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| The Buccaneer senior class poses in front of the scoreboard. |
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| Seth Mohler scored 12 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked 5 shots in his final home game. |
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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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February 20, 2007 – COVINGTON
Seven Covington seniors walked off the home floor for the final time and did it in style by defeating Tri-County North 59-49 to earn a share of the Cross County Conference title with Newton.
It's the second straight season the Buccs have shared the championship, last season with Bethel.
"This (a conference championship on Senior Night) was nice for the seniors," said a pleased Covington coach Roger Craft. "They are great kids and have excellent parents. This is a great senior class."
And it was the senior class leading the way to a hard fought victory.
Gene Studebaker scored a game-high 23 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter. Seth Mohler tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots as well for the Buccs.
"Gene is a four-year player and Seth is a three-year player," Craft explained. "You expect efforts like that from your team leaders and they performed tonight."
Studebaker opened the contest with a trey, but Tri-County North wasn't about to allow the Buccs to get out to a fast start. The visiting Panthers stuck right with Covington throughout the period and trailed by the slim margin of 11-10.
The Panthers continued to make things difficult for Covington in the second period until a Jordy Burelison trey gave the Buccs a 22-17 lead and momentum.
Covington then increased the lead to 29-22 until Ethan Blankenship canned a trey at the buzzer to close the gap to four points at the half.
"We knew this was going to be a tough game," Craft said. "Our league is balanced and there isn't much that separates a Covington and a Tri-County North. They're a good team."
The host Buccaneers began the second half on fire by outscoring Tri-County North 9-1 to take a 38-26 lead midway through the stanza. But the Panthers battled right back on a three-point play by Jacob Biser, a runner by Blankenship and a stick back by Pierce Putnam.
Matthew Robinson then closed out the third with a three-pointer to bring the Panthers to within 40-36.
With the game and a share of the conference championship in the balance, Studebaker took over the game in the fourth quarter. The senior scored 13 points in the frame, while the Buccaneers connected on 7 of 7 free throws down the stretch.
"Free throws shooting is something the kids have worked very hard at in practice," described Craft. "We struggled at times throughout the year from the line, but the kids have improved. It's great seeing kids improve from the first game of the season until now."
As sweet as it was of having a big victory on senior night, coach Craft is more pleased with the way his team has bounced back from a 2-7 stretch midway through the season.
"Our kids have pride and they work hard day in and day out," said Craft. "We knew (during the 2-7 stretch) that we were not far away from turning things around. The kids believed in themselves and each other."
The result was victories in the final eight games of the season to finish with a 13-7 record overall and 10-2 in conference play.
"A lot of people may be surprised we are sharing the conference title, but we're not," Craft continued. "That's one of our goals we set at the beginning of the season and the kids remained focused on accomplishing that goal."
With everything at stake, the victory was rewarding for the senior class.
"It feels good to win our last game on this floor," said Buccaneer senior Gene Studebaker. "We worked hard for this and stuck together as a team. That's what makes it rewarding."
With the sectional tournament to tip off on Saturday, Seth Mohler doesn't see the Buccs changing their approach.
"We look out for each other," Mohler said. "That's why we've been able to finish strong heading into the tournament. We'll keep our focus and take it one game at a time."
The Buccs enter the tournament as the fourth seed and face Jackson Center at 8:00 pm on Saturday.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ..............11..........29.........40........59
TC North ................10..........22.........36........49
Covington:
Gene Studebaker - 23
Seth Mohler - 12
Derek Brumbaugh - 8
Drew Craft - 8
Jordy Burelison - 5
Corey Patty - 3
TC North Scoring:
Ethan Blankenship - 21
Pierce Putnam - 11
Jacob Biser - 7
Matthew Robinson - 6
Cody Burside - 4
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Studebaker (1), Burelison (1)
TC North: Blankeship (3), Robinson (1)
