Brady Reck drives to the basket during the conference championship game.

2003-04 Season Preview 2003-04 Covington Buccaneers 2003-04 Buccaneer Cheerleaders Matt McCord – CCC Player of the Year

12/05/03 12/06/03 12/12/03 12/19/03 12/23/03 12/27/03 12/30/03 01/02/04 01/03/04 01/09/04 01/10/04 01/16/04 01/17/04 01/23/04 01/24/04 01/30/04 02/03/04 02/06/04 02/07/04 02/17/04 02/27/04 03/03/04 03/06/04 at Bradford at Fairlawn at Arcanum Mississinawa Valley at New Bremen Marion Local Russia at Franklin Monroe at Milton Union Newton at Tipp City at National Trail Versailles Tri-Village at Anna Bethel Tri-County North Twin Valley South Miami East at Ansonia Botkins Troy Christian Russia W67-32 W75-63 W70-54 W50-40 L48-61 L45-59 L56-62 W57-45 W58-44 W61-47 L48-50 W63-59 L40-68 W66-50 L50-55 W47-37 W86-40 W55-50 L44-54 L44-60 W56-53 W58-45 L43-63 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

February 17, 2004 – ANSONIA
This group of Covington seniors are no strangers to playing in big games and for conference championships. They've won four straight in football and shared back-to-back titles as freshman and sophomores in basketball.

So, when the Buccs traveled to Ansonia tonight to face the 17-2 Tigers, they appeared calm and collected as if it were another day at the office.

Actually, through three periods of play, it was another day at the office for the Buccs. Covington was right where they wanted to be. Although they were down by four points, they were within striking distance. All indications pointed to their big game experience taking over and leading to a conference championship.

Unfortunately for the Buccs, the fourth period began and the wheels came off in a hurry. Ansonia torched Covington for 25 points in the final 8:00 in what seemed like a lifetime to the Covington faithful.

As each Ansonia basket went through the net and each second ticket off of the clock, the packed house of Tiger fans became louder and louder. When the final seconds ticked away, the entire floor became the stage for a huge celebration for the Tigers as they cut down the nets.

Covington, 12-7 coming into the contest, appeared to be too physical for the Tigers in the early stages of the contest. Matt McCord and Dustin Kimmel controlled the paint as Covington built a 9-8 first period lead.

The second stanza was more of the same. While McCord and Kimmel kept Ansonia's Adam Barga and Jack Steinke in check, Darin Rhoades started raining threes. Rhoades connected on three treys in the first half.

The Buccs also held Steinke scoreless in the first half and went into the locker room with a 24-22 lead and the comfort of things going their way.

Covington increased their lead to 30-24 in the opening moments of the second half. Matt McCord and Gene Stubebaker combined for 6 straight Buccaneer points to force an Ansonia timeout.

Ansonia then went on a 7-1 run to tie the score at 31-31 with 1:50 to go in the third. The Tigers then extended their lead to 35-31 as the third period came to a close.

The Tigers opened the final stanza with a trey and never looked back on their way to a conference title.

With the loss, Covington drops to 12-8 overall and 10-1 in the CCC. Ansonia finishes at 18-2 and 11-0 in the conference.

The Buccs head into tournament play as the third seed in the Piqua Sectional. Covington takes on Botkins on Friday, February 27 at Piqua High School. Gametime is 7:00 pm.

Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 11
Darin Rhoades – 10
Gene Studebaker – 8
Dallas Burelison – 5
Dustin Kimmel – 5
Brady Reck – 3
Corey Sprankle – 2

Ansonia Scoring:
Steinke – 13
Wentworth – 12
Howdieshell – 11
Barga – 11
Harrod – 6
Koesters – 4
Fosnaugh – 3

Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......9....24.....31......44
Ansonia..........8....22.....35......60

Records:
Covington – 12-8, 10-1
Ansonia – 18-2, 11-0