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| Jordy Burelison led the Buccs with 14 points, including four three-pointers. |
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| Brian Beckstedt came off the bench with a big three-pointer. |
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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 9, 2007 – WEST ALEXANDRIA
A sign of a good basketball team is when it has interchangeable parts - when two or three players leave the floor and others come in without missing a beat.
For the Covington Buccaneers, they have shown to have interchangeable parts as of late as bench players have came up big night after night in a six-game winning streak coming into Friday's contest with Twin Valley South.
And the Buccaneer bench came up big once again in what was likely Covington's most gutsy effort of the season.
"The kids showed what kind of character they have tonight," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "We played very unselfish and that's what team basketball is all about."
Things looked bleak for Covington in the first quarter as Twin Valley South scored the game's first 7 points and increased the lead to 20-4 until two straight Gene Studebaker jumpers gave the Buccs some life.
Seth Mohler then went to the free throw line with .4 seconds left on the clock for two free throws. After making the first, he missed on the second and Studebaker went high in the air for the rebound.
In a scary moment, the Buccaneer senior came down awkwardly and was forced to miss the remainder of the contest.
"That was scary," Craft explained. "It was an athletic move to get up that high for the rebound. Unfortunately he came down wrong."
Trailing 20-9 after 8:00 of play and playing without its leading scorer, things couldn't have been any worse for the Buccaneers.
"They (Twin Valley South) can score in a hurry," Craft said. "It doesn't matter if you are down by 15 or up by 15, you have to stick to your game plan and execute. We just were not executing in the first quarter."
But the interchangeable parts in the Buccaneer bench quickly got Covington back into the game.
Corey Patty started off the second quarter with a jumper and Seth Mohler followed with a stick back. Jordy Burelison the drilled a trey to force a Twin Valley South timeout with 3:42 left in the half and Covington suddenly within four, 20-16.
After a Steve Summers' trey, the Buccs closed out the half with six more points on baskets by Mohler and Patty and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 25-22.
The Buccaneer defense was stellar, holding the Panthers to just three field goals in the third. Two of those were Summers three-pointers.
The Buccaneers tied the score at 31-31 with 3:34 left in the third on three buckets by Mohler and a second Jordy Burelison trey.
After a South basket by J.T. Stone, the Buccs closed out the frame with three straight treys by Burelison, Brian Beckstedt and Kyle Simon to take a 40-33 lead.
Burelison, who scored a career-high 14 points, began the fourth period by canning his fourth trey of the contest to give Covington a double digit lead, 43-33.
"Our bench players were huge tonight," Craft praised. "Four straight three-pointers and 20 total points from the bench - that's huge. Kyle Simon hit one and (Brian) Beckstedt hit one. Beckstedt has been chomping at the bit for an opportunity and he took advantage of it tonight."
Derek Brumbaugh followed with a lay-up before Summers knocked down his seventh trey of the night for the Panthers.
Covington then put the clamps on Summers and the rest of the Panthers, holding them to just two buckets the rest of the way.
"Our defense was outstanding in the last three quarters," Craft said. "Anytime you can hold a team like South to 21 points in three quarters, you have a good chance to win."
Meanwhile, the Buccaneer offense continued to roll with a Drew Craft runner, a three-point play by Corey Patty, a Mohler lay-up and a stick-back by Burelison.
Derek Brumbaugh then capped an impressive performance by sneaking in the back side for an easy lay-up and a 56-41 win.
The Covington bench accounted for 20 points on the evening, 14 of those coming from Jordy Burelison.
"Jordy is playing with a lot of confidence right now," explained Craft. "He hit some big shots that gave us a lift when we needed it."
The junior led Covington with 14, while Seth Mohler and Corey Patty each knocked down 12 points. Mohler also grabbed 10 rebounds and Patty pulled down 6 for Covington.
"Corey Patty played strong and active inside the paint," said Craft. "He had some big offensive rebounds and stick-backs that gave us a lift."
Twin Valley South was led by Summers with a game-high 21 points, all coming on seven treys. J.T. Stone contributed with 12 points as well.
The Buccs connected on 22 of 43 field goals, six of 12 from behind the arc and 6 of 10 from the line. Covington also shot 63.6% from the floor in the second half.
"We shot the ball every well in the second half," Craft said. "We were patient with the ball and finding the open man. We crashed the boards well and got a lot of second chance points."
The long bus ride home for the Buccs was made even sweeter as Newton fell to Mississinawa Valley to move Covington into a two-way tie with the Indians for the top spot in the Cross County Conference standings.
Each team has one conference game left with Covington hosting Tri-County North on Tuesday. and Newton traveling to Franklin Monroe on Friday.
"We can't worry about anyone else," Craft concluded. "All we can do is take care of our own business. We have to be focused and ready to play on Tuesday."
Covington improves to 12-7 overall and 9-2 in the CCC.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ...........9.........22.........40........56
TV South ...........20........25.........33.........41
Covington Scoring:
Jordy Burelison - 14
Seth Mohler - 12
Corey Patty - 12
Derek Brumbaugh - 6
Gene Studebaker - 4
Brian Beckstedt - 3
Kyle Simon - 3
Drew Craft - 2
Twin Valley South:
Steve Summers - 21
J.T. Stone - 12
Wes Bassler - 3
Cory Bassler - 2
Clint Spitler - 2
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Burelison (4), Simon (1), Beckstedt (1)
Twin Valley South: Summers (7), Bassler (1)
Junior Varsity Score: Covington 40, Twin Valley South 33
