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| Dylan Owens canned a clutch jumper in the fourth quarter to help Covington hold off a talented Russia team. |
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| 2011-12 BASKETBALL LINKS |
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2011-12 SCHEDULE
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12/09/11
12/10/11
12/16/11
12/20/11
12/23/11
12/29/11
12/30/11
01/06/12
01/07/12
01/13/12
01/14/12
01/21/12
01/24/12
01/27/12
01/31/12
02/03/12
02/04/12
02/07/12
02/10/12
02/17/12
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@ Tri-County North
Versailles
@ National Trail
Miami East
Marion Local
Russia
Lehman
@ Bethel
@ Milton Union
Ansonia
@ New Bremen
Houston
@ Tri-Village
Newton
@ Mississinawa
Franklin Monroe
@ Coldwater
Twin Valley South
@ Bradford
Arcanum
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W 51-38
L 31-52
W 52-32
L 31-58
L 46-51
W 47-43
L 46-72
L 27-48
W 58-53
W 54-43
L
W 45-39
L 30-65
W 47-32
W 53-39
L 35-36
L
W 43-41
W 48-27
L 43-48
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| 2010-11 CCC STANDINGS |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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| Miami East |
12-0 |
19-1 |
| Franklin Monroe |
11-1 |
19-1 |
| Arcanum |
9-3 |
13-7 |
| Covington |
8-4 |
12-8 |
| Bethel |
7-5 |
11-9 |
| Tri-Village |
7-5 |
10-10 |
| National Trail |
6-6 |
10-10 |
| Twin Valley South |
6-6 |
7-13 |
| Mississinawa Valley |
4-8 |
8-12 |
| Newton |
4-8 |
7-13 |
| Ansonia |
3-9 |
5-15 |
| Tri-County North |
1-11 |
1-19 |
| Bradford |
0-12 |
0-20 |
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DECEMBER 29, 2011 - PIQUA
The Covington Buccaneers basketball team needed a win in a bad way.
Coming into the 2011 Buckeye Insurance Group Holiday Classic the Buccs had yet to play like the defending champions of the tournament from a year ago - stumbling in with a 2-3 record and fresh off of dropping two straight games - the latest a 51-46 loss to Marion Local in which Covington was outscored 20-9 in the fourth quarter.
"We've had a tough go of it lately," said Covington coach Roger Craft. "We had a five-point lead on Marion and let it slip away in the fourth quarter and we had a tough night against Miami East. We needed to respond."
Respond is exactly what Covington did, gutting out a 47-44 victory over Russia in the opening contest of the tournament.
"I'm so proud of the kids," Craft said. "They stuck together and battled tonight. We made mistakes, but we put the mistakes behind us and kept our composure - just kept playing."
Russia opened the contest on an 8-2 run, but Covington's Cole Owens took over inside the paint and scored eight points in a 13-2 run by the Buccs to close out the first quarter.
Covington then controlled the action for much of the second quarter, outscoring Russia 11-7 to push the lead to 24-17 with just 45 second left in the half.
But Russia responded quickly on a trey by Bryce Rittenhouse from the corner and then four free throws to tie the score at 24-24 at the break.
"I felt we controlled the first half other than the first minute and the last minute," Craft explained. "In those two minutes we didn't get after it and you can't play on your heels against a team like Russia."
Covington was on its heels to start the second half and Russia's 6'9" center Brandon Wilson took over. Held without a field goal throughout the entire first half, Wilson scored seven quick points to help build a 31-26 Russia lead.
Needing a spark, Cole Owens once again took control of the post, connecting on two buckets in the paint and a pair of free throws to spark a 14-5 run and give Covington a 40-36 lead with one quarter to play.
"We knew they had the size inside with the Wilson kid, but we felt that if we could get Cole (Owens) away from the basket that he could make plays on the move," said Craft. "And Cole did a nice job of staying aggressive and taking the ball right at him (Wilson)."
The lid on the rim tightened up in the fourth quarter as neither team could find much success putting points on the board.
A huge jumper by Dylan Owens and three points at the free throw line helped push Covington's lead to 45-40 with under 2:00 to go, but the Buccs squandered a golden opportunity to put the game away with two missed lay-ups.
And like all good teams do, Russia made Covington pay as Rittenhouse canned another trey to cut the deficit to two points.
Moments later Treg Francis hit on a free throw to cut the margin to 45-44 and then the Raiders stole the ball from Covington and was fouled with nine second left.
The free throw was off the mark and it was Cole Owens who came down with his 11th rebound of the night for Covington. Owens was immediately fouled and canned both free throws to seal the game.
"We had some adversity, but did a nice job of keeping our composure," Craft said. "We got some big rebounds at the end."
Owens led all players with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Russia was led with 12 points each from Brandon Wilson and Treg Francis.
Covington connected on 33% from the floor (15-45), 37% from two-point range (15-40) and 70% from the free throw line (17-24).
Russia shot 30% on the night (15-49), 41% from two-point range (12-29), 15% from behind the arc (3-20) and 73% from the charity stripe (11-15).
Covington held a 32-30 advantage on the boards and each team had eight turnovers.
The Buccaneers take on Lehman tomorrow in the championship game, while Russia battles Piqua in the consolation game.
SCORING BY QUARTERS:
COV ...............13 .... 11 .... 16 .... 7 - 47
RUS ...............10 .... 14 .... 12 .... 8 - 43
COVINGTON SCORING:
Cole Owens - 20
Alex Baskerville - 9
Dylan Owens - 8
Austin Angle - 4
Troy Cron - 4
Ryan Craft - 2
RUSSIA SCORING:
Brandon Wilson - 12
Treg Francis - 12
Bryce Rittenhouse - 11
Trevor Sherman - 5
Nolan Shafer - 2
Corey Bremigan - 2
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