COVINGTON – The Covington Buccaneers put in a great effort in the Buccaneer Holiday Classic championship game, but came up short down the stretch in a 62-56 loss.

Covington started off on fire as it built a 17-7 lead midway through the first period, but after a timeout by Houston the Buccs went ice cold on a long stretch where the Wildcats went on a 14-1 run to take a 21-18 lead. Houston continued to control the rest of the first half as it took a 32-25 lead at the break.

The Buccaneers battled back with due to gritty effort and were able to outscore Houston 18-14 in the third period to close the gap to 46-43 with one period to play.

Covington continued to battle in the fourth and eventually tied the game at 53-53 late in the fourth. Unfortunately, the Buccs missed a couple of key shot opportunities and Houston was able to take advantage to escape with a win.

The Buccaneers had a balanced scoring performance as three players reached double-digits. Brogen Angle led the Buccs with 15 points, while Brant Angle scored 14 points and Tanner Palsgrove had 13 points.

Brogen Angle and Tanner Palsgrove were selected on the all-tournament team.

The loss drops Covington’s record to 2-7 on the season. Next up is a road contest against Riverside on January 7th.

	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	FINAL
COVINGTON	17	8	18	13	56
HOUSTON	12	20	14	16	62

COVINGTON SCORING:
Brogen Angle – 15
Brant Angle – 14
Tanner Palsgrove – 13
Reagan Tipps – 9
Tyler Jay – 4
Landin Cassel – 1

HOUSTON SCORING:
Jeff Leist – 21
Davis Burks – 16
Cole – 11
Skyler Bowman – 8
Mohler – 6

THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Brogen Angle (3), Reagan Tipps (3), Brant Angle (1)
Houston – Davis Burks (2)