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| Michelle Meyer found a way to hit tough shots on her way to a 24-point night. |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Franklin Monroe
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11-0
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15-5
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Covington
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10-1
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20-4
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Tri-Village
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9-2
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16-5
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Arcanum
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8-3
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17-4
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Mississinawa Valley
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7-4
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10-11
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Twin Valley South
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6-5
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9-11
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National Trail
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4-6
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7-11
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Bradford
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3-8
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7-11
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Ansonia
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3-8
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4-15
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Bethel
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2-7
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5-12
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Tri-County North
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1-9
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3-15
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Newton
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0-10
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0-19
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January 10, 2005 – COVINGTON
Covington coach, Chris Besecker loves defense, which is obvious when you watch his girls basketball team perform. Defense has been the catalyst for the Lady Buccs' 12-2 record after a 38-31 win over Arcanum.
"As long as we play good "D", I'm confident we can get the job done," said Besecker after improving to 7-0 in the Cross County Conference. "We were down early, and didn't score until about 4:00 to go in the first, but I didn't get nervous because we were playing solid defense."
Trailing 6-0 and unable to get any points on the board for the first 4:00 of the game, the Lady Buccs' slowly got untracked.
Michelle Meyer canned a three-pointer and a 10-foot jumper on back-to-back possessions as Covington closed the gap to 8-6 by the end of the stanza.
Points continued to be hard to come by in the second, as neither team could get any open looks at the basket. Covington did take a 15-14 lead into the half as Michelle Meyer hits on a pair of baskets, Mandy Kuharik canned a jumper and free throw, and Ashley Johnson connected on two free throws.
"We started out in a zone because we saw Franklin Monroe have some success against Arcanum in a zone," said Besecker. "We figured if we had problems in zone defense, we'd switch to man. We went to man a few times to mix things up, but mostly we stuck with the zone."
The Covington offense found its groove in the third period as Meyer and Johnson hit on short jumpers to make the score 19-14.
After a Bethany Eib basket, Meyer drilled her second trey and then drove in for a lay-up to push the Covington lead to 24-16 and force an Arcanum timeout.
Branda Denlinger and Bethany Eib brought the Lady Trojans within 26-20, but another Meyer trey gave the Lady Buccs their largest lead of the contest, 29-20 with under 2:00 left in the third.
Eib then scored on two straight baskets to cut the margin to 29-24, but Covington closed out the third period with momentum as Caitlin Sargent scored off of an offensive rebound to give the Lady Buccs a 31-24 lead.
Arcanum would not fold, however, as Molly Clark scored on a lay-up, and Brandey O'Dell drilled on a jumper and a trey to cut the margin to 33-31 with 5:10 left in the contest.
The Lady Trojans wouldn't score again as the Lady Bucc defense stepped up to the task.
Meanwhile, the offense played keep-away and took large amounts of time off the clock on each possession, forcing Arcanum to foul.
The Lady Buccs converted on 5 of 7 free throws in the final 4:00 to take a 36-31 win.
"We did very well nursing our lead at the end," commented Besecker. "One possession there we were able to take nearly 3:00 off the clock."
Michelle Meyer led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, including three treys.
"Mitch shot the ball well tonight and made some tough shots as well," complemented Besecker. "Ashley (Johnson) played a great game defensively and Alex (Christian) and Caitlin (Sargent) hit a couple of big shots in the second half."
Arcanum was led by Bethany Eib with 10 points. Leading scorer, Ashley Falknor was held to just 2 points, those coming on the opening basket of the game.
"That was big," described Besecker. "She's a very good player and to hold her to just one field goal shows we rose to the occasion defensively."
Covington improves to 12-2 overall and 7-0 in the CCC. The Lady Buccs travel to Mississinawa Valley on Saturday. Game time is at noon.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington .......6.......15.......31.......38
Arcanum .........8.......14.......24.......31
Covington Scoring:
Michelle Meyer – 24
Ashley Johnson – 7
Mandy Kuharik – 3
Caitlin Sargent – 2
Alex Christian – 2
Arcanum Scoring:
Bethany Eib – 10
Brenda Denlinger – 6
Brandey O'Dell – 5
Molley Clark – 4
Brooke Strayer – 2
Ashley Falknor – 2
Leandra Brown – 2
3-Point Scoring:
Covington: Michelle Meyer (3)
Arcanum: Brandey O'Dell (1)
