scoring opportunities. They outscored us 29-10 in the first period and that was the difference in the game."
Although the Buccs were defeated by a 22-point margin, they were able to play Russia evenly throughout the final three periods.
The Buccs tried desperately to cut into the Russia lead in the second period. Matt McCord connected on two runners in the paint and Matt Maier found his way inside to score two buckets of his own to help cut the Russia lead to 12 with under three minutes to go in the half. After a layup by Russia's Jay Borchers, Dallas Burelison canned a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11 with 1:30 left. Russia connected on two more buckets to push their lead back to 15 making the score 39-24 at the half.
Russia extended their lead to 23 by the end of the third period as Covington scored only 5 points in the period. The Buccaneer defense kept the game from getting out of hand as they held the Raiders to 13 points of their own.
With the game well in hand Russia substituted players in the fourth period. The Buccaneers were able to outscore the Raiders 11-10 in the final period as B.J. Barnes knocked down a 3-pointer along with two free throws and Dusty Rhoades connected on a 3-pointer as well. As the final buzzer sounded, Russia remained unbeaten with a 22-point win.
"They are a very good team," complemented coach Craft. "I do see positive things out of this game that we can build on, however. Ross Mohler and Dallas Burelison had their best games of the season. Dallas missed some time early in the year and he's now getting back into the swing of things. He had a solid week of practice and hopefully that's a sign of things to come."
Another thing that impressed the coach was the Buccaneers' determination.
"I'm pleased with the way the kids battled back tonight," continued coach Craft. "We were down by 19 right away and we never gave up. We continue to play hard, but we have to find a way to overcome our mistakes."
The Buccs drop to 2-5 on the season and travel to Marion Local tomorrow night.
Covington Scoring:
Dusty Rhoades – 3
Dallas Burelison – 8
B.J. Barnes – 5
Ross Mohler – 9
Matt McCord – 7
Matt Maier – 6
Dan Kiser – 2
Total: 40
Russia Scoring:
Gill – 12
Foster – 6
Tebbe – 2
Borchers – 21
Cordonnier – 7
Francis – 6
Marchal – 8
Total: 62
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington......10.......24.......29.......40
Russia...........29.......39.......52.......62
