Nate Lavey drives for two of his eight points in the Buccs' win.

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 5, 2008 - COVINGTON
It took huge offensive performance by sophomores Eric Beckstedt and Jake Bitner and a clutch free throw at the end by another sophomore Josh Boehringer for the Covington Buccaneers to pull out a gritty 59-58 victory over Tri-County North in the season opener.

"The kids were keyed up tonight," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "Maybe a little too keyed up because we rushed some things in the second half. But we were able to battle and get us a nice win to open the season."

Covington torched the nets from long range in the first half by knocking down nine of the team's ten treys.

Five of those came from Beckstedt, who ended the contest with a team-high 18 points - all coming from behind the arc.

"Eric hit some big shots tonight," Craft said. "When they came out in a zone (to start the game) he knew he was going to be getting the ball. And he sure knocked them down."

Beckstedt's six treys in one game was just one off the school record of seven three-pointers by B.J. Smith.

"What a game in your first varsity contest," Craft continued. "When you have a guy like Eric that can knock down the three, it's a good weapon to have."

Covington had other weapons as Bitner finished with 11 points (all coming in the first half) while senior Andy Sparks contributed with 12 points (nine coming in the second half).

Despite hitting on four three-pointers in the first quarter, two by Beckstedt and one each from Bitner and Sparks, Covington found itself behind 18-16 at the end of the stanza.

But three Beckstedt treys and two more by Bitner sparked a 23-9 outburst in the second quarter to give Covington a double-digit lead at the half, 39-27.

"The tempo of the game was in our favor in the first half," Craft explained. "We were bigger and stronger and we wanted to take advantage of that. They are a quick team and we definitely didn't want to get into a horse race with them."

The horse race Craft was concerned about materialized late in the third period as the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to cut the margin to 44-42 with under ten seconds left in the frame.

"They went to a man-to-man and we wasn't patient with the basketball," said Craft. "We started rushing and not waiting for the open pass."

But the hot hand for Covington struck again as Beckstedt canned his sixth trey with four seconds left on the clock.

And the Panthers fouled away from the shot, giving the Buccs the ball with another chance to put points on the board.

Andy Sparks took advantage as he was fouled and hit on two free throws to give Covington five points in four seconds and a 49-42 lead heading into the final period.

"That was huge," Craft said. "Eric hitting the three was a big shot, but to get another open look and get to the free throw line for two more points was a big momentum swing for us."

Covington was able to ride the momentum early in the fourth by outscoring the Panthers 7-3 to take a 56-45 lead midway through the stanza.

But the Panthers came right back on their second 10-0 run of the second half to cut the margin to 56-55 with under one minute to play.

"We had some possessions where we were just a little too excited and not taking our time running the offense," said Craft. "That's expected sometimes in the first game and we'll work on that after looking at the film."

Needing a spark to stop the bleeding, the Buccs looked to a senior to make a play.

And one did as Nate Lavey snuck in the back door and scored on an uncontested lay-up with 24 second left to push the lead to 58-55.

"Nate played a nice game tonight," praised Craft. "He did some nice things on the floor that go unnoticed in the stat book. You need that from your seniors."

Twenty-four seconds is an eternity in basketball as Covington found out by watching Josh McAdams drill his fourth trey and 27th point of the game with 12 second left to knot the score at 58-58.

Which was just enough time for Covington to work its own offense for one last shot.

That shot came from sophomore Josh Boehringer, who was fouled on the attempt with just 3.4 seconds showing on the clock.

Boehringer stepped to the line and connected on his first of two free throws, the second bouncing into the hands of Matt Robinson of Tri-County North, who threw up a prayer that bounced off the wall to end the game.

"It was a nice win, but we know we've got to get better," Craft stated. "We got the first game jitters out of the way and now we'll focus on playing our style of basketball.

Which happens tomorrow night as Fairlawn comes to town for a non-conference contest.

Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ..........16........39.......49......59 - 59
TC North ............18........27.......42......58 - 58

Covington Scoring:
Beckstedt - 18
Sparks - 12
Bitner - 11
Lavey - 8
Boehringer - 4
Christian - 4
Meyer - 2

Tri-County North Scoring:
McAdams - 27
Burnside - 12
Werner - 10
Robinson - 8
Eakes - 1

Three-Point Field Goals:
Covington: Beckstedt 6, Bitner 3, Sparks 1
Tri-County North: McAdams 4