Untitled Page
 |
|
Matt McCord goes up for 2 of his 15 points in the Buccs' loss to Anna.
|
|
|
Untitled Page
|
Untitled Page
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Team
|
CCC
|
ALL
|
|
Ansonia
|
11-0
|
18-2
|
|
Covington
|
10-1
|
12-8
|
|
National Trail
|
9-2
|
17-3
|
|
Bethel
|
4-4
|
8-6
|
|
Twin Valley South
|
5-4
|
9-6
|
|
Newton
|
4-4
|
6-9
|
|
Tri-Village
|
4-4
|
7-8
|
|
Arcanum
|
4-4
|
6-9
|
|
Tri-County North
|
1-8
|
2-13
|
|
Franklin Monroe
|
1-7
|
5-10
|
|
Mississinawa Valley
|
2-5
|
2-10
|
|
Bradford
|
0-11
|
1-19
|
|
|
|
|
January 24, 2004 – ANNA
The Covington Buccaneers went into tonight's non-conference game against Anna looking to build on the momentum gained in their win over Tri-Village a night earlier. Unfortunately, the Buccs struggled to find offensive consistency, which resulted in a 55-50 loss to the Rockets.
"We just struggled to find our rhythm offensively," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "Still, we had a chance to win it in the end, but things just didn't go our way."
Matt McCord started off with the hot hand early as he scored Covington's first 7 points of the game. Anna kept pace, however and held a slim 11-9 lead after 8:00 of play.
The Rockets increased their lead to 19-13 midway through the second as Andy Barhorst connected on three baskets in the 8-4 run. Covington closed out the first half with a 6-2 run to close within 21-19. Darin Rhoades capped off the half with a jumper at the buzzer.
Anna opened the second half with two straight baskets by Craig Albers and Barhorst to spark a 12-3 run. Darin Rhoades cut the margin to 33-27 on a 3-pointer. Both teams scored two more baskets in the closing minutes of the third to make the score 37-31 in the Rockets' favor heading into the final 8:00.
The Rockets stretched their lead to 43-33 in the first 2:00 of the fourth as Ashton Berner scored 4 out of 6 Anna points.
The Buccs fought back beginning with a Brady Reck trey, three buckets by McCord and a basket by Gene Studebaker to cut the margin to 50-45 with under 2:00 to go.
After a Barhorst free throw pushed the Anna lead to 6 points, Gene Studebaker canned a 3-pointer to close the gap to 51-48 with under 1:00 to go.
Forced to foul, the Buccs were never able to get any closer as Anna knocked down four straight free throws in the final minute to escape with a 55-50 win.
Despite the loss, coach Craft is optimistic about the rest of the season.
"The kids are disappointed now, but we'll bounce back," commented Craft. "This is a great group of kids and very resilient as well. We have great senior leadership on this team. We'll take a few days off to clear our heads and get some of the kids that are banged up healthy again. We'll continue to move forward because there is a lot out there for us these last few games."
Leading the way for Covington was Matt McCord with 15 points and Gene Studebaker with 12. Anna was led by Andy Barhorst with a game-high 20 points and Craig Albers with 10.
Anna held a rebounding edge of 25-16 and made 16 of 18 free throws to Covington's 5 of 9 attempts at the line.
Covington drops to 9-6 on the season, but are still in the hunt for a CCC championship with a 7-0 conference record.
The Buccs get back to conference action next Friday as they host Bethel.
Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......9....19.....31......50
Anna.............11....21.....37......55
Records:
Covington – 9-6, Anna 7-8
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 15
Gene Studebaker – 12
Dallas Burelison – 8
Darin Rhoades – 8
Dustin Kimmel – 4
Brady Reck – 3
Anna Scoring:
Andy Barhorst – 20
Craig Albers – 10
Josh Carter – 8
Andrew Burch – 8
Ryan Billing – 5
Ashton Berner – 4
