COVINGTON – Some nights shots won’t fall like you want, but good teams find a way to win by playing solid defense.
That’s what Covington did on Thursday night in a 41-28 victory over Riverside in the final home game of the season.
The Lady Buccs scored on their first two possessions of the game on buckets by Maggie Anderson and Carlie Besecker, but only managed one more bucket throughout the rest of the first period.
And it wasn’t due to a lack of effort or poor decision making. It was one of those night where the Lady Buccs ran the offense well to get open looks, but the shots just wouldn’t fall – especially early on.
Leading 6-4 to start the second, Maggie Anderson knocked down a three-pointer to ignite a 12-0 run. Erika Gostomsky and Gabrielle Hartwig hit on jumpers, while Delaney Murphy connected on a put back and a layup off of a steal to go along with a free throw by Gostomsky to push the lead to 18-4.
Riverside closed out the half by connecting on back-to-back jumpers to cut Covington’s advantage to 18-8 at the break.
Gracie Anderson found her groove at the offensive end in the third by connecting on a three-pointer and two layups off of steals, while Carlie Besecker scored a bucket inside the paint and hit four free throws to push Covington’s lead to 31-14 heading into the fourth.
Covington pushed its lead to 40-19 midway through the fourth and pulled its starters the rest of the way.
Carlie Besecker led Covington with a game-high 14 points and Maggie Anderson scored 10 points.
Covington improves to 12-8 overall and 9-4 in the TRC. The Lady Buccs travel to Miami East next Thursday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Riverside – 4 – 4 – 6 – 14 = 28
Covington – 6 – 12 – 13 – 10 = 41
COVINGTON SCORING:
Carlie Besecker – 14
Maggie Anderson – 10
Gracie Anderson – 7
Delaney Murphy – 4
Erika Gostomsky – 3
Gabrielle Hartwig – 2
Whitney Burns – 1
RIVERSIDE SCORING:
Ayva Stewart – 11
Jade Copas – 5
Avery Perk – 4
Aubree Huston – 4
Emma Saylor – 2
Zoie Armbruster – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Gracie Anderson (1), Maggie Anderson (1)
Riverside – Ayva Stewart (2), Jade Copas (1)
