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Ross Mohler goes up for a shot in the Buccs' loss at the hands on Twin Valley South.
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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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January 31, 2003 – WEST ALEXANDRIA
For nearly three quarters the Covington Buccaneers gave Twin Valley South more than they could handle, but unfortunately for the Buccs, there are 32 minutes in a basketball game. South was able to pull away from the Buccs in the final 10 minutes for a 73-48 victory.
"I'm proud of the way the kids competed tonight," commented Covington coach Roger Craft. "The final score isn't indicative of how well we played. We were right there with them late in the third period. We were down by 4 points and they went on a 9-0 run to finish the third and it's hard to come back against a team that can shoot like they can."
The Panthers showed why they are 14-1 and alone at the top of the CCC standings. South converted on 62% of their 2-point shots and 43% from behind the 3-point line. The Panthers connected on twelve 3-pointers on the night and 7 of 10 in the first half.
South jumped out to an 8-0 lead on two straight 3-pointers and a layup. After a Covington timeout, the Buccs went on an 8-0 run of their own to tie the score. The Panther's Dale Spitler then drilled one of his three 3-pointers as South increased their lead to 19-12 at the end of the first period.
Again Covington fought back and closed the Panther' lead to 25-21 midway through the second, but South's hot shooting increased their advantage to 34-24 at the half.
As most teams do, the Panthers hit a cold spell early in the third period. The Buccaneers took advantage by taking the ball aggressively to the basket. Matt McCord scored on a 3-point play and Darin Rhoades drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Panther lead to 42-38 with under 3:00 to play in the third period.
South called a timeout to regroup and scored the next 9 points to finish the third period. The Panthers connected on two straight 3-pointers and converted on a 3-point play as Alex Roux was fouled under the basket.
The Panthers then finished off the Buccs with a 22-point onslaught in the fourth period.
"They sure can shoot the ball," complemented Craft. "They have so many weapons that they can rotate four players at a time. We tried to control the inside and I felt we did that pretty well. We held (Daniel) Creerch to 12 points and he averages 19 a game. We held their big guy, (Alex) Roux to 11 points. We did all of that without Matt Maier who is out with the flu. Ross (Mohler) played well and he is under the weather as well. That just shows what type of kids we have. Our kids never give up and I'm proud of that."
In the end, it was South's outside shooting that was the difference in the game.
"They just hurt us from the outside," continued Craft. I told the kids after the game that every team isn't going to be able to shoot like that every night. We just ran into one that did tonight."
Freshman Darin Rhoades paced the Buccs with a game-high 19 points and Matt McCord contributed with 11 points.
The Buccs drop to 3-14 on the season and travel to Miami East tomorrow night.
Buccaneers Scoring:
Darin Rhoades – 19
Matt McCord – 11
Dusty Rhoades – 7
Ross Mohler – 5
Dallas Burelison – 4
Dusty Kimmel – 2
Pathers Scoring:
Daniel Creerch – 12
Dale Spitler – 11
Alex Roux – 11
Kyle Clevenger – 9
David Marker – 9
Steve Byrd – 7
Jared King – 7
Shelby Emrick – 5
Caleb Betzner – 2
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington........12.....24.....38.....48
Twin Valley......19.....34.....51.....73
