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Michelle Meyer torched Fairlawn for 34 points in the Lady Buccs' win.
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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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November 20, 2004 – COVINGTON
The sparse crowd who showed up for the Buccs' Saturday night road opener at Fairlawn saw two Michelle Meyers. The one with a gimpy ankle and painful shin splints who moved about uncomfortably in warm-ups...and the one that scorched the Lady Jets for 34 points after the opening tip, enroute to a 61-44 Covington win.
From her opening 3-pointer from the left wing that gave the Lady Buccs a quick 3-0 lead, to the conventional 3-point play to close her scoring for the evening, Meyer scored over, under, around and through a talented, if not frustrated, Jets squad. In the process, she achieved a personal game-high in scoring and matched the Meyer "family" game high total of 34 points. She made it look easy.
"She was very, very good," commented a disappointed Fairlawn coach, Ken Miller, after the game. "We didn't do anything right tonight, but that doesn't detract from the game she had."
Miller had a right to be down after a spirited Buccs defense forced 27 turnovers by his Lady Jets, holding them to 27% shooting in the process.
"We're a lot better team than we showed tonight," said Miller. "We stood around too much and never got any kind of motion going in our offense. Defensively, we didn't play with a lot of energy and didn't rebound...but it's early and I hope we'll be better next time out. They (Covington) are a nice group and very well coached."
The Lady Jets were not with some offensive spark of their own, as freshman guard Amanda Francis stung the Lady Buccs with 23 points of her own and showed skills that bodes big things for her career over the next four years.
Chris Besecker was impressed, with Francis, and the improved performance of his own team, playing its second game in 24 hours.
"Overall, we played a lot better than last night," he said. "We turned the ball over too much, but we shot the ball with some confidence. Michelle gave us a big lift."
The game was close at the half with Covington holding a 5-point advantage...a fact Besecker addressed in the locker room.
"They were getting the ball in the paint too easily in the first half," said Besecker. "We tried to close down after to break to deny some passing lanes and force them to beat us from the outside if they could. They are a much better team than they showed tonight."
Meyer's performance was supported by 8 points from Ashley Johnson and 7 points from her cousin, Andrea Meyer. The Buccs improve to 2-0 for the young season and now have a week off before playing Versailles at home, next Saturday afternoon a 1 p.m. Besecker can't wait to get his young team back into action.
"We had so many of our scrimmages cancelled we haven't played very much," he said after Friday night's win over Houston. "We really need to play...to get some experience and consistency. We'll improve."
For her part, a noticeably tired Michelle Meyer slumped on a bench with an emphatic "Phew" before boarding the bus for home. Family members and friends came by to congratulate her on what's sure to be a memorable performance in her still-young career.
"That was impressive," said an area coach as he left the gym, there to scout the contest. "When you shoot the ball like that it's no accident. She (Meyer) comes from good stock."
