Gene Studebaker and the Buccs scored 20 points in the final 4:00 of the contest to advance to the sectional finals with a 71-59 win over Fort Loramie.

Darin Rhoades scored 27 points to lead the Buccs to a 71-59 win.

The C Block had plenty to cheer about.

2005-06 Season Preview 2005-06 Covington Buccaneers 2005-06 Buccaneer Cheerleaders

12/3/05 12/9/05 12/10/05 12/16/05 12/23/05 12/27/05 12/30/05 1/6/06 1/7/06 1/13/06 1/17/06 1/20/06 1/21/06 1/27/06 1/28/06 2/3/06 2/4/06 2/10/06 2/14/06 2/18/06 2/25/06 3/1/06 3/5/06 at Fairlawn at Bradford Versailles at Arcanum Mississinawa Valley Russia Marion Local at Franklin Monroe at Milton Union Newton at Ansonia at National Trail at New Bremen Tri-Village at Anna Bethel Miami East Twin Valley South Tri-County North at Tipp City vs Botkins (Piqua) vs Ft. Loramie (Piqua) vs Houston (Piqua) W 67-62 W 80-31 W 66-53 W 47-46 W 64-48 L 63-70 W 45-42 W 69-57 W 72-47 W 73-51 W 58-54 W 65-50 L 57-62 W 53-47 W 62-55 L 43-52 W 64-37 W 70-49 W 53-31 L 42-53 W 68-55 W 71-59 L 58-59 Team CCC ALL Covington 10-1 16-4 Bethel 10-1 15-5 Tri-Village 9-2 13-7 Twin Valley South 8-3 15-5 Arcanum 8-3 15-5 Newton 5-6 7-13 Ansonia 5-6 8-12 Franklin Monroe 4-7 5-15 Mississinawa Valley 3-8 6-14 Tri-County North 3-8 6-14 National Trail 1-10 1-19 Bradford 0-11 1-19

March 1, 2006 – PIQUA
The Covington Buccaneers overcame a third period rally by a gritty Fort Loramie team to 24 fourth quarter points to advance to the sectional finals with a 71-59 win.

The Buccs will face Houston on Saturday at 8:00 pm in what will be their sixth sectional finals appearance in seven years.

"This was a total team effort," said Covington coach Roger Craft in regards to his teams performance. "It wasn't easy though. Fort Loramie made us work for everything we got."

Covington opened the contest with five straight points on Darin Rhoades jumper and a three-pointer by Richard Canan. The Buccs then increased their lead to 11-4 on baskets by Gene Studebaker, Rhoades and Dusty Kimmel.

After four straight Loramie points, Rhoades converted a four-point play as he canned a three-pointer and made a free throw after being fouled on the shot.

Covington then received baskets by Studebaker and Canan as it built a 19-13 lead to close out the first quarter.

After a pair of Rhoades free throws pushed Covington's lead to 21-13 to open the second, Fort Loramie made its move by outscoring the Buccs 14-7 in the next six minutes to close the gap to 28-27 with under 1:00 left in the half. In the meantime, Dusty Kimmel picked up his third foul and was forced to the bench.

Needing momentum to carry into the locker room, Gene Studebaker drilled a baseline trey to give the Buccs a 31-27 lead at the half.

Fort Loramie opened the second half on fire by drilling two straight treys to take its first lead of the contest, 33-31. A basket by Jordan Goldschmidt followed to push the lead to 35-31 and force Covington to take a timeout with 5:54 left in the period.

"They (Fort Loramie) can shoot the ball," said Craft. "Every time we'd get a little five or six-point cushion, they'd hit a three. We came out flat to start the second half and they took advantage by scoring the first eight points. We took a timeout to hopefully break their momentum."

Covington regrouped and outscored the Redskins 14- 6 over the remainder of the third as Gene Studebaker scored seven points and Rhoades hit a running trey at the buzzer.

"That's Darin," Craft said. "He's a play-maker. When the ball is in his hands he makes plays. That one (the three-pointer) was huge."

Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the first 4:00 of the fourth as Covington only managed a bucket by Richard Canan and Loramie scored four points on two free throws by Greg Rethmant and a jumper by Nathan Barhorst.

Covington erupted in the final 4:00 of the contest by scoring 20 points to take a 71-59 win.

"We got some easy baskets in transition down the stretch," described Craft. "We were able get some long rebounds and get out and run. When we can get Richard, Darin, and Gene out in the open floor good things happen."

The Buccs were led by Darin Rhoades with a game-high 27 points. Gene Studebaker scored 19 points, while Richard Canan recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.

Fort Loramie was led by Jordan Goldschmidt with 21 points and Nick Boeckman with 16 points. The Redskins shot lights out from behind the arc by drilling 7 three-pointers.

Covington held the advantage on the boards with 25 rebounds to 16 for Fort Loramie. The Buccs also protected the ball by committing only four turnovers.

With the win Covington improves to 18-4 on the season and looks forward to a big weekend.

"We have a lot going on this weekend with the girls playing in districts, us in the sectional finals and Logan Brown wrestling at the state meet," said Craft. "We (the boys team) would like to wish the girls luck and give Logan our support as well. Logan is a great kid and he has worked hard for everything he's achieved. Go get 'em Logan."

Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ............19.......31........47.........71
Ft. Loramie ..........12.......27........41.........59

Covington Scoring:
Darin Rhoades - 27
Gene Studebaker - 19
Richard Canan - 10
Nick Meyer - 5
Dusty Kimmel - 4
Seth Mohler - 4
Corey Sprankle - 2

Fort Loramie Scoring:
Jordan Goldschmidt - 21
Nick Boeckman - 16
Greg Rethmant - 8
Mitchelle Westerheide - 4
Nathan Barhorst - 4
Brandon Aselage - 4
Brandon Philipot - 2

Three-point scoring:
Covington: Darin Rhoades (3), Gene Studebaker (2), Richard Canan (1)
Fort Loramie: Jordan Goldschmidt (4), Greg Rethmant (2), Mitchelle Westerheide (1)