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Mandy Kuharik shoots over the Russia defense for two points.
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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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December 29, 2004 – COVINGTON
Tuesday night the Covington boys basketball team got a monkey of their backs with a win over Russia and just 24 hours later, the Covington girls basketball team did the same.
For the first time since 1996 the Covington Lady Buccs defeated the Russia Lady Raiders by the score of 58-50 Wednesday evening. The win improves Covington's record to 9-2 on the season and gives them momentum heading into the year 2005.
"It's been a long time coming," said Covington coach Chris Besecker. "Believe me, I know how long it's been since we beat them."
The victory didn't come easy for the Lady Buccs as Russia's 6'2" senior, Anita Bulcher couldn't be stopped. Bulcher dominated the Lady Buccs on the inside with a game-high 34 points.
"It's almost impossible to stop her," said Besecker. "We just don't have the size to stop her. We started out in a zone defense, but that didn't work. No matter what we tried, she just couldn't be stopped. All we could do was try and make the shots she was taking a little more difficult."
Although Russia received a big night from Bulcher, they didn't get enough offensive output from her supporting cast. Much of that was due to the aggressive Covington defense, sparked by sophomore, Chelsea Tebbe.
With the game tied 38-38 after a trey by Covington's Andrea Meyer to start the final period, Tebbe got the Lady Buccs rolling by scoring six straight points. First, Tebbe slipped in the back-side and scored on a put-back off a Michelle Meyer misfire. Then, the sophomore defensive specialist picked the pocket of Russia's Janel Meyer on two straight possessions and converted her thefts into lay-ups to give Covington a lead they would not surrender, 44-38.
Tebbe's heroics continued throughout the remainder of the game as she connected on 5 of 6 free throws as all 11 of her points came in the final stanza. This despite being forced out of the game twice in the final 5:00 of the contest after being driven hard to the floor on screens.
"Chelsea is by far our best defender," complemented Besecker. "She is also a very tough kid. She went down pretty hard and was hurting when she came to the bench, but I knew by the look in her eyes she wanted back into the game. I told the trainer to let me know when she was ready to go because we really needed her defense."
Despite the defensive performance by Tebbe, the Lady Buccs just couldn't handle Bulcher as Russia held leads in each of the first three periods.
Russia built it's largest lead of the contest with 3:29 left in the first half, 24-14. Bulcher led the way with 16 of those points, including six straight points to force a Covington timeout.
The Lady Buccs closed the gap to 26-23 by halftime as Michelle Meyer canned two treys and a pair of free throws. Andrea Meyer also knocked down two jumpers in the run.
Bulcher continued to take the scoring load on her shoulders in the third as she scored eight of Russia's ten points in the stanza.
Covington, on the other hand, couldn't close the gap as they only managed ten third period points as well. Half of the Lady Buccs' points in the period came at the free throw line as Russia's defense held Covington to just two field goals, a three-pointer by Ashley Johnson and a runner by Andrea Meyer.
With the final period being controlled by the defensive pressure of the smallest player on the floor, the Lady Buccs' offense started to click. Covington torched the nets for 23 four quarter points, including 14 points coming at the free throw line on 18 attempts.
Leading the way offensively for the Lady Buccs was Michelle Meyer with 21 points.
Covington, now 9-2 on the season, hosts Ansonia next Monday at 5:30 pm.
Scoring by Quarters:
Covington .......11......23......35......58
Russia .............13......26......38......50
Covington Scoring:
Michelle Meyer – 21
Chelsea Tebbe – 11
Andrea Meyer – 9
Caitlin Sargent – 6
Ashley Johnson – 5
Mandy Kuharik – 4
Alex Christian – 2
Russia Scoring:
Anita Bulcher – 34
Madison Griesdorn – 6
Melissa Lachay – 3
Janel Meyer – 3
Amanda Monnin – 2
Sarah Petty – 2
3-Point Scoring:
Covington: Michelle Meyer (2), Ashley Johnson (1), Andrea Meyer (1)
Russia: Janel Meyer (1)
