Ross Mohler shows hustle as he saves a ball from going out of bounds.

2002-03 Covington Buccaneers 2002-03 Buccaneer Cheerleaders

11/29/02 11/30/02 12/06/02 12/07/02 12/13/02 12/20/02 12/27/02 12/28/02 01/02/03 01/04/03 01/10/03 01/11/03 01/17/03 01/18/03 01/24/03 01/25/03 01/31/03 02/01/03 02/07/03 02/11/03 02/18/03 02/20/03 02/28/03 Bradford Fairlawn Arcanum Tipp City at Mississinawa Franklin Monroe at Russia at Marion Local at Newton West Milton National Trail at Versailles at Tri-Village Anna at Bethel Triad at Twin Valley South at Miami East at Tri-County North Ansonia Anna Jackson Center Russia W 63-51 L 44-53 W 54-51 L 51-59 L 34-37 L 39-71 L 40-62 L 22-52 L 32-51 L 47-57 L 43-54 L 44-77 L 39-59 L 54-56 W 47-36 L 57-63 L 48-73 L 55-72 L 44-58 L 25-43 W66-58 W35-32 L47-55 Team CCC ALL *Twin Valley South 9-2 17-3 *Franklin Monroe 9-2 16-4 *National Trail 9-2 15-5 *Tri-Village 9-2 14-6 Ansonia 7-4 10-10 Tri-County North 6-5 12-8 Mississinawa Valley 4-7 8-12 Arcanum 4-7 7-13 Newton 4-7 5-15 Covington 3-7 3-17 Bethel 2-9 3-17 Bradford 0-11 0-20

January 11, 2003 – VERSAILLES
For those Covington fans who showed up late to watch their Buccaneers do battle with Versailles do battle on the hardwood must have thought they would have been better off staying home and watching the replay of the Ohio State Buckeye's championship game on ESPN.

After all, the scoreboard didn't look too good as it took the Buccs 6:00 to score their first basket on a Dallas Burelison layin, but by that time the Tigers had already connected for 14 points of their own.

Versailles then built a 40-12 halftime lead as the Buccs only connected on 3 of 10 shots from inside the paint in the first half.

"We really struggled in the first half getting the ball in the basket," commented Covington coach Roger Craft. "We missed too many easy shots under the basket. We got the ball right where we needed it to be, but never finished off the plays."

Those who stuck around to witness the second half were treated to one of the guttiest second half performances of the season by the young Buccaneers.

Down by 28 and little hope for victory, the Buccaneers ignored the scoreboard and played for pride. They returned from intermission and connected on eight straight points to force a Versailles timeout. Six of those points came on two Dusty Rhoades 3-pointers.

Even after the Tigers regrouped, the Buccs continued to scratch, playing Versailles even over the second half of the contest. They took the ball to the basket with a little more aggression and contested every Versailles shot.

The result was a much more respectable 37-32 Versailles scoring advantage in the second half to make the final score 77-44 in the Tiger's favor.

"The kids showed a lot of heart in the second half to hang in their like that," continued coach Craft. "I mean, we were getting it handed to us physically. Versailles was beating us up inside, but the kids never gave up. The kids came out in the second half and played with a lot of heart. We will only continue to get better by playing good teams like this. I'd like to see us get a win because the kids have really worked hard and they've earned it."

If heart means anything, that day may come soon.

The Buccs drop to 2-10 on the season and travel to Tri-Village next Friday and host Anna on Saturday.

Covington Scoring Breakdown:
Matt McCord – 5
Ross Mohler – 6
Tyler Moore – 5
Dusty Rhoades – 9
Dallas Burelison – 10
Matt Maier – 4
Dustin Kimmel – 2
Darin Rhoades – 3

Versailles Scoring:
Schulte – 7
Shappie – 12
Gehle – 17
Barga – 2
Shardo –13
McNeilan – 6
Chrisman – 4
Schwartz – 4
Paulus – 2
Schmitz – 2
Bergman – 8

Reserves: Versailles 65, Covington 40