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| Richard Canan dishes out one of his nine assists. |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Covington
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10-1
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16-4
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Bethel
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10-1
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15-5
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Tri-Village
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9-2
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13-7
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Twin Valley South
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8-3
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15-5
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Arcanum
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8-3
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15-5
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Newton
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5-6
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7-13
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Ansonia
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5-6
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8-12
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Franklin Monroe
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4-7
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5-15
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Mississinawa Valley
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3-8
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6-14
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Tri-County North
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3-8
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6-14
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National Trail
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1-10
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1-19
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Bradford
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0-11
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1-19
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February 18, 2006 – TIPP CITY
The Covington Buccaneers took their best shot at spoiling Tipp City's perfect regular season, but came up short down the stretch in the Devil's Den, 53-42.
Trailing 24-16 at the half, Covington battled back behind a stingy defense and pounding the ball inside to Seth Mohler and Dusty Kimmel to cut the margin to 37-35 midway through the final period. But, a fourth foul by Richard Canan forced the Buccaneer floor general to the bench and Tipp City immediately went on a 13-2 run to push the lead to double digits.
"Richard is our floor general," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "That (Canan being out) was a key moment in the game. We had fought our way back and things sort of unraveled after that."
With time running out, Covington failed to keep its composure and picked up two technical fouls in the final 2:00. The Red Devils capitalized at the free throw line by making 13 of 17 in the fourth period alone for the 11-point win.
"The kids were pumped up for this game and played their hearts out," continued Craft. "We just didn't keep our composure when things were not going our way. We have to keep our heads about us and make plays in spite of the circumstances.
Canan's short absence wasn't the only thing that hurt the Buccs down the stretch. The clutch shooting of Kellen Zawadski did as much, if not more damage to Covington's chances of handing the Red Devils their first loss of the season.
After Seth Mohler cut the margin to 37-35 on a lay-up, Zawadski drilled a long range trey to begin the Tipp City run. Then, the hot shooting of Zawadski closed the show as he scored 10 of the remaining 13 Red Devil points.
"Every time we would get some momentum, he (Zawadski) would hit a big shot," described Craft. "He wasn't the only one, but he hit some big ones."
Covington appeared to have the remedy for success as it was able to get the ball inside of Tipp City's quick, athletic defense. The Buccaneers connected on 16 of 32 shots inside the three-point line, while holding the Red Devils to just 5 field goals on 10 attempts of their own.
"If you would have told me before the game that we would make 16 of 32 shots inside and they would only have 5 of 10, I would take it and feel comfortable that we would be the one to get the win," said Craft. "We did a great job of keeping them out of the paint, which we felt was to our advantage."
But, Tipp City shot lights out from long range as it connected on eight three-pointers. Plus, the Red Devils were just as potent from the free throw line by canning 19 of 23 attempts.
On the other hand, Covington struggled from long range, making just 1 of 7 attempts from behind the arc and 7 of 13 from the free throw line. Covington lone three-pointer came when the final minutes when the outcome was virtually decided.
Despite the loss, coach Craft was pleased with the effort his kids gave.
"I'm very proud of how hard the kids played against a very good team," said Craft. "Defensively, we played very well. We forced them into 16 turnovers and kept them from beating us inside. We'll learn from this and prepare for the tournament."
Covington had three players in double figures with Seth Mohler dropping in a team high 12 points. Gene Studebaker and Darin Rhoades both contributed with 10 points each. Richard Canan had a solid night as well with 4 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds.
For the undefeated Red Devils, Kellen Zawadski led all players with a game-high 26 points, while Robert Goldsberry scored 11 points.
Tipp City held a slim advantage on the boards with 18 rebounds to Covington's 16 rebounds.
Covington ends its regular season at 16-4 and looks to begin a new season on a positive not as it faces Botkins in the opening round of the sectional tournament at Piqua High School on Saturday, February 25th.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington .........10.........16.........26........42
Tip City ................9.........24.........32........53
Covington Scoring:
Seth Mohler - 12
Gene Studebaker - 10
Darin Rhoades - 10
Dusty Kimmel - 6
Richard Canan - 4
Tipp City Scoring:
Kellen Zawadski - 26
Robert Goldsberry - 11
Kyle Webber - 8
Mike Porto - 6
Kuns - 2
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Darin Rhoades (1)
Tip City: Kellen Zawadski (4), Robert Goldsberry (2), Kyle Webber (2)
Records: Covington 16-4, Tipp City 20-0
