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Matt McCord connects on 2 of his game high 24 points.
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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 25, 2003 – COVINGTON
There was a sense of history in the air tonight as the Covington Buccaneers welcomed six new members into the school's athletic "Hall of Fame". Richard Via (class of 1954), Doug Swartz (class of 1976), Matt Weikert (class of 1997), Becky Sink-Weldy (class of 1997) and two honorary inductees, Tom Barbee and Bob Phillis were honored prior to the Buccs' headliner with visiting Triad.
The hall of fame festivities brought back great memories of the past for the Buccaneer faithful, but unfortunately the game was one that many in attendance would soon like to forget. Triad spoiled the celebration by escaping with a 63-57 victory in a game the Buccaneers let slip through their fingers.
The Buccs became their own worst enemies in the first half and it cost them dearly down the stretch. Covington managed to connect on only 4 of 24 shots in the paint throughout the entire first half. To make matters worse, the Buccs had 57 shots throughout the contest and only converted on 19 of those opportunities.
"This is so disappointing," said a dejected Covington coach Roger Craft. "We shot poorly in the paint all night. We only made 1-9 (shots in the paint) in the first period and 4 of 24 in the first half. That's not going to win any ball games."
Despite the poor shooting performance, the Buccs managed to stay with Triad and had every opportunity to win the game at the end.
The Buccs held a 12-10 lead at the end of the first period, but fell behind by 10 at the end of the half, 31-21.
The Buccs were able to close to 45-35 after three periods of play thanks to the clutch shooting of Matt McCord and Ross Mohler. McCord and Mohler scored 13 of the Buccs' 14 points in the period, 6 by Mohler and 7 points from McCord.
McCord continued with the hot hand in the final period and nearly led the Buccs to a second straight victory. He scored 10 of his game high 24 points in the final 8 minutes, plus notched a steal that set set up a Dallas Burelison layup to cut the Triad lead to 57-54 with 1:47 left in the game.
After two Triad layups pushed their lead back to seven, Ross Mohler converted on a layup and a free throw to make the score 61-57.
Triad turned the ball over on their next possession, giving the Buccs another chance to cut into the lead with under a minute to go. The Buccs failed to convert on three straight shots under the basket and Triad pulled down the rebound which forced a Covington foul with 26 seconds left.
Two free throws by Triad at the other end of the court ended all Buccaneer hopes of a second straight victory.
Covington drops to 3-13 on the season. Things don't get much easier for the Buccs as their next three games are on the road against three of the better teams in the area, Miami East, Twin Valley South and Tri-County North.
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 24
Ross Mohler – 11
Matt Maier – 8
Dallas Burelison – 8
Darin Rhoades – 6
Triad Scoring:
Hunt – 20
Thornhill – 14
Baker - 10
Sliemers – 8
Cushman – 4
Funderburgh – 3
Kerns – 3
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington....12......21.....35.....57
Triad...........10......31.....43.....63
