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| Garrett Sprankle drills a big first half trey for the Buccs. |
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| 2009-10 BASKETBALL LINKS |
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2009-10 SCHEDULE
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12/05/09
12/11/09
12/12/09
12/15/09
12/22/09
12/29/09
12/30/09
01/08/10
01/09/10
01/15/10
01/16/10
01/22/10
01/26/10
01/29/10
01/30/10
02/02/10
02/12/10
02/19/10
02/20/10
02/22/10
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02/27/10
03/03/10
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@ Fairlawn
@ National Trail
Versailles
Miami East
@ Bethel
Lehman (Piqua Classic)
Russia (Piqua Classic)
Ansonia
@ Milton Union
@ Tri-Village
@ New Bremen
Newton
@ Miss. Valley
Franklin Monroe
@ Anna
Marion Local
Arcanum
Twin Valley South
@ Bradford
@ Tri-County North
Sectional @ Piqua
Bradford
Lehman
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66-46
83-47
45-48
43-35
45-48
65-63
52-60
55-38
41-36
42-49
33-52
76-53
57-40
61-43
46-59
39-44
44-46
50-45
51-24
57-23
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60-33
34-44
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| 2009-10 CCC STANDINGS |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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| Bethel |
11-1 |
16-4 |
| Tri-Village |
11-1 |
15-5 |
| Covington |
9-3 |
12-8 |
| Miami East |
8-4 |
13-7 |
| Arcanum |
8-4 |
14-6 |
| Franklin Monroe |
7-5 |
11-9 |
| Twin Valley South |
7-5 |
10-10 |
| Ansonia |
6-6 |
8-11 |
| Mississinawa Valley |
4-8 |
7-12 |
| Bradford |
3-9 |
7-13 |
| National Trail |
2-10 |
4-16 |
| Newton |
2-10 |
5-15 |
| Tri-County North |
0-12 |
1-19 |
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FEBRUARY 19, 2010 - COVINGTON
The smiles on the faces of the Covington boys basketball team after a hard-fought 50-45 victory over Twin Valley South in the home finale was proof of how much this game meant to the team - the seniors in particular.
After all, Covington was riding a three-game losing streak where scoring inside the paint had become a difficult task.
"This is a huge win," said a pleased Covington coach Roger Craft. "We needed a shot in the arm, a tight ball game where our kids had to respond in the end. We needed this for our confidence."
A tight game that came down to the wire was what Covington got from the visiting Panthers thanks to the sharp shooting of Levi Robbins, who torched Covington for five treys in the first three quarters.
"He's a good shooter," Craft said of Robbins. "He's had a few games where he's hit 8 three's, so we were fully aware of how good of a shooter he is."
But Covington shut him down throughout most of the second half, holding him scoreless in the final frame.
"We kept rotating (Jake) Bitner and (Martin) Leistner on him and stuck Adam (Craft) on (Austin) Spitler," Craft explained. "They did a great job defensively holding those guys in check."
This allowed Covington to overcome a 21-point outburst by South in the second quarter that gave the Panthers a 28-25 lead at the break.
The Panthers did push their lead to 33-25 to open the second half, but Covington put together a 14-4 run over the remainder of the frame to take a 39-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
Both teams traded shots throughout much of the fourth quarter until Covington held a 46-45 lead with 2:00 to go with the Buccs holding the ball.
Covington spread the floor and killed 1:10 off the clock before the Panthers elected to send the Buccs to the free throw line.
Adam Craft made both of his free throws and then Josh Boehringer sealed the game with two more free throws after being fouled while pulling down a key rebound at the other end.
"We knew they were probably going to double Eric (Beckstedt)," said Craft. "So we wanted to get the ball into Adam's hands because he's been shooting pretty good from the line."
For Boehringer, the last of his 10 rebounds on the game was huge as he converted it into two points at the line to seal the game.
"Josh (Boehringer) was really active tonight on the boards," Craft said. "He's got a motor that runs forever. He's a junior, but this is his third year of varsity so it's like having another senior on the floor."
For Craft, the victory was special because it sends his five senior class off the home court the right way.
"You've got five guys everyone wanted to see get a win in their last home game," he said. "I didn't know it until tonight, but this senior class has never beaten South."
All five seniors started the contest and set the tone for the game by pushing Covington to a 9-5 lead.
"We started all the seniors and they set the tone," Craft said. "They got us out to a lead when we rotated some fresh legs later in the first quarter."
And it was a trey by Garrett Sprankle that brought the house to its feet. The senior spotted up from the wing to collect the pass from another senior Garrett Clark and drilled the jumper to push a 6-5 lead to a four-point margin.
"I'm really happy for Sprank (Spankle) and Garrett Clark," said Craft. "Those kids do everything we ask of them and they've been a lot of fun. You need guys like that in your program."
You also need guys like Ben Christian, Jordy Meyer, Adam Craft, Cole Owens and Josh Boehringer - big bodies who can control the boards to the tone of a 30-20 margin.
"I figured we'd have an advantage on the boards, but South had some guys with some size too," Craft said. "But I felt our guys did a good job of getting position and controlling the boards, especially in the second half."
Covington was also outstanding managing the game as it only committed four turnovers in the contest and just one in the second half.
"That's huge," Crafts said of the limited turnovers. "We didn't give them very many baskets in transition and that's because we took care of the basketball."
The Buccs shot 41% on the evening (18-44) and 5-for-13 from behind the arc. Covington was also 10-for-14 from the free throw line.
Adam Craft led the Buccs with 14 points, while Jordy Meyer tallied 12 points and 9 rebounds.
The visiting Panthers connected on 40% of their shots (16-40) and 8-for-17 from three-point range. The visitors were also 5-for-10 from the free throw line for 50%.
The victory pushes Covington's record to 10-8 overall and 7-3 in the CCC.
The Buccs conclude the regular season with two road games at Bradford tomorrow and at Tri-County North on Monday.
Scoring by Quarters:
TV South ................7.......21........9.......8 - 45
Covington ............12.......13......14.....11 - 50
Covington Scoring:
Adam Craft - 14
Jordy Meyer - 12
Ben Christian - 6
Eric Beckstedt - 6
Josh Boehringer - 6
Martin Leistner - 3
Garrett Sprankle - 3
TV South Scoring:
Robbins - 17
Walker - 10
Combs - 8
Myers - 5
Nisius - 3
Dawson - 2
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Beckstedt (2), Sprankle (1), Leistner (1)
TV South: Robbins (5), Combs (2), Nisius (1)
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