Ross Mohler goes up for 2 points as the Buccs roll over Bradford 67-32.

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

December 5, 2003 – BRADFORD
The faces are the same, but the results are different. At least that's what the Covington Buccaneers are counting on this season.

With all but one player back from a year ago, the Buccaneers believe they have the talent and maturity to challenge for a Cross County Conference title. There is still a lot of basketball to play, but the Buccs took the first step in possibly achieving their goal with an impressive 67-32 win over rival Bradford.

"We really did what we wanted to do tonight," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "We took it to them early and controlled the game throughout. This was a good way to start the season."

The Buccs more than took it to the Railroaders early as they opened a 10-0 lead midway through the first period. Bradford failed to get on the scoreboard until 5:16 left in the period on a layup by Brandon Kosier.

Covington then went on a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 22-2 until a Bradford basket with 16 seconds left in the period to make the score 22-4.

Matt McCord and Dustin Kimmel led the Buccaneer' charge by combining for 18 of Covington's 22 first period points.

"Kimmel was impressive tonight," commented coach Craft. "He controlled the boards in the first half and played a physical game."

The Buccs pushed their lead to 29-4 to start the second period as McCord hit a free throw and Brady Reck canned two jumpers, one from 3-point range.

Bradford managed to play the Buccs even for the rest of the half as the teams went into the half with the score 39-15 in Covington's favor.

The Buccs never let up in the third as Darin Rhoades found the hot hand. Rhoades pumped in 9 of his 13 points on the night in the third while the Buccaneer defense held the Railroaders to only 8 points in the period.

With a 53-23 lead to start the fourth, coach Craft elected to empty his bench. The results remained the same as Covington outscored Bradford 14-9 in the final stanza to take a 67-32 win.

"I'm pleased with our focus and the intensity we showed on defense," continued coach Craft. "We had a great week of practice and it showed on the floor. I'm also thrilled we were able to get a lot of players in the game because our legs should be fresh for tomorrow night against Fairlawn."

Matt McCord led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Darin Rhoades dropped in 13 points and Dustin Kimmel contributed with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Covington (1-0) travels to Fairlawn tomorrow night. Fairlawn is also 1-0 after a big win over Jackson Center.

Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......22....39.....53......67
Bradford...........4....15.....23......32

Records:
Covington 1-0, Bradford 0-1

Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 19
Darin Rhoades – 13
Dustin Kimmel – 12
Brady Reck – 7
Ross Mohler – 5
Richard Canan – 5
Tyler Moore – 2
T.J. Warner – 2
Dallas Burelison – 2

Bradford Scoring:
Wakirk – 10
Fine – 5
Mattieu – 4
Jones – 4
Miller – 3
Harleman – 2
Lear – 1