|
Untitled Page
|
Untitled Page
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Team
|
CCC
|
ALL
|
|
Covington
|
11-0
|
18-2
|
|
Franklin Monroe
|
7-1
|
11-2
|
|
Arcanum
|
3-1
|
7-3
|
|
Tri-Village
|
8-2
|
11-8
|
|
National Trail
|
2-1
|
5-2
|
|
Twin Valley South
|
2-1
|
5-3
|
|
Bradford
|
1-2
|
2-5
|
|
Ansonia
|
1-3
|
2-7
|
|
Bethel
|
0-3
|
2-5
|
|
Mississinawa Valley
|
0-3
|
2-4
|
|
Tri-County North
|
0-3
|
1-8
|
|
Newton
|
0-8
|
0-13
|
|
|
|
|
December 30, 2003 – Russia
Heading into tonight's basketball game between Covington and Russia, conventional wisdom would indicate Covington was well on their way to extending their unbeaten record to 9-0. After all, the Lady Buccs had already beaten the likes of Versailles, Minster and Twin Valley South, teams which were supposed to be a handful. Russia, on the other hand, entered the game with a modest 5-5 record.
Ah, that's why they play the games, as Chris Berman always blurts out every time there's an upset in the NFL.
Russia didn't seem to care about Covington's unbeaten record and seemed more focused on getting their own record above .500. The Lady Raiders dominated the Lady Buccs throughout for a shocking 60-38 win.
"We fell behind early and didn't react the way we needed to get back into the game," said Covington coach Chris Besecker. "We started pressing too much and their lead kept increasing. We were totally out of rhythm."
It was evident early that Russia wanted to utilize their significant size advantage on the inside. The Lady Raiders kept feeding the ball to 6'2" junior, Anita Bulcher, who capitalized for 10 first quarter points to lead Russia to a 17-9 lead in the period.
The Lady Raiders found their stroke from the outside in the second and burned the nets for 20 points in the stanza. Senior Kari Hoying cranked two 3-pointers in the period, each time after Covington baskets. At the half Russia extended their lead to 37-20.
"I told the girls at halftime that we didn't need to score 20 points on one possession," said coach Besecker. "I told them we needed to take our time and look for the open shot. We needed to take it one possession at a time.
The strategy was good, but the results were not what coach Besecker was looking for. The Lady Buccs struggled to create any offensive consistency and began pressing, eventually turning the ball over on too many possessions.
Russia took advantage by increasing their lead to 48-29 after three periods of play.
Covington made one last run to get back into the game as Michelle Meyer and Heather Fields connected for 5 straights points to cut Russia's lead to 50-34 early in the final period. Russia scored the next 7 points to take the air out of the Lady Buccs and eventually walk away with a 60-38 victory.
Covington drops to 8-1 on the season, while Russia improves to 6-5. Covington travels to New Bremen this coming Saturday, January 3 at 1:00pm.
Scoring by Quarters:
Buccs ............9.....20....29......38
Raiders ........17.....37....48......60
Covington Scoring:
Heather Fields - 15
Michelle Meyer – 8
Caitlin Sargent – 6
Audrey Doseck – 4
Mandi Kuharik – 4
Merdith Besecker – 1
Russia Scoring:
Kari Hoying – 18
Anita Bulcher – 17
Anita Grieshop – 10
Mandy Magoto – 8
Janel Meyer – 4
Amanda Monnin – 3
