Matt McCord had a monster night for the Buccs with a game high 34 points and 22 rebounds.

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 6, 2003 – FAIRLAWN
In their first big test of the 2003-04 season, the Covington Buccaneers passed with straight A's. They went into a hostile environment against a tough Fairlawn team and escaped with a 75-63 win.

"This is a great win for our team because this is such a tough place to play," said a delighted Covington coach Roger Craft. "Fairlawn is always tough to beat and even tougher on their home floor. I don't even remember the last time we came away with a win in this gym."

Matt McCord was the Buccs' big gun as he dropped in a career high 34 points and pulled down 22 rebounds. McCord also canned 16 out of 21 free throws, 13 of 14 in the final period.

"McCord had an outstanding game," complemented coach Craft. "He was a live highlight reel tonight. Matt's a solid all-around player. Friday night against Bradford he led us in assists and tonight he led us in both scoring and rebounds."

McCord's 22 rebounds is three short of the school record and he nearly matched the entire Fairlawn team's total of 25 rebounds. The Buccs dominated on the boards with a 48-25 rebounding edge.

"That was the difference in the game," said Craft. "I told the kids we needed to be aggressive on the boards and play well in transition defense in order to win. I think they (Fairlawn) had 8 points in transition, which is outstanding defense."

The early going was tough for both teams as neither team could gain the advantage. At the end of the first period the score was deadlocked at 16 and the Buccs held a 2-point margin at the half, 26-24.

Covington found some breathing room in the third as Darin Rhoades and Brady Reck both connected on three-pointers. By the end of the third period, Covington held a 47-43 lead.

The game remained tight midway through the fourth period as Fairlawn again tied the score at 56. After a Ross Mohler Free throw, Fairlawn's Andy Francis canned a 3-pointer to give the Jets a 59-57 lead.

Brady Reck quickly gave the lead back to Covington with a 3-pointer of his own and the Buccs outscored Fairlawn 15-4 the rest of the way.

"That shot by Brady got us going down the stretch," said Craft. "That shows senior leadership. All of our seniors have stepped up for us. We talked about senior leadership Monday and we really put the load on their shoulders."

To go along with McCord's big night, the Buccs received a balanced contribution from other players as well. Dusty Kimmel dropped in 13 points while Ross Mohler scored 11 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and recorded 4 blocked shots. Brady Reck canned 2 three-pointers and 8 points while Gene Studebaker came off of the bench with 6 points and 5 rebounds. Darin Rhoades also had a solid night with 3 points, and a game high 7 assists.

Fairlawn was led by Andy Francis with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Brian Moon and Doug Huelskamp also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.

In summarizing his team's success, coach Craft didn't hesitate to mention his bench.

"We received outstanding minutes from our bench players," said Craft, "Dallas Burelison and Gene Studebaker came in and performed very well. It's nice to see the kids play with confidence. Everyone on the team knows their roll and they all accept their roll very well. This is the most continuity we've had in a while. I'm very pleased with all of the kids."

The Buccs improve to 2-0 on the young season while Fairlawn drops to 1-1. Covington travels to Arcanum next Friday for a Cross County Conference showdown with the Trojans.

Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 34
Dusty Kimmel – 13
Ross Mohler – 11
Brady Reck – 8
Gene Studebaker – 6
Darin Rhoades – 3

Fairlawn Scoring:
Andy Francis – 27
Brian Moon – 11
Doug Huelskamp – 10
Richie Beard – 8
Eric Slonkosky – 4
Jon Clark – 2
Zach Knupp – 1

Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......16....26.....47......75
Fairlawn..........16....24.....43......63

Records:
Covington 2-0, Fairlawn 1-1