COVINGTON – It was the season opener and the Covington Buccaneers were able to overcome some early jitters to capture a hard-fought 39-35 win over Ansonia.
Obviously, the overall execution wasn’t at the standard Covington coach Logan Carey is working very hard to establish, but the way the Buccaneers were able to overcome adversity showed the resilience that could possibly lead to a successful season.
Early on the Buccaneers showed a lot of patience in finding open looks at the basket, but unfortunately many of the shots bounced off the rim. Fortunately, the Buccaneers played great defensively, which limited Ansonia from the open looks it needed to score a lot of points.
At the end of the first quarter both teams were tied at 6-6 and Ansonia was able to take a 15-13 lead at the half.
“Overall, I thought we played well defensively,” said Covington coach Logan Carey. “We fouled a little bit too much for my liking, but the defensive effort was there.”
It was the defensive effort by the Buccaneers that led to a win as Covington struggled in offensive execution throughout the majority of the game.
“Offensively we have some things to fix,” Carey said.
What kept the Buccaneers in the mix for a win was the overall performance by senior Brogen Angle, who scored a game-high 24 points.
“I thought we had a lot of first game jitters, so it was nice for Brogen to step up and put the game away when we needed it most,” Carey said.
Covington took a 25-24 lead at the end of the third due to four treys – two by Brogen Angle, one by Tyler Jay and a critical one by Parker Hoying to give the Buccs a one-point lead.
The Buccaneers used the momentum to put forth a solid performance in the final frame by outscoring Ansonia 14-11 down the stretch. The final three points by Ansonia came on a 70-foot heave by the Tigers at the buzzer.
“This was an ugly win, but we’ll certainly take the 1-0 start and build off of it,” said Carey.
Starting the season with a win has a huge impact in building confidence. The Buccaneers will need to use their confidence and improve on their execution to give themselves their best chance to capture a second straight victory next Friday at Troy Christian.
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL | |
| COVINGTON | 6 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 39 |
| ANSONIA | 6 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 35 |
COVINGTON SCORING:
Brogen Angle – 24
Tyler Jay – 5
Tanner Palsgrove – 4
Reagan Tipps – 3
Parker Hoying – 3
ANSONIA SCORING:
B. Lehman – 15
C. Shellhaas – 7
J. Schmitmeyer – 4
C. Tobe – 4
B. Barnt – 3
G. Coppess – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington: Brogen Angle (3), Tyler Jay (1), Parker Hoying (1)
Ansonia: B. Lehman (4)
