Sophomore Eric Beckstedt continued with a hot hand by stroking five more treys, which gives him 11 in his first two games.

2008-09 BASKETBALL LINKS MEET THE 08-09 BUCCANEERS MEET THE 08-09 LADY BUCCS MEET THE 08-09 CHEERLEADERS

2008-09 SCHEDULE 12/05/08 12/06/08 12/12/08 12/13/08 12/16/08 12/27/08 01/02/09 01/03/09 01/09/09 01/16/09 01/17/09 01/23/09 01/24/09 01/31/09 02/03/09 02/06/09 02/07/09 02/13/09 02/16/09 02/20/09 02/27/09 03/04/09 Tri-County North Fairlawn National Trail @ Versailles @ Miami East @ Marion Local @ Piqua @ Piqua vs Russia @ Ansonia Tri-Village New Bremen @ Newton Milton Union Anna @ Franklin Monroe Bradford Bethel @ Arcanum Mississinawa @ Twin Valley South Bradford (T) Ft. Loramie (T) 59-58 63-51 59-42 26-47 54-65 34-48 56-63 33-51 36-47 50-54 50-59 39-26 66-52 53-59 36-54 58-34 40-39 36-52 64-56 49-52 50-27 34-47 2008-09 CCC STANDINGS Team CCC ALL Miami East 11-1 18-1 Arcanum 11-1 13-6 Tri-Village 10-2 14-6 Bethel 9-3 12-8 Ansonia 7-5 9-11 Franklin Monroe 6-6 11-9 Mississinawa 6-6 9-11 Covington 6-6 8-12 Twin Valley South 5-7 10-10 Tri-County North 3-9 4-16 Newton 2-10 3-17 Bradford 1-11 5-15 National Trail 1-11 1-19

DECEMBER 6, 2008 - COVINGTON
For the second straight night the Covington Buccaneers had to hold off a late rally by the visitors to pull out a victory.

Friday Covington overcame two second half 10-0 runs by Tri-County North for a 59-58 victory and tonight the Buccs overcame an 11-2 fourth quarter run by Fairlawn to earn a 63-51 win.

"We have a mixture of some kids that are more experienced and some younger kids and for them to stay composed under pressure is big," said a pleased Covington coach Roger Craft. "These are our first two games on back-to-back nights and the kids never got rattled when things didn't go our way. That shows character."

Holding a 49-40 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Buccs found themselves in a dog fight just minutes later as Fairlawn erupted for an 11-2 run to cut the margin to 51-49 with just under three minutes to play.

After a pair of Eric Beckstedt free throws and another big basket by Fairlawn kept the score a one-possession game, Buccaneer sophomore Jake Bitner used a little english off the glass to drill a huge three-pointer to make the score 56-51 with 1:30 left.

Two free throws by another sophomore, Josh Boehringer, and a big stick-back by Jordy Meyer off of an Andy Sparks missed free throw just moments later gave Covington the cushion it needed to put the game away.

"That was a big stick-back by Jordy Meyer," Craft said. "We didn't even know if he'd be able to go tonight because two hours before the game he had his foot in a bucket of ice. When Ben (Christian) got into foul trouble, Jordy was ready to go. He gutted it out tonight."

Bitner closed out the contest by making three of four free throws as Fairlawn tried to extend the game by sending the Buccs to the free throw line.

"We made five of six in the final minute-and-a-half and seven for nine in the fourth quarter," said Craft. "That was huge."

Covington was stellar from the line throughout the contest, converting on 15 of 19 attempts.

"We've always stressed getting to the line and making free throws," Craft continued. "We practice and practice free throws because we know how important they can be."

What was also huge for Covington was the balanced scoring, particularly in the first half as Covington had eight different players put points on the board in building a 33-26 lead at the break.

"That's the type of team we are," Craft explained. "On any given night anyone on our team could knock down 10 or 12 points for us."

For the second straight night it was sophomore Eric Beckstedt with the hot hand as he led the way with 17 points, 15 of those coming on five treys.

This is after knocking down six treys just 24 hours earlier against Tri-County North.

With eleven treys in his first two nights of varsity action, the secret is out.

"That's what I told the kids," Craft said. "People read the papers and there are scouts watching every game. Teams will adjust and try to take him (Beckstedt) away. We'll just have to adjust as well."

After Beckstedt drilled three first half treys, Fairlawn made the adjustment in the second half. But the sophomore was still able to sneak into an open spot for two more second half three-pointers.

"Our inside game was working so it opened up the outside," Craft stated. "The great things about these kids is they don't care who scores as long as we win. They don't care if it's a senior, junior or sophomore. This is a very unselfish group in that regards. Tonight it was Eric. The next game it could be Sparks. After that it could be Ben (Christian). It doesn't matter as long as we get the job done."

The Buccs got the job done in all phases of the game. That was evident by the lofty free throw percentage, converting on 21-49 from the field and the 28-17 rebounding advantage.

"This was a total team effort," said Craft. "Everyone contributed in one way or another and that's what you need to get wins."

To go along with the 17-point performance by Beckstedt, the Buccs received a huge night from Josh Boehringer. The sophomore was a terror on the boards by pulling down 12 rebounds. he also dropped in ten points.

Jake Bitner contributed with 11 points, while Jordy Meyer pulled down seven rebounds on his injured foot.

The victory improves Covington's record to 2-0 on the young season. The Buccs host National Trail on Friday and travel to Versailles on Saturday for a second big weekend of basketball.

Scoring by Quarters:
Covington .........17.......33......44......63 - 63
Fairlawn ............17.......26......33......51 - 51

Covington Scoring:
Eric Beckstedt - 17
Josh Boehringer - 10
Jake Bitner - 10
Jordy Meyer - 7
Ben Christian - 7
Andy Sparks - 6
Nate Lavey - 4
Kyle Kanet - 2

Fairlawn Scoring:
Casey Driskell - 11
Dustin Oates - 10
Joey Everett - 8
Seth Meyer - 6
Brad Henman - 5
Mark Harris - 4
Shelby Hoying - 4
Michael Rohrer - 3

Three-Point Shooting:
Covington: Beckstedt (5) Bitner (1)
Fairlawn: Oates (3), Driskell (2), Meyer (2), Henman (1)