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| Renee Otte drives to the basket for the Lady Buccs. |
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Team
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CCC
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ALL
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Miami East
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12-0
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17-3
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Covington
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11-1
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17-3
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Arcanum
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9-3
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12-8
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Franklin Monroe
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8-4
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10-9
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Tri-County North
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8-4
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12-8
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Bethel
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7-5
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8-11
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Mississinawa Valley
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6-6
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10-9
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Tri-Village
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4-7
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9-10
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Ansonia
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4-8
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6-13
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Twin Valley South
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2-9
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6-13
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Newton
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2-10
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3-17
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Bradford
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1-10
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3-16
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| National Trail |
1-10 |
2-17 |
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December 28, 2006 – COVINGTON
The fans who attended Thursday's girls basketball game between Covington and Miami East witnessed one of the most exciting games in recent memory as the visiting Vikings held off a second half comeback by the Lady Buccs for a 50-48 win.
"This was a great atmosphere," said Miami East coach Chad Widener. "Both teams deserve to play in front of a large crowd like this. These are two quality basketball teams and it was an exciting game to be a part of."
Covington coach Chris Besecker equally enjoyed the evening, despite seeing his team fall short in the end.
"It was a fun game to coach," Besecker said. "Even when they (Miami East) were making plays, it was fun."
The visiting Lady Vikings came in as the new kids on the block in the Cross County Conference, while Covington came in as the team to beat. The Lady Buccs have been on or near the top of the standings over much of the decade.
"Anytime you can play a good team like Covington, it's a big game," Widener explained. "This was our first close game this season and to get a win in this gym will give us more confidence."
Miami East started the game on fire by jumping out to a 12-2 lead as the Lady Vikings' defense held Covington to just two free throws in the first 4:49 of the game.
Alex Christian finally connected on Covington's first field goal with 3:11 left in the opening stanza.
A basket by Cheslea Tebbe and another by Christian followed, but Miami East was able to increase its lead to 19-8 on a Chrissy Henger bucket, a Sarah Skidmore trey and two free throws by Katie Denlinger.
Andrea Meyer gave Covington some momentum to close out the first by connecting on a trey to make the score 19-11.
Miami East's defense continued to give Covington fits in the second period. The Lady Buccs managed just 9 points in the period, five coming from Christian and four from Tebbe.
"I was frustrated in the first half because we were not getting the ball inside," said Besecker. "We needed to get the ball inside to open up the perimeter and we didn't do that in the first half."
Meanwhile, the Miami East offense remained hot as it scored 18 points in the stanza. Henger accounted for 7 points in the quarter, while Skidmore scored 5, Brooke Vanover dropped in 4 and Amy Motter hit on a lay-up.
At the break, Miami East had all of the momentum and a large lead on the scoreboard, 37-20.
"We got up on them in the first half because of our defense," said Widener. "We played a man-to-man and kept pressure on the ball. That allowed us to get a nice lead."
Covington turned the tables in the third quarter as it outscored Miami East 22-4 to take a 42-41 lead with 59 seconds left in the third.
The key to success was doing what Besecker wanted his team to do in the first half, get the ball inside. The result was 11 points scored by Alex Christian and two treys, one each by Ashley Johnson and Andrea Meyer.
"When you get the ball inside and get some easy baskets, the defense closes down," described Besecker. "They were double and triple teaming Al (Alex), which opened up the perimeter."
Miami East closed out the third with only its second field goal of the period, a lay-up by Rebecca Leffel. But it was enough to give the Lady Vikings a 43-42 lead with one quarter to play.
"Give Covington credit," Widener praised. "Coach Besecker does a great job having his kids prepared. They came out aggressive in the second half and had confidence in themselves that they could get back into the game."
Miami East also had confidence as it weathered the storm and took the momentum back in the opening minutes of the fourth.
Skidmore started things off with a lay-up and then Lottie Hageman scored on a put back after Chrissy Henger made the first and missed the second of two free throws.
"We faced some adversity in the second half and were able to respond," Widener said. "For a young team, we showed some maturity by not getting rattled when Covington came back like that."
Trailing 48-42 and held scoreless for nearly 5:00, Alex Christian scored on a short jumper to get Covington rolling again.
Andrea Meyer followed with two free throws and a runner to tie the score at 48-48 with 1:23 left in the game.
Katie Denlinger then drove through the lane, made a nice spin move and threw up a pretty left handed runner to give the Lady Vikings a 50-48 lead with under 1:00 left in the game.
"That was a huge play by Katie," said Widener. "It was a nice spin move and the shot with the left hand. She's not left handed either, so that was a big shot."
A three-point attempt by Covington was off the mark as Miami East pulled down the rebound and appeared to take control of the ball and the game.
Alex Christian somehow stole the ball, giving Covington possession and a timeout to set up one final shot attempt with 4.9 seconds left in the game.
As the two teams came out on the floor for one final possession, the entire gymnasium was on its feet.
Covington threw in the inbounds pass to Andrea Meyer on the wing. Meyer's three-point attempt rattled in and out, falling into the hands of Miami East's Amy Motter as the Lady Buccs fouled with 0.7 left in the clock.
The Lady Buccs stole the inbounds pass at mid-court, but a desperation shot fell well short giving Miami East a thrilling 50-48 win.
"We gave them too good of a look at the end," said a relieved Miami East coach. "(Andrea) Meyer is a great shooter and that nearly went in. When it bounced out all I could think was get the rebound. Luckily, we did."
Despite the loss, Besecker was more than pleased with the effort his team gave in defeat.
"This is the hardest working group I've ever coach," Besecker said of his girls. "There is no quit in these kids. We just didn't execute well enough early in the game."
Alex Christian led all players with a game-high 24 points, while Andrea Meyer scored 12 for the Lady Buccs.
Miami East had eight players score on the night with Sarah Skidmore and Chrissy Henger both leading the way with 12 points.
The Lady Vikings take control of the CCC standings, improving to 6-0 in league play and 8-1 overall.
Covington drops its first conference contest to fall to 4-1 in the CCC and 8-3 overall.
Scoring by Quarters:
Miami East ...............19.........37.........43............50
Covington ................11.........20.........42............48
Miami East Scoring:
Sarah Skidmore - 12
Chrissy Henger - 12
Katie Denlinger - 9
Katie Mengos - 7
Brooke Vanover - 4
Amy Motter - 2
Lottie Hageman - 2
Rebecca Leffel - 2
Covington Scoring:
Alex Christian - 24
Andrea Meyer - 12
Chelsea Tebbe - 9
Ashley Johnson - 3
Renee Otte - 2
Three-point Scoring:
Miami East: Sarah Skidmore (2)
Covington: Andrea Meyer (2), Ashley Johnson (1)
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