Adam Craft drives to the basket for two of his 16 points on the night.

2007-08 BASKETBALL LINKS MEET THE 07-08 BUCCANEERS MEET THE 07-08 LADY BUCCS MEET THE 07-08 CHEERLEADERS

2007-08 SCHEDULE 11/01/07 12/08/07 12/14/07 12/18/07 12/21/07 12/22/07 12/29/07 01/04/08 01/05/08 01/11/08 01/12/08 01/18/08 01/19/08 01/22/08 01/25/08 01/26/08 01/29/08 02/01/08 02/02/08 02/08/08 02/19/08 Versailles @ National Trail @ Bethel Ansonia @ Tri-Village Marion Local Russia Newton @ Milton Union @ Mississinawa @ New Bremen Franklin Monroe @ Anna Miami East @ Bradford @ Fairlawn Arcanum Twin Valley South Delphos St. John's @ Tri-County North SECTIONALS 34-30 44-52 61-68 43-57 40-46 26-54 36-59 52-60 53-62 62-54 30-49 41-44 41-73 48-44 70-36 49-43 34-55 55-57 38-61 52-54 33-46 2007-08 CCC STANDINGS Team CCC ALL Twin Valley South 10-1 15-3 Tri-Village 8-1 13-3 Arcanum 8-2 11-6 Franklin Monroe 8-2 10-7 Miami East 6-3 10-6 Bethel 5-4 7-7 Ansonia 5-4 8-8 Covington 3-9 5-15 National Trail 3-7 3-13 Newton 3-6 3-12 Mississinawa Valley 3-8 4-12 Tri-County North 2-8 5-12 Bradford 0-9 1-14

January 26, 2008 – FAIRLAWN
It was a situation the Covington Buccaneers have been in numerous times this season - needing to make a play late in the fourth quarter with the game in doubt.

Unfortunately for Covington, those plays never came and the Buccs suffered through several heartbreaking defeats earlier in the season.

But Saturday was different as the big plays came and the Buccs captured their third straight win with a 49-43 victory over Fairlawn.

"Two weeks ago we probably wouldn't have made the plays we needed to get this win," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "But having two straight wins under our belts has given us some confidence. The kids believe they can make plays and they are making them now."

With the game tied a 41-41 with under 2:00 to go, Fairlawn had the ball and was maneuvering for a go-ahead basket. On the kick-out pass at the top of the key, Jordy Burelison stole the ball and raced to the other end for an easy lay-up to give Covington the lead.

"That was a huge play by Burr (Jordy Burelison)," Craft said. "That's a senior stepping up when it counts."

Seconds later Jordy Meyer picked the pocket of a Fairlawn ball handler and scored on a lay-up to put Covington up 45-41.

From there Covington closed the show with four straight free throws, two each by Meyer and Adam Craft.

"It all goes back to confidence," Craft said. "We've been in situations where we needed free throws and didn't get them. Tonight the kids went to the line with confidence and knocked them down."

Fairlawn hasn't always been an easy place to play for Covington and Saturday was no different.

The host Jets stormed out to an 11-2 lead to force a Covington timeout. The Buccs did outscore Fairlawn 7-5 over the remainder of the frame, but the Jets still held a 16-9 lead after one.

"This is definitely not an easy place to play," Craft stated. "Not only is the court small and it seems like the crowd is right on top of you, but Fairlawn always plays us tough."

Fairlawn's strategy of slowing the game down and being patient in finding open shots worked to a tee over the remainder of the first half as the Jets went into the locker room holding a 21-18 lead.

"They (Fairlawn) were very patient running their offense," Craft explained. "The thing we had to do was stay patient ourselves."

Covington's patience began to pay dividends in the third period as many of the shots Fairlawn was making in the first half were not falling.

Meanwhile, Covington began breaking down the Fairlawn defense for easy baskets in the paint. The result was a 33-31 Covington lead with one quarter to play.

"The last couple of games we've had great ball movement," said Craft. "Tonight we had 19 assists, so it shows you we are moving the ball and finding the open man. Plus, we had 28 points in the paint tonight."

Another statistic Craft was pleased with was the shooting percentage for his team of 56% as Covington made 20 of 36 field goal attempts.

"We didn't rush our shots," Craft said. "The kids did the things they had to do to get better looks."

Covington had balanced scoring once again as seven players scored and three were in double figures.

Adam Craft led the way with 16 points, while Jordy Meyer and Ben Christian each had 10 points.

"Good teams have different kids step up each night," said Craft. "In our last three games we've had different kids make plays."

To go along with their hot shooting from the floor, the Buccs also converted well from the free throw line, connecting on seven of 10 attempts.

Covington also held the advantage on the boards, pulling down 20 rebounds to 13 for Fairlawn.

"We've had three games in five days and I'm proud of the way these kids have responded," said Craft. "We have three more in the next five days and hopefully we can keep it going. We'd like to get some momentum heading into the tournament."

Covington (5-11) hosts Arcanum on Tuesday.

Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ..........9........18........33......49
Fairlawn ............16.......21........31......43

Covington Scoring:
Adam Craft - 16
Jordy Meyer - 10
Ben Christian - 10
Kyle Kanet - 5
Andy Sparks - 4
Bill Dickey - 2
Jordy Burelison - 2

Fairlawn Scoring:
Oates - 16
Everett - 11
Hooker - 6
Brautigam - 4
Rohrer- 4
Pfdledderer - 2

Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Craft (1), Kanet (1)
Fairlawn: Oates (4), Hooker (1)