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| Drew Craft drives to the basket against Ansonia. |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Covington
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10-2
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13-7
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Newton
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10-2
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15-5
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Mississinawa Valley
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9-3
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11-9
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Twin Valley South
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8-4
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13-7
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Tri-Village
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8-4
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11-9
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Arcanum
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7-5
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12-8
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Ansonia
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7-5
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11-9
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Franklin Monroe
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5-7
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9-10
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Bethel
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5-7
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9-11
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| Miami East |
4-8 |
5-15 |
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Tri-County North
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3-9
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4-16
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National Trail
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1-11
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1-19
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Bradford
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0-12
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1-19
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December 22, 2006 – ANSONIA
The fans who paid admission to Friday's basketball game between Covington and Ansonia expected to see four quarters of exciting basketball. What they received were five quarters of exciting basketball.
The Buccaneers and Tigers, both unbeaten in Cross County Conference play, went into overtime after Ansonia's Logan Beam drilled a three-pointer to beat the buzzer at the end of regulation.
The 4:00 overtime session began with five straight points by Seth Mohler to give Covington a 37-32 lead with 2:40 left on the clock.
Just 8 seconds later Mohler fouled out, leaving the Buccs without the dominant rebounding presence he displayed throughout the fourth quarter. Mohler left with 12 points (all coming in the fourth quarter and overtime) and 7 rebounds.
Ansonia responded by outscoring Covington 13-4 over the final 2:32 of overtime to take a thrilling 45-41 victory.
"We're disappointed in the result, but I'm very proud of the effort from these kids," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "Heck, at 4:00 this afternoon I didn't know if we'd have any of our starters except Corey (Patty) and Drew (Craft). Everyone else was throwing up from the flu."
The tone of the game was established from the outset as neither team could get much going against the opposing defense.
Covington managed just 6 first quarter points on two Derek Brumbaugh baskets and a jumper by Gene Studebaker.
Ansonia didn't do much better, scoring 7 points in the opening stanza, 6 of those coming from Logan Beam.
The low scoring affair continued in the second period as Covington again managed just 6 points, all coming on a pair of treys, one each from Brian Beckstedt and Kyle Simon.
"Brian and Kyle came in and hit a couple of big shots for us," Craft described. "I didn't think Kyle was going to be able to play tonight because he was sick all day and had a temperature. He was determined to play and he gave us some nice minutes as long as he could."
The host Tigers managed to increase their lead to 15-12 at the half by scoring 8 second period points.
Eric Beisner canned a jumper, Logan Beam scored on a three-point play and a trey by Zach Schuh accounted for Ansonia's offensive output in the period.
Studebaker opened the second half with a lay-up to bring Covington within one, but Ansonia responded with a Logan Beam basket and a Brad McEldowney lay-up to give the Tigers their largest lead of the contest, 19-14.
The Buccaneers came right back with a pair of free throws by Derek Brumbaugh and a Drew Craft jumper to close the gap back to one.
Logan Beam took the momentum back with a jumper just short of the three-point line, but Studebaker responded with his second jumper of the period.
McEldowney brought the Ansonia crowd to its feet by driving to the basket for a circus lay-up and converted the three-point play after being fouled.
After two Corey Patty free throws on Covington's next possession, Niles Brown canned a trey in the closing seconds of the third to give Ansonia a 27-22 lead heading into the final 8:00.
Held scoreless to this point, Seth Mohler took over the game for the Buccaneers.
The 6'5" senior started the fourth quarter scoring with a lay-up and a jumper to close the deficit to 27-26.
Derek Brumbaugh then gave Covington its first lead since the early moments of the game with a lay-up off of a well-timed pass by Mohler.
The Tigers took the lead right back on a steal and a lay-up by Brown, but Mohler canned two straight free throws with 1:41 left in the game to give Covington a 30-29 lead.
After forcing Ansonia to turn the ball over on its next possession, Derek Brumbaugh was sent to the line with two shots. He missed the first and made the second to increase Covington's slim lead to two points, 31-29.
Once again the Buccaneer defense held true as it forced a poor shot by the Tigers and Seth Mohler was fouled after pulling down the rebound with just 12 seconds left in the game.
Benefitting from the double bonus, Mohler missed the first free throw, but made the second to give Covington a 32-29 lead.
After calling a timeout to discuss a strategy, Ansonia took to the floor for one final shot at sending the game into overtime. Three passes were made, the final one a kick out from Eric Beisner to Logan Beam, who spotted up from behind the arc and calmly drilled the shot to tie the score at 32-32.
After Mohler's exited the game after giving the Buccs a 37-32 lead, the Tigers once again battled from behind.
Beam started things off by converting one of two free throws and then Beisner picked up a steal and converted a lay-up to cut the margin to 37-35.Corey Patty gave the Buccs a lift by drilling a clutch 10-footer, but a second Zach Schuh three-pointer closed the gap to one, 39-38 with 1:27 left on the clock.
Patty was fouled on Covington's next possession and canned both free throws to push the lead back to three, 41-38. That would be the final points Covington would score for the night.
"We were gassed," Craft said. "With the shape the kids were in all day, it was tough for us to go into overtime. But the kids battled through it."
The Buccaneers picked up three fouls in the final 31 seconds and Ansonia made five of the six attempts to take a 43-41 lead with juts 4 seconds left on the clock.
Eric Beisner then stole the in bounds pass by Covington and sealed the contest with a lay-up.
"Ansonia's a good basketball team," Craft praised. "Give them credit. They came through in some tough circumstances. They have some nice sized kids with athleticism. I think we took a step forward even though we came up short tonight."
The defeat drops the Buccaneers to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while Ansonia improves to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the CCC.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ........6......12......22......32.....41
Ansonia ...........7.......15......27......32......45
Covington Scoring:
Seth Mohler - 12
Derek Brumbaugh - 9
Corey Patty - 6
Gene Studebaker - 6
Kyle Simon - 3
Brian Beckstedt - 3
Drew Craft - 2
Ansonia Scoring:
Logan Beam - 19
Eric Beisner - 9
Zach Schuh - 6
Niles Brown - 6
Brad McEldowney - 5
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Kyle Simon (1), Brian Beckstedt (1)
Ansonia: Zach Schuh (2), Niles Brown (1), Logan Beam (1)
