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| Eric Beckstedt drives to the basket for two of his nine points on the night. |
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Untitled Page
| 2008-09 BASKETBALL LINKS |
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Untitled Page
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2008-09 SCHEDULE
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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
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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)
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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
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| 2008-09 CCC STANDINGS |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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| 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 |
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JANUARY 23, 2009 - PLEASANT HILL
When you are riding an eight-game losing streak you'll take a win any way you can get it - even if it's not the most pretty thing in the world.
So when the Covington Buccaneers traveled to rival Newton and captured a hard-fought 39-26 victory, there was no complaining coming from the Buccaneer locker room.
"It (the game) was ugly, that's for sure," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "But hey, we'll take it."
The offensive production for both squads wasn't anything to write home about. Newton only shot 25% from the floor (11-for-44) and the Buccaneers made only 39% of its shots (13-for-33), but the style of the game was right up Covington's alley.
"It was a physical game," Craft described. "But we are used to that and we felt it worked in our favor. Physically, we were the stronger team. Our kids spend a lot of time in the weight room and it showed tonight."
Covington's strength advantage was obvious throughout as the Buccs controlled the boards - holding a 33 to 12 advantage. The victors also held a 10 to 5 advantage at the offensive end.
"I told the kids that I would be disappointed if we didn't out rebound them 3 to 1 tonight," Craft explained. "Our strength is our strength and we felt we could control the boards if we did the little things right like getting a body on someone and boxing them out."
Covington got out to a quick start as Nate Lavey knocked down a jumper and followed with a trey to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.
But Chase Lavey responded for Newton with a pair of jumpers to cut the lead to 5-4.
The Buccs then scored the remaining four points of the frame on a Ben Christian lay-in and two Jake Bitner free throws to take a 9-4 lead after one.
"Defensively, I was proud of our effort tonight," Craft praised. "We made them work for everything and points were hard to come by because of it."
Newton couldn't get much more going in the second as it managed just two field goals in the frame - a trey by Jordan Ferguson and a lay-up from Cody Jackson. The sixth point in the stanza for the Indians came at the free throw line.
Covington managed ten points in the second on an Adam Craft three-point play, an Eric Beckstedt trey, a Craft jumper and an Andy Sparks jumper.
It was enough to increase the margin to nine points at the break, 19-10.
"Newton played hard," Craft said. "Give them credit. They were aggressive defensively and made it hard for us to get into a flow offensively."
The third quarter, which hasn't been kind to the Buccs throughout the season, was uneventful at the offensive end for both teams tonight. The two squads only combined to score twelve points in the frame.
Fortunately for Covington, it connected on fourth jumpers in the frame to push the lead to 27-14 with one quarter to play.
Newton made an attempt to get back into the game in the opening minutes of the fourth by outscoring the Buccs 10-4. This cut the margin to 31-24 with under 4:00 to go.
But Covington put the game away at the free throw line, making six of six down the stretch.
An Adam Craft jumper also helped as the Buccs cruised to the 39-26 victory.
"It's nice to get the win," said Craft. "We didn't shoot particularly well, but we're confident that part of our game will come. We're bound to have a night where some of the shots we're missing start to fall."
The shots that did fall for Covington was at the free throw line as the Buccs made 11 of 15 for 73%, while Newton made 3 of 5 for 60%.
"That (getting to the line) was due to our effort and playing aggressive," Craft explained.
If one aspect of the game displeased Craft, it was the 15 turnovers the Buccs committed.
"Obviously, you can't be happy with 15 turnovers," Craft continued. "We have to do a much better job of taking care of the basketball than we did tonight."
But the effort his team gave at both ends of the floor stood out the most. And it all comes from the habits developed in practice.
"You'd never know by watching us practice that we were 3-8 coming into tonight," Craft said. "These kids practice hard. Their expectations are high and their attitudes are good. I can't ask any more from these kids in regards to the effort they give."
Hopefully it translates into more wins - beginning tomorrow night when West Milton comes to town.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington .............9........19........27........39 - 39
Newton .................4........10........14........26 - 26
Covington Scoring:
Adam Craft - 11
Eric Beckstedt - 9
Nate Lavey - 5
Andy Sparks - 4
Ben Christian - 4
Josh Boehringer - 4
Jake Bitner - 2
Newton Scoring:
Chase Lavey - 8
Tanner Powell - 5
Jordan Ferguson - 5
Cody Jackson - 4
Michael Fessler - 2
Jordan Hodges - 2
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Eric Beckstedt (1), Nate Lavey (1)
Newton: Chase Lavey (1)
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