CASSTOWN – The final regular season game for Covington was extremely challenging due to the effort put forth by both teams, but the Lady Buccs were able to capture a 32-18 win in a highly contested defensive battle.
This contest was very similar to the game Covington played against Miami East earlier in the year on January 9th – an outcome where the Lady Buccs captured a 38-25 win.
Miami East, a program who honored its seniors prior to the final game of the season on the home floor, started off strong by building a 9-8 lead at the end of the first. However, Covington’s defense adjusted and made things very difficult for the Lady Vikings throughout the rest of the game. This led to just nine more points scored by Miami East over the final three periods.
Offensively, Covington was able to score in critical situations, the first coming on a three-pointer by Emalyn Johnson to give the Lady Buccs their first lead of the game, 14-13. Covington scored four more points throughout the final second period to take an 18-13 lead at the break.
The biggest quarter for Covington came in the third period as the Lady Buccs outscored Miami East 9-0. Senior Maggie Anderson got things rolling with a traditional three-point play and Delaney Murphy connected on a three-pointer from behind the arc to ignite a 25-13 lead at the end of the third.
With the Lady Buccs holding a double-digit lead, Miami East was in dire straight and fouls started to happen. Covington was able to take advantage of the situations by knocking down all six free throw attempts in the fourth.
Maggie Anderson recorded a game-high 12 points in a hard-fought win. Anderson is now the sixth player in the history of the program to score over 1300 career points.
Overall, Covington connected on 10 of 11 free throws throughout the game and made 10 buckets – eight on two-pointer and two treys.
Miami East connects on seven baskets, six two-point shots and one three-pointer. Plus, they made three out of 5 free throws.
The win for Covington is the 16th straight victory and closes out the regular season with a 20-2 record.
“I’m super proud of these young ladies,” commented Covington coach Shawn Naff. “Blessed to be their coach.”
Covington starts the state tournament on February 15th at Tecumseh against Calvary Christian.
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL | |
| COVINGTON | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 32 |
| MIAMI EAST | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 18 |
COVINGTON SCORING:
Maggie Anderson – 12
Delaney Murphy – 7
Avery Koffer – 5
Gabrielle Hartwig – 4
Emalyn Johnson – 4
MIAMI EAST SCORING:
Katie Paulus – 5
Jacqueline Kadel – 5
Kylie Gentis- 4
Mara Fine – 2
Jenna Taylor – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Delaney Murphy (1), Emalyn Johnson (1)
Miami East – Katie Paulus (1)
