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| Gene Studebaker scores on a runner for two of his 14 points. |
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| Drew Craft connects on a three-pointer for the Buccs. |
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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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January 5, 2007 – COVINGTON
For a team coming off of five losses in the last six outings, they'll take a win any way they can get it - even if Lady Luck is involved.
The Covington Buccaneers, who haven't had much luck recently with shots falling, finally had things go their way in a 56-51 overtime victory over Tri-Village, Friday.
"We'll take it (the win)," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "We had a tough weekend last week and a tough first half tonight. But the kids responded and put themselves in position to get the win."
A sign Covington's fortunes were turning around came with 4:31 left in regulation. Gene Studebaker put up a soft runner that bounced around the rim until eventually coming to rest on the back of the iron. Slowly the ball rolled in, giving Covington its first lead since the early moments of the game, 40-39.
From there the lead changed four times until Tyler Greer connected on one of two free throws to send the game into overtime with the score tied 44-44.
The Buccaneers gathered control of the first possession in the extra period and Gene Studebaker took advantage by sneaking in the back door for a lay-up.
Studebaker and Mohler then recorded steals on back-to-back possessions. Drew Craft and Studebaker capitalized on the thefts with a pair of lay-ups to give Covington its largest lead of the contest, 50-44 with 1:23 left on the clock.
"Gene and Seth got us going in overtime with nice defensive plays," Craft described. "We played much better defensively in the second half than we did in the first half."
Tri-Village tried gallantly to chip into the Covington lead and eventually closed the gap to 52-50 on three free throws and a trey by Kendall Stutz.
Mohler pushed the Covington lead to 54-50 by converting on two of four free throws, but the Buccs nearly gave the game away.
Mohler was called for a technical foul with 12.6 left in the game, giving Tri-Village two free throws attempts and the ball.
"We can't have that (untimely fouls)," Craft said. "We had three fouls late in the game that could have cost us the game."
Fortunately for Covington, the Patriots could only convert on one of the two attempts and misfired on a shot attempt that fell into Derek Brumbaugh's hands as he was fouled with 1.5 left on the clock.
Brumbaugh, who scored 18 points on the night, calmly canned both free throws to give Covington a 56-51 win.
"Brummy (Derek Brumbaugh) had a nice night for us," said Craft of his big man who also had five assists and three rebounds. "They (Tri-Village) double down hard on him and he was able to make some nice passes."
The second half and overtime performance for the Buccs was what they needed to get a much needed win and some confidence.
The Buccs didn't play to form in the first half as Tri-Village was able to build leads of 13-8 at the end of the first period and 26-18 at the half.
"We didn't get into the flow offensively in the first half and we didn't play defense the way we are capable of," explained Craft. "Once we got into our offensive rhythm in the second half, we attacked the basket much better. Our shot selection was better in the second half because we were not settling for the outside shot. We attacked the basket."
Covington had three players reach double figures as Gene Studebaker scored 14 points and Seth Mohler dropped in 13 to go along with Brumbaugh's 18 points. Mohler also pulled down 10 rebounds to record the double-double.
"It's nice to have three players in double figures," said the pleased Covington coach. "We also had 19 assists as a team, so that shows we are making the extra pass to get a better shot."
Tri-Village was led by Kendall Stutz, who came off the bench to match Brumbaugh for a game-high 18 points. Teammate Mark Wheeler contributed with 10 points.
The visitors held a slim edge in rebounds 30-29, but Covington only committed 9 turnovers to 13 for Tri-Village.
Both teams were horrific from the free throws line as Covington made 11 of 26 for 42% and Tri-Village made 13 of 31 for 41%.
Covington shot 48% from the field on 22 of 46 shooting and made just 1 of 10 shots behind the arc.
Tri-Village connected on 17 of 44 from the field for 39% and made 4 of 19 three-point attempts.
With the victory, Covington improves to 5-5 on the season an 4-1 in Cross County Conference play, while Tri-Village falls to 5-5 overall and 4-2 in the CCC.
Covington hosts Milton Union on Saturday.
Scoring by Quarters:
Tri-Village ............13........26......36.....44......51
Covington .............8.........18......34.....44.......56
Covington Scoring:
Derek Brumbaugh - 18
Gene Studebaker - 14
Seth Mohler - 13
Drew Craft - 7
Corey Patty - 4
Tri-Village Scoring:
Kendall Stutz - 18
Mark Wheeler - 10
Tyler Greer - 9
Derrick Chowning - 7
Ryan Buck - 4
Three-point Scoring:
Covington: Drew Craft (1)
Tri-Village: Kendall Stutz (3), Mark Wheeler (1)
