Untitled Page
 |
|
Matt McCord scored a game-high 27 points in the Buccs' win over South.
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
February 6, 2004 – COVINGTON
The smile on Covington coach Roger Craft's face said it all after his Buccaneers captured a 55-50 win over Twin Valley South. It's not just the win that put the smile on the coaches face, but the way they won.
"I'm so proud of the way the kids battled tonight," said Craft. "We only turned the ball over 5 times tonight, played with patience offensively and our defense took them (South) out of what they like to do. This was a great win for our seniors on parents night."
South came out firing right off of the bat as they drilled three treys in the first 4:00 of the contest. Covington tried to keep pace with a Darin Rhoades 3-pointer, but was forced to call a timeout with the Panthers leading 11-7.
"I told the kids we needed to get out and contest those shots," commented Craft. "From that point on we moved better in our zone and put better pressure on the ball. We played in a zone so we didn't have to fight through their (South's) screens. South likes to set screens to free up (Dale) Spitler so we did our best to take that away."
South made only three more 3-pointers the rest of the night and converted on just 6 out of 21 for the contest.
After Craft's adjustments the Buccs battled back to tie the score at 15-15 to close out the first period. Matt McCord scored 7 of Covington's 8 points in the final 4:00 of the stanza, while the Buccs held the Panthers to just 4 points.
Covington built their largest lead of the first half, 22-17, as Gene Studebaker and McCord combined for 7 straight points. South took the lead right back with a three-point play plus their fourth trey of the first half to make the score 23-22. The remainer of the half was back and forth as the lead changed two more times before the teams went into the locker room tied at 29-29.
Neither team could shake loose from the other in the third as the lead changed six times in the stanza. South took their largest lead of the contest, 42-39 with under 2:00 to go in the third, but a trey and a layup by Studebaker gave the Buccs the lead moments later at 44-42.
South's Tyler Loxley closed out the period with a jumper to end the third straight period with the score deadlocked.
Again, both teams matched the other point-for-point for much of the final period. With the score deadlocked at 50-50 with 1:30 left in the contest, Covington called a timeout to set up a thrilling finish.
Matt McCord then gave the Buccs the lead with 1:14 to go on a layup. After two straight missed free throws by South's Caleb Betzler, Covington had their chance to put the game away. Unfortunately for the Buccs, both McCord and Studebaker missed on the front ends of one-and-ones.
Still, South was never able to take advantage and was forced to foul with 14 seconds left. Once again, the Buccs left the door open by only converting on 1 of 2 free throws.
After pushing the ball up the floor for one last attempt to at least tie the score, South's Derek Smith traveled. Covington's Darin Rhoades was fouled on the in-bounds pass with 3 seconds to go. Rhoades calmly sank both free throws to give Covington a 55-50 win.
Leading the way for Covington was Matt McCord with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Gene Studebaker contributed with 10 points and Darin Rhoades knocked down 10 points of his own.
South was led by Derek Smith with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Caleb Betzner sank 13 points while Dale Spitler contributed 11 points on the night.
Covington improves to 12-6 on the season and 10-0 in the Cross County Conference. The Buccs host Miami East Saturday as they will honor new members in the Covington Athletic Hall of Fame.
Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......15....29.....44......55
TV South.........15....29.....44......50
Records:
Covington – 12-6, 10-0
TV South – 9-6, 5-4
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 27
Gene Studebaker – 12
Darin Rhoades – 10
Dustin Kimmel – 6
Twin Valley South Scoring:
Derek Smith
Caleb Betzner – 13
Dale Spitler – 11
Dustin Bassler – 5
Tyler Loxley – 2
David Marker – 2
