Shelby Hoblit goes up for two points in the Lady Buccs' win.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008
BROOKVILLE — Covington coach Chris Besecker couldn't hide his feelings for his young Lady Buccs after a 44-33 win over Bethel in the second round of the sectional tournament at Brookville High School, Thursday.

"I'm so proud of these kids and happy they are able to enjoy the success we've had so far in the tournament," said Besecker. "This is truly a great group of girls and I enjoy coaching them."

With the victory Covington punched its ticket into the sectional final on Saturday against Tri-Village - an accomplishment many considered out of reach earlier in the year.

"That (the opportunity to play in the sectional final) is a tribute to these kids," Besecker stated. "It just shows how far they've come this year with their maturity and handling the pressure. It's a joy to watch these kids grow and improve the way they have."

The performance against Bethel was a barometer for Covington as the Lady Bees handed them a 41-36 defeat on December 8th.

"They beat us then without (Ashley) Bennett, who is one of their better players," Besecker said. "At the time we had only one win and wasn't a very confident basketball team. We're a much different team now and tonight is proof of that."

Covington jumped out to a 5-2 lead on an Alyssa Angle jumper and a three-pointer by Kayla Fissel, but would go without a field goal until three seconds left in the half.

Bethel took advantage by taking a 10-7 lead after one and increasing the lead to 17-9 midway through the second quarter.

But the Lady Buccs were able to cut the margin to 17-15 at the half as Shelby Hoblit scored five of Covington's six points in the final three minutes before the break.

"I felt the run we had right before the half was the key to the game," Besecker explained. "We were having a hard time handling their pressure and they (Bethel) were dominating us on the boards. For us to cut an eight-point lead down to two before the half gave us some confidence going into the locker room."

And that's when Besecker simplified things for his team.

"It told the kids that we had a good chance to win if we did two things, protect the basketball and rebound," Besecker continued. "We had to eliminate the mistakes and stop giving them two or three shots on each possession. I knew if we could do those things we'd be right there in the end."

Covington did just that as it only had six turnovers in the second half after turning the ball over 12 times in the first half.

The Lady Buccs also played Bethel nearly even on the boards, pulling down 23 rebounds to Bethel's 26.

The result was what Besecker was looking for as Covington played right with Bethel and held a 27-25 lead with 5:00 left in the game.

That's when freshman Kayla Fissel made the shot that sparked Covington down the stretch - her third three-pointer of the game to put the Lady Buccs up 30-25.

"That was a big shot," said Besecker. "You could see them (Bethel) start getting desperate after that."

The desperation led to fouls as Covington made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 5:00 of the game to put some separation on the scoreboard.

"If you look at their track record, they have a tendency to foul," Besecker said. "We knew that so we had the kids attack their defense. Renee (Otte) really did a nice job of attacking their defense."

Otte, who scored a game-high 17 points, made 13 of 16 free throw attempts in the contest.

"A number of those fouls were before we even got into our offense," continued Besecker. "They (Bethel) switch from to a man press in the fourth quarter and I don't know of too many kids who can guard Renee one-on-one when she is bringing the ball up the floor. We just got her the ball and cleared everybody out and let Renee do her thing."

Otte wasn't the only player doing her thing for Covington as Kayla Fissel scored 11 points on the night and Shelby Hoblit knocked down eight points.

It was a complete team effort as Alyssa Angle and Katie Dickey also had solid nights at both ends of the floor, while Halley Roberts came in with key minutes throughout the contest.

"Absolutely, it was a team effort," said Besecker. "The kids are playing hard at both ends of the floor."

And that is why the Lady Buccs will be playing for a Sectional Championship on Saturday.

Scoring by Quarters:
Covington ..................7.......15.......22.......44
Bethel .......................10.......17.......21.......33

Covington Scoring:
Renee Otte - 17
Kayla Fissel - 11
Shelby Hoblit - 8
Alyssa Angle - 5
Katie Dickey - 3

Three-Point Scoring:
Covington: Kayla Fissel (3)