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Matt McCord goes up for 2 of his 15 points in the Buccs' win over Trail.
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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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January 16, 2004 – NATIONAL TRAIL
Coming into tonight's contest Covington was reeling from a tough loss to Tipp City and National Trail was riding a 10-game winning streak. Although both teams were unbeaten in the Cross County Conference, National Trail was the overwhelming favorite to continue on to challenge Ansonia for the league title later in the year.
After 32 minutes of basketball, Trail's plans were at least temporarily dashed by the Buccs in a 63-59 upset at National Trail High School.
It was evident early that the Buccs were ready to give National Trail all they could handle. Buckets by Brady Reck, Darin Rhoades and Matt McCord gave Covington a 6-4 lead only minutes into the contest.
National Trail came right back with a basket by Josh Unger and 3 out of 4 free throws from Justin Boggs and Tim Beck to take a 9-7 lead. After Covington's Gene Studebaker tied the score with a jumper, Trail took their final lead of the contest 11-9 on a layup by Beck.
Covington scored the final 7 points of the first as Gene Studebaker connected on a 3-pointer and Dallas Burelison connected on two straight jumpers.
The Blazers began the second stanza with 3 straight points to cut Covington's lead to 16-15, but Darin Rhoades and Matt McCord converted on short jumpshots in the paint to push the lead back to 5 points.
Trail then went on a 7-4 run to close the gap to 24-22 with under 1:00 to go in the half. Darin Rhoades closed out the half with two free throws to give the Buccs a 26-22 lead at the break.
Trail opened the second half with a jumper by Andy Bevins, but Covington came right back with two baskets by Dustin Kimmel for a 30-24 lead. Bevins drilled 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 3 points, but another Kimmel basket followed by a 3-pointer by Darin Rhoades increased Covington's lead to 35-27 with 4:58 to go in the period.
After a National Trail timeout, the Blazers outscored the Buccs 8-4 over the next 4:30 seconds to close the gap to 39-36 with 28 seconds to go in the third. Gene Studebaker then connected on a 3-pointer to close out the period and give Covington a 42-36 lead heading into the final 8:00.
The Buccs opened the fourth with a 8-3 run. McCord and Studebaker both connected on a pair of jumpers to give the Buccs a 50-39 lead and force a National Trail timeout with 4:54 left in the game.
Trail scored the next 6 points to cut the lead to 50-45 and force Covington to take a timeout with 3:11 left.
After only taking 5 foul shots the previous 29 minutes of the contest, the Buccs converting on 11 of 18 foul shots down the stretch to hold on for a 63-59 win.
Covington improves to 8-4 on the season and remains unbeaten in the CCC at 6-0. National Trail falls to 10-2 on the season and 5-1 in the conference.
Covington hosts unbeaten Versailles tomorrow night.
Covington Scoring:
Matt McCord – 15
Darin Rhoades – 15
Gene Studebaker – 13
Dustin Kimmel – 8
Brady Reck – 5
Dallas Burelison – 4
Ross Mohler – 3
National Trail Scoring:
Tim Beck – 17
Andy Blevis – 13
Josh Unger – 12
Brad Ballinger – 11
Justin Boggs – 4
Tyler Mann – 2
Scoring by quarters:
Covington.......16....26.....42......63
National Trail...11....22.....36......59
Records:
Covington 8-4, National Trail 10-2
