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Gene Studebaker shoots over Versailles' Jayson White.
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Ansonia
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10-1
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16-4
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Twin Valley South
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9-2
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15-5
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National Trail
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7-4
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14-6
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Franklin Monroe
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7-3
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10-8
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Covington
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7-4
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11-10
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Tri-Village
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6-5
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9-11
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Tri-County North
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5-6
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9-11
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Arcanum
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4-7
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9-11
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Bethel
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5-6
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8-12
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Newton
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2-9
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4-16
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Mississinawa Valley
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2-9
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4-16
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Bradford
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0-11
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0-20
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December 14, 2004 – VERSAILLES
Only five games into their season, the Covington Buccaneers have lost to a team that went 18-2 in the regular season a year ago, a team that made it to Regionals, and now a team who finished as state runner-ups. The three losses Covington has faced to Ansonia, Fairlawn, and Versailles have come by a combined 12 points.
"We are right there," said Covington coach, Roger Craft after the Buccs fell to Versailles, 48-46 Tuesday. "We took a huge step forward tonight, despite losing in the end. Versailles is a very good team, and we took them to the limit."
The Tigers jumped out to a 9-2 lead and appeared to have Covington flustered. Joe Shardo started the game with two free throws, Jared Turner drilled a jumper, Jayson White had a lay-up, and then Adam Barga canned a trey to force a Covington timeout only 2:20 into the game.
The Buccs bounced back with 7 straight points of their own. Richard Canan started the run off with a trey and then baskets by Dustin Kimmel and Gene Studebaker tied the score at 9-9.
"I'm proud of how the kids responded after being down early like that," said Craft. "That showed some character because of the type of team we were facing."
Paul Borchers gave Versailles the lead back with a basket and a free throw, but Covington's Darin Rhoades connected on a trey to tie the score again at 12-12 with 2:42 left in the first.
Covington then took its first lead of the contest on two free throws by Richard Canan, but the Tigers' Joe Shardo connected on a three from NBA range to give Versailles a 15-14 lead after one.
The Buccs took their largest lead of the contest, 19-15 to start the second stanza as Darin Rhoades connected on two free throws and a trey.
Versailles responded with a free throw by Barga and a trey by Jeremy Shardo to tie the score at 19-19.
The lead changed three more times by halftime as the teams traded basket-for-basket until a Rhoades trey and a Jeremy Shardo jumper notched the score at 29-29 at the half.
Covington received a big lift by sophomore, Seth Mohler to open the second half. Mohler snuck behind the Tiger defense for a lay-up, plus the foul for a three-point play.
Moments later, Versailles tied the score at 34-34 on another Joe Shardo trey.
Covington held a slim lead throughout the remainder of the third until another Joe Shardo trey tied the score at 39-39 after three periods of play.
Covington held Versailles to just 2 field goals in the final stanza, but none was bigger than another Shardo trey, this time from sophomore, Jeremy Shardo.
After Rhoades tied the score at 43-43 on a 15-foot jumper, neither team could score for over 1:30 until Shardo's 3-pointer with 1:10 to play to put Versailles up 46-43.
"That was the biggest shot of the game," said Craft. "We were playing very well defensively at that point and that three just got their crowd into it.."
Covington closed that gap to 46-45 on a Gene Studebaker lay-up with under a minute to go.
Forced to foul, the Buccs received a some good fortune as Jeremy Shardo hit on just 1 of 2 free throws to make the score 47-45.
Looking to tie the contest, Studebaker couldn't get a jumper to fall, but went to the line with a Versailles foul. Studebaker connected on his first free throw, but the second bounced off the from of the rim and into Versailles' Kevin Paulus' hands.
Paulus was fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one. Again, the first free throw went down, but the second failed, giving Covington new life with 14 seconds left in the contest.
With a chance to tie the score, Covington's Darin Rhoades found a clear path to the basket for a potential game-tying lay-up, but Versailles' Kevin Paulus chased Rhoades down and swatted the ball away and into Jeremy Shardo's hands with 2.4 seconds.
Shardo was fouled, but failed on the front end of a one-and-one, but a last ditch shot by Rhoades from half-court fell short giving the Tigers a 48-46 win.
"I'm very proud of the way the kids played tonight," praised Craft. "The kids are disappointed because they wanted this game, but the way we played is a positive."
Leading the way for Covington was Darin Rhoades with a game-high 19 points, including three treys. Gene Studebaker contributed with 10 points and Dustin Kimmel pulled down 6 rebounds.
Versailles was led by Joe Shardo with 18 points, including four treys.
Both teams recorded 22 rebounds as well.
Covington drops to 2-3 overall, while Versailles improves to 2-0.
The Buccs travel to face Mississinawa Valley Friday in Cross County Conference play.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ........14........19.........39.......46
Versailles .........15.......19.........39.......48
Covington Scoring:
Darin Rhoades – 19
Gene Studebaker – 10
Richard Canan – 7
Seth Mohler – 6
Dustin Kimmel – 4
Versailles Scoring:
Joe Shardo – 18
Jeremy Shardo – 9
Adam Barga – 6
Jayson White – 4
Kevin Paulus – 4
Paul Borchers – 3
Zac Richard – 2
Jared Turner – 2
