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| Jordy Meyer muscles his way in for two of his 19 points on the night. |
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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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DECEMBER 11, 2009 - NEW PARIS
It's been a long time since a Covington basketball team put 80-plus points on the board - four years to be exact. That came in an 80-31 victory over Bradford on December 9, 2005.
This made the 83-47 road victory over National Trail that much more impressive.
"Our offensive output was outstanding, especially in the second half," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "But I feel it was our defensive effort that set everything up."
Which is understandable as National Trail surged to a 10-3 lead and scored 20 points in the first quarter.
Covington physical strength and hustle took its toll on the Blazers the rest of the way as National Trail could only manage 27 points in the final three frames.
"They (National Trail) shot it really well in the first quarter," Craft said. "Give them credit for how well they played. But the way we played defensively from then on out was as good as we've played in a while."
National Trail started the contest by harassing the Buccaneer back court with the full court press. It resulted in three quick turnovers and a pair of Blazer treys en route to a 10-3 advantage for the home team.
Craft saw enough and called a timeout to calm his troops down.
"They forced us into some early turnovers, but we took care of the ball pretty well after that," Craft explained as his team only had 11 turnovers on the game. "Once we started taking care of the basketball we were able to get some easy baskets at the other end."
Which resulted in a 22-10 Covington run over the remainder of the opening frame and a 14-11 advantage in the second quarter for a 39-33 half time lead.
"We talked at half time about playing better defensively and the kids picked it up in the second half," Craft stated.
Which showed on the scoreboard as Covington frustrated National Trail in the third quarter with its physical advantage and the result was just five points for the Blazers in the frame.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers continued their hot shooting for a 23-point third quarter to push the lead to 62-38 with one quarter to play.
"To outscore them 23-5 in the third quarter was huge," said Craft. "You could sense they (National Trail) were getting frustrated."
Which allowed Craft to empty his bench the rest of the way.
"We were able to get a lot of the kids into the game in the second half," he continued.
But the results were the same as Covington outscored the Blazers 21-11 in the final quarter for the 36-point win.
"This had to be a fun game to watch for our fans," Craft said. "The game was fast and a lot of points went on the board. The good thing about it is our kids can push it or they can slow it down and play a patient game."
Twelve Buccaneers scored on the evening with Jordy Meyer and Eric Beckstedt leading all scorers with 19 points each.
But it was the performance of freshman Cole Owens that turned heads, Craft's in particular.
"We got ourselves into some foul trouble early and Cole was able to get himself a lot of minutes tonight," Craft said of his 6'4" freshman who scored nine points. "He was able to get into the flow of the game and show his talents. He did a great job of crashing the boards and playing fundamentally sound defense."
The Buccs received 19 points from the bench, but it wasn't only the points that gave Craft confidence that he could put any bench player in the game at any time.
"When we need to give someone a rest, there's no hesitation," he explained. "When you can look down our bench and see Cole (Owens), Martin (Leistner), Tyler (Noffsinger) and a bunch of the other guys, you can be pretty confident. That's a great luxury to have."
Another luxury is having muscle inside, especially when it results in 52 points in the paint and a 36-23 advantage on the boards.
"That's something we struggled with last year," said Craft in regards to converting shots within point-blank range of the basket. "We're shooting much better inside the paint. That's a credit to the work ethic of the kids because they've worked really hard on that."
The hard work has resulted in two wins to start the season, but Covington knows things get tougher as the season progresses - beginning tomorrow night with the home opener against Versailles.
"We have Versailles, which will be a great game for us," said Craft. "We'll learn a little more about ourselves tomorrow night."
If the improvement Covington has shown since a year ago is any indication, the Buccs may just learn they are a pretty darn good basketball team.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ............25......14......23......21 - 83
National Trail .......20......11........5......11 - 47
Covington Scoring:
Jordy Meyer - 19
Eric Beckstedt - 19
Josh Boehringer - 10
Cole Owens - 9
Adam Craft - 8
Ben Christian - 8
Tyler Noffsinger - 3
Martin Leistner - 2
Kody Spade - 2
Jake Stewart - 2
Troy Cron - 1
National Trail Scoring:
Houdieshell - 14
Neal - 8
Dillon - 7
Arahood - 6
Rhodus - 6
Day - 3
Vance - 2
Gibbins - 1
Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Beckstedt (2), Meyer (1)
National Trail: Houdieshell (3), Rhodus (2), Neal (1), Dillon (1), Day (1)
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