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Darin Rhoades penetrates and hits the open man under the basket.
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Ansonia
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11-0
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18-2
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Covington
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10-1
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12-8
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National Trail
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9-2
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17-3
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Bethel
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4-4
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8-6
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Twin Valley South
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5-4
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9-6
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Newton
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4-4
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6-9
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Tri-Village
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4-4
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7-8
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Arcanum
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4-4
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6-9
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Tri-County North
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1-8
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2-13
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Franklin Monroe
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1-7
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5-10
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Mississinawa Valley
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2-5
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2-10
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Bradford
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0-11
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1-19
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February 27, 2004 – PIQUA
Come tournament time, a win is a win anyway you can get it. It doesn't matter what happened during the regular season because it's one and your out in the second part of the season.
Nobody knows this better than the Covington Buccaneers as they came into the tournament last year off of a 3-17 regular season. The Buccs upset two straight opponents and before falling in the sectional finals.
The shoe was on the other foot tonight as the Buccs came into the first round of the sectionals heavily favored over a Botkins team who fielded a 4-16 regular season record. Botkins nearly gave the Buccs a dose of their own medicine.
Botkins kept the game close throughout and eventually took a 53-52 lead with 1:10 to go in the game. Fortunately for the Buccs, they managed to connect on 4 of 8 free throws to escape with a 56-53 win.
"We got a win," said a relieved Covington coach Roger Craft. "We still have practice tomorrow and that's all that matters. I'm proud of the way the kids came through in crunch time."
Covington, who has played just 1 game in the past 20 days struggled early to find a rhythm. After going up 10-6 late in the first period Botkins scored on a 3-point play. Keith Schulze scored on a layup and converted on a free throw to cut the margin to 10-9 with under a minute to go in the stanza.
Covington bounced back to close out the period as Dusty Rhoades drilled a 3-pointer to give the Buccs a 13-9 lead after one.
Covington built their largest lead of the first half midway through the second 23-17 on a trey by freshman Gene Studebaker. Foul troubles then began to haunt the Buccs as Botkins canned 8 straight free throws in an 8-2 run to close out the half with both teams even at 25-25.
It looked like the Buccs found their rhythm and were on their way to break the game open to start the third. Covington went on a 12-4 run to take a 37-29 advantage and force a Trojan timeout. Darin Rhoades drilled two treys in the run to give Covington their largest lead of the game.
Botkins gradually chipped into the Covington lead throughout the remainder of the third and into the final stanza. With 4:10 to go in the game the Trojans took their first lead of the contest 47-46 on a basket by Alex Hoying.
Matt McCord gave the Buccs the lead right back on a layup and then hit a short jumper to increase Covington's lead to 50-48. After a Dallas Burelison basket, Botkins scored 5 unanswered points to take the lead 53-52 with 1:10 to go.
McCord and Studebaker combined for 2 of 4 free throws to give the Buccs the lead with 30 seconds to go.
After stopping Botkins on their next possession, McCord went to the line again with a chance to put the game away with 14 seconds to go. Unfortunately, the free throws wouldn't fall, giving Botkins a chance to steal the win. As the second free throw bounced off of the rim, Dustin Kimmel got a hand on ball and swatted it off of a Botkins out of bounds.
Darin Rhoades collected the inbounds pass and was fouled immediately, giving the Buccs another chance to put the game away. This time, Rhoades converted on both free throws giving the Buccs the 56-53 win and a chance to play another day.
"I give Botkins credit," complemented coach Craft. "They had a great gameplan. They played hard and pressured the ball all night. We got into some foul trouble, but we had kids come off of the bench and keep us in the game. Offensively, we haven't played in a while and the rust showed. But, we still got the win and that's what matters.
The Buccs advance to the second round and face Troy Christian on Tuesday, March 3 at 8:30 pm. Troy Christian advanced with a 57-52 win over Sidney Lehman.
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 20
Dustin Kimmel – 11
Darin Rhoades – 10
Gene Studebaker – 8
Dallas Burelison – 4
Dusty Rhoades – 3
Botkins Scoring:
Alex Hoying – 23
Keith Schulze – 12
Jason Shultze – 5
Zach Heinfield – 4
#4 – 4
Josh Schmerge – 3
Jordan Counts – 2
Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......13.....25.....40......56
Botkins.............9.....25.....34......53
Records:
Covington 14-7, Botkins 4-17
