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| Seth Mohler scored a game-high 26 points, including this second quarter dunk. |
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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 8, 2006 – CASSTOWN
Those who purchased a ticket to see Miami East host Covington in its first ever basketball contest as a member of the Cross County Conference got their money's worth.
The Buccs and Vikings battled for 32 minutes and neither team came out a loser regardless of what the scoreboard read, 67-59 in Covington's favor.
"When you go to someone else's floor and it's their first game, you know they'll be hungry," said Covington coach Roger Craft after his team held off the surging Vikings for the win. "Give them (Miami East) credit, their kids played hard. Wow, did they play hard."
Miami East coach Kevin Evans was more than pleased with his team's effort as he had a hard time putting his emotions into words.
"That (the effort) is Miami East basketball," praised Evans. "What a great group of kids. They just battled tonight. It can't even describe how proud I am of these kids."
After Miami East opened the contest with a lay-up by David Heffelfinger, Covington ran off 15 straight points and appeared to be in for an easy night.
But a trey by Joe Taylor was a sign of things to come even though Covington closed out the first period with a put-back by Seth Mohler to make the score 17-5.
"We came out flat in the first quarter," said Evans. "I don't know if was first game jitters or what. It took us a while to get going."
After another Taylor trey to open the second stanza, Covington went on a 6-1 run capped by a Seth Mohler dunk to make the score 23-9.
Miami East regrouped to close out the first half by outscoring Covington 11-7 to close the gap to ten at the half, 30-20.
"Many teams would have packed it in after a dunk like that (Seth Mohler's dunk), but they didn't," complimented Craft. "They just came back stronger, which is a credit to their character."
Evans agreed.
"Maybe we don't know any better, but the dunk seemed to ignite us," Evans described. "Our kids just came back and played harder."
Miami East willed their way back into the game in the third period as it went on a 13-4 run to take its first lead of the game, 35-34 with 2:56 left in the quarter. Plus, Gene Studebaker picked up his fourth foul and was forced to the bench.
"We talked to our kids about how important the first three minutes of the third quarter is," explained Evans. "I wanted the kids to get within five, but they end up taking the lead. We had some momentum going there."
Covington responded, however as Seth Mohler scored eight points, Jordy Burelison canned a trey and Derek Brumbaugh hit on a jumper in a 13-3 Buccaneer run to give Covington a 47-38 advantage with one period to play.
"We had a big run there with Gene on the bench," Craft described. "They (Miami East) had came out like gangbusters in the second half and taken the lead. Our kids stepped up and made some plays to get us some momentum heading down the stretch."
As good as the first three quarters were, the final 8:00 was even better as neither team would give an inch.
Miami East opened the stanza with a Dan Hickman jumper, while Covington's Seth Mohler followed with a lay-up.
After a Hickman free throw, David Hellefinger drilled a jumper to bring a packed Miami East crowd to its feet and close the gap to 49-43.
Covington responded with two Derek Brumbaugh baskets, but another Hellefinger basket kept the Vikings within striking distance.
Mohler scored on a put-back and a lay-up, while Miami East could manage to convert just one of two free throws to make the score 57-46 with just under 4:00 to play.
Two Hickman treys on back-to-back possessions again brought the Viking faithful into a frenzy as Miami East closed the gap to 57-52 and forced a Covington timeout with 2:19 left in the game.
After an ear full from Craft, the Buccs responded as they ran off nearly 1:00 off the clock before Jordy Burelison drilled a trey to push the lead to 60-52 with 1:29 to play.
"Jordy made a couple of big shots, but that one was huge," said Craft. "We moved the ball inside to Seth (Mohler) and they (Miami East) clamped down on him. Seth kicked the ball out to Jordy and he drilled the shot. The fact that we went inside-out just shows how big of a shot that was because we executed the play the way you draw it up."
The shot by Burelison was the back breaker as Miami East could only manage just 5 of 8 free throws and a lay-up by Nick Kirk at the buzzer the rest of the way. Covington closed out the game by converting 5 of 8 free throws of its own to take a 67-59 win.
Seth Mohler had a monster night for the Buccs by scoring 26 points and pulling down 15 rebounds to go along with his first half dunk.
"Seth had a big night for us," said Craft. "He's capable of a game like this on any given night. He's so athletic and physically strong that he's a tough match-up for anyone."
Also scoring in double figures for the Buccs were Derek Brumbaugh and Gene Studebaker, each with 13 points.
Miami East had four players in double figures with Nick Kirk leading the way with 15 points. Joe Taylor scored 14, while David Heffelinger and Dan Hickman each scored 12.
At the end of the day it was about two teams who played their hearts out and left those in attendance wanting more.
"We had a nice crowd tonight and the kids love playing in front of a big crowd," Evans concluded. "If we continue to give the kind of effort we gave tonight, we'll win some ball games this year."
Craft agreed.
"If they shoot like they did tonight, they'll be in the mix in the league this year," said Craft. "For us, we'll take a win in another team's gym anytime we can get it."
Covington improves to 3-0, while Miami East stands at 0-1. The Buccs travel to Versailles tomorrow, while Miami East makes the trip to Lemon-Monroe.
Scoring by quarters:
Covington .......17........30......47......67
Miami East ........5........20......38......59
Covington Scoring:
Seth Mohler - 26
Derek Brumbaugh - 13
Gene Studebaker - 13
Jordy Burelison - 7
Corey Patty - 5
Andy Sparks - 3
Miami East Scoring:
Nick Kirk - 15
Joe Taylor - 14
David Heffelfinger 12
Dan Hickman - 12
Josh Deal - 5
Levi Worthington - 1
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Jordy Burelison (2)
Miami East: Joe Taylor (3), Nick Kirk (2), Dan Hickman (2)
