Dustin Kimmel fights his way to the basket.

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

March 6, 2004 – PIQUA
The Russia Raiders have become a thorn in the side of the Covington Buccaneers the past few years. The last time the Buccs defeated the Raiders on the hardwood was on March 2, 2001 in the sectional tournament, 51-48. The two teams have played four times since with Russia coming out on top each time, including last year's disappointing loss in the sectional finals.

That thorn was pushed just a bit deeper tonight as the Raiders ended the Buccs' season for the second year in a row with a 63-43 win.

The Buccs had every reason going into the game to believe this was the year to get some payback. The Buccs were playing much better basketball since their last loss to Russia, 62-56 on December 30th. The Buccs also knew they were a different team then the one Russia faced in the tournament last year.

In the first 3:00 of the contest, it appeared as though it was going to be Covington's night. The Buccs jumped out to an early 7-4 lead on two jumpers and a 3-pointer by freshman, Gene Studebaker.

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off in a hurry. Dustin Kimmel was forced to the bench with two quick fouls and Russia took advantage with a 13-3 run to take a 17-10 lead after one.

With Kimmel still on the bench to start the second, the Raiders increased their lead to 23-10 on three straight baskets inside the paint.

The Buccs only managed to knock down one shot in the entire stanza while Russia kept finding their way inside the paint for easy baskets. With the Buccs trailing 30-14 with under 10 seconds to go in the half, Russia's Jay Borchers dropped in the dagger with a 3-pointer to give the Raiders a 33-14 halftime lead.

The Buccs tried to climb back into the game in the third, but never could close the gap to within single digits. The Buccs did close the gap to 47-34 on a pair of Dallas Burelison free throws, but that was as close as Covington would get.

Kimmel picked up his fifth foul with 4:00 to go in the contest and Russia converted on 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to take the 20-point win.

Gene Studebaker led the Buccs with 17 points and Darin Rhoades contributed with 10. Russia's two big men inside did most of the damage as Adam York led all scorers with 20 points while Brent Pleiman scored 14.

Russia held the edge on the boards by pulling down 29 rebounds to Covington's 15. Both teams committed 22 turnovers. The Raiders also held a significant edge at the free throw line by converting on 23 of 29 attempts to Covington's 8 for 18 attempts.

The Buccs end their season with a 14-9 record.

Covington Scoring:
Darin Rhoades – 10
Matt McCord – 8
Dustin Kimmel – 4
Gene Studebaker – 17
Brady Reck – 2
Dallas Burelison – 2

Russia Scoring:
Jay Borchers – 8
Jordan Grogean – 5
Joel Puthoff – 4
Colin Foster – 3
Lee Rosenbeck – 6
Adam York – 20
Chad Gariety – 3
Brent Pleiman – 14

Scoring by quarters:
Covington ......10......14.....26.....43
Russia............17.......33.....43.....63