Michelle Meyer has fought off double and triple teams to make plays and lead the Lady Buccs to a 17-3 regular season record.

Michelle Meyer has reached the 1,000-point plateau as a junior.

2004-05 Season Preview 2004-05 Covington Lady Buccss 2004-05 Buccaneer Cheerleaders Lady Buccs Face Tough Road... Michelle Meyer selected area's best...

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The statistics of 435 points (19.8 average) in 22 games speaks volumes, but Michelle Meyer's most important impact on a young Lady Bucc team has been leadership. For this, Meyer has been selected by FanFileMagazine.com as their "Player of the Year" in girls basketball.

"This year's selection was tough because there are so many outstanding female basketball players in this area," said FanFileMagazine.com editor, Sonny Fulks. "However, from the fact of impact on her team's success, there was no player of greater impact than Michelle. You take her leadership and 20 points a game away from Covington and their winning 17 games in the regular season is highly questionable."

Meyer's impact on her team was without question, as the junior standout led a young Covington team to a 17-3 regular season record and a second-seed in the sectional tournament bracket.

Entering the 2004-05 Basketball season the Covington Lady Buccs had a major transformation of their varsity roster. Gone were four starters from last year's 22-3 regional finalists and forced into action were numerous sophomores. The only mainstay from a year ago was Meyer, the Lady Buccs' leading scorer. Although she had already accumulated 629 career points coming into the season, conventional wisdom indicated a rebuilding year for the Lady Buccs.

After five games, it appeared as if the Lady Buccs were rebuilding as they dropped two of those games and were owners of a modest 3-2 record. But, a season of rebuilding turned into a season of reloading as the Lady Buccs won 14 of their last 15 games to finish the regular season at 17-3.

Along the way, Meyer had many memorable performances. She knocked down 34 points against Fairlawn, 28 against Tri-Village, 21 against Tri-County North, 21 against Milton Union, 21 against Russia, 24 against Arcanum, and 20 against New Bremen. But, her most impressive performances are arguably in games against Miami East, National Trail, and Franklin Monroe.

Against Miami East, Meyer scored 26 points against a Viking team which had won 11 straight games and was ranked as one of the top teams in Division III. Covington held Miami East to just 40 points in the 48-40 win.

Meyer's shooting prowess prompted WPTW's Joe Neves, a huge Michelle Meyer supporter, to comment, "There's no better clutch shooter anywhere in the area than Michelle Meyer."

A few days later, Covington was struggling offensively against National Trail when Michelle drilled a three-pointer with the score tied at 40-40 with 4:09 left in the game. The shot, which put her over 1,000 career points, sparked the Lady Buccs to a 14-0 run and a 54-40 win.

But, the most impressive performance may have been in a loss to Franklin Monroe.

Trailing 24-9 at the half, Michelle almost single-handely got the Lady Buccs back into the game in the second half. Meyer scored 26 points, including all 13 of Covington's fourth quarter points. Franklin Monroe made free throws in the end to escape with the win, but Meyer raised some eyebrows with her guts and determination.

"Her performance against Franklin Monroe in a losing effort demonstrated just how much impact she has," continued Fulks. "She hit at least three NBA-range 3 point shots to get Covington back into the game, handled the ball, defended and hit the clutch free throws down the stretch to keep them within striking distance. You can also point to the Fairlawn game early, the Jackson Center game and others as supportive examples of her impact on Covington's season."

The Franklin Monroe performance showcased not only Michelle's basketball skills, but her heart as one area coach (who chose not to be named) described, "Michelle probably has more competitive heart than any player I've seen."

Many other players in the area are much deserving of "Player of the Year" recognition. When you consider the other candidates, Maria Moeller (Marion Local), Danielle Denlinger (Miami East), Lauren Sharpe (Tipp City), and Abby Davenport (Franklin Monroe)...the list is pretty impressive and anyone could argue on their behalf.

But, FanFileMagazine.com backs up their selection with the criteria they use in the selection process.

"Our criteria is statistical, plus we solicit recommendations and nominations from coaches and members of the media who co-operate," says Fulks. "We also see each athlete in person, so we feel it ads credibility to our all-area selections."

As previously mentioned, many other players are well deserving of the honor, but you'll never hear an argument from those who saw Michelle play this year.