Untitled Page
 |
|
Dustin Kimmel goes up for two points in the Buccs' big win over Russia.
|
|
|
Untitled Page
|
Untitled Page
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Team
|
CCC
|
ALL
|
|
Ansonia
|
10-1
|
16-4
|
|
Twin Valley South
|
9-2
|
15-5
|
|
National Trail
|
7-4
|
14-6
|
|
Franklin Monroe
|
7-3
|
10-8
|
|
Covington
|
7-4
|
11-10
|
|
Tri-Village
|
6-5
|
9-11
|
|
Tri-County North
|
5-6
|
9-11
|
|
Arcanum
|
4-7
|
9-11
|
|
Bethel
|
5-6
|
8-12
|
|
Newton
|
2-9
|
4-16
|
|
Mississinawa Valley
|
2-9
|
4-16
|
|
Bradford
|
0-11
|
0-20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 28, 2004 – RUSSIA
In recent years the Russia Raiders have had the Covington Buccaneers' number on the basketball court. Coming into Tuesday night's meeting between the two teams, Russia had won the previous five meetings. To make matters worse for the Buccs, the Raiders have ended their season in the last two sectional tournaments.
With a 57-52 win on Russia's home floor Tuesday, the Buccs finally ended their frustration.
"This is a big, big win," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "The last time we beat them was in 2000-2001 season in the sectional finals. It's nice to get this win."
Russia jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a lay-up by Brent Pleiman and a trey by Jordan Grogean.
Covington responded with six straight points of its own on a lay-up by Gene Studebaker, a jumper by Darin Rhoades, and two free throws by Richard Canan.
After another basket by Pleiman and a free throw by Chett Borchers, Covington scored four straight points on free throws by seth Mohler and a Corey Sprankle basket to give the Buccs a 10-8 lead with just seconds left in the first.
Russia closed out the stanza with a long-range trey by Colin Puthoff to take an 11-10 lead after 8:00 of play.
Covington's Richard Canan opened the second stanza with a three-pointer of his own, but the Raiders outscored the Buccs 17-10 over the remainder of the half to take a 28-23 lead into the locker room.
The second half opened with misfortune for the Buccs as Gene Studebaker went down after cutting the margin to 28-25 on a drive to the basket. Studebaker left the game and would not return, leaving the Buccs without an all-around, impact player.
After a Rhoades jumper cut the margin to 28-27, Russia took control of the stanza and increased its lead to 44-39 with 8:00 to play.
The Buccs opened the final stanza with baskets by Rhoades and Michael Gilmore to cut Russia's lead to 44-43.
After Russia's Adam York scored on a short basket in the paint, the Buccs tied the score at 46-46 by connecting on three of four free throws by Dustin Kimmel and Richard Canan.
Russia's Luke Cordonnier canned a jumper to make the score 48-46 in favor of the Raiders with 5:01 left, but that would be the last field goal Russia would get until a final attempt at the buzzer.
Covington scored 11 straight points as Darin Rhoades started the run by connecting on a lay-up and then drilling a three-pointer. The Buccs then connected on six straight free throws to push their lead to 57-48 with just 24 seconds to play.
"We were stuck on 48 points in what seemed like forever," said Russia coach Paul Bremigan. "They (Covington) didn't do anything different down the stretch. We just didn't execute. You can't do that against a good team and expect to win."
The Raiders made a final push at the free throw line, but time ran out after a Grogean lay-up at the buzzer.
"We just didn't make plays when we needed to and they did," continued Bremigan. "You are not going to win a close game when you don't score in 5:00 in the fourth quarter. That was the difference."
Covington's Roger Craft was pleased with his team's performance at the free throw line and the defensive execution.
"That was huge," said Craft in reference to holding Russia scoreless for nearly 5:00 in the final stanza. "We also shot well from the line tonight. We've struggled in the past, but we made 20 of 25 free throws tonight and six big ones at the end. It's nice to get a close win after losing those close one's earlier in the year."
Leading the way for the Buccs was Richard Canan and Darin Rhoades, each with a game-high 18 points. Russia was led by Jordan Grogean with 13 points.
Russia held a slim advantage on the boards with 25 rebounds to 23 rebounds for Covington. Covington turned the ball over 10 times and Russia had 12 turnovers.
Covington improves to 5-4 on the season and travels to Marion Local Thursday.
Russia drops to 4-4 and hosts Houston Thursday.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ......10......23......39......57
Russia ............11......28......44......52
Covington Scoring:
Richard Canan – 18
Darin Rhoades – 18
Gene Studebaker – 8
Dusty Kimmel – 5
Corey Sprankle – 4
Seth Mohler – 2
Michael Gilmore – 2
Russia Scoring:
Jordan Grogean – 13
Brent Pleiman – 9
Adam York – 8
Chett Borchers – 5
Colin Puthoff – 5
Luke Cordonnier – 5
Matt Goubeaux – 4
Cody Anthony – 3
3-point Scoring:
Covington: Canan (1), Rhoades (2)
Russia: Puthoff (1), Grogean (2), Anthony (1)
