COVINGTON – The Covington Buccaneers put together one of their best games of the season in an impressive 52-40 victory over the Bethel Bees on Friday.

Fittingly, the Buccaneers had the largest hometown crowd of the season in the stands due to Mini Buccs showcasing their fundamentals during halftime of the varsity game. The major excitement outside of the victory was how the entire Buccaneer basketball team joined the Mini Buccs at the center of the court before the second half started.

At that time the Buccaneers held a 25-11 lead due to an impressive performance in the first half. The biggest impact was the defensive pressure Covington implemented that limited a talented Bethel team significant scoring opportunities.

Bethel started off the second half with five straight points to close the gap to 25-16 and held the Buccaneers without any baskets over the first three minutes. Fortunately, the Buccaneers caught fire once again to close out the remaining third period by outscoring Bethel 14-12 to take a 39-28 lead heading into the fourth period.

The Buccaneers closed out the final period by executing well down the stretch. Brant Angle led Covington with seven points in the final frame, while Brairen Denson scored four and Nicholas Carnes connected on a layup. Plus, the Buccaneers knocked down all five free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the Buccaneers played very well inside the three-point line as they connected on 15 two-point attempts throughout the game. Covington also made four treys and connected on 10 out of 11 free throw attempts.

Brant Angle led the Buccs with a game-high 19 points, while Braine Denson scored 15 points and Kent Welborn finished with 10 points.

This was a great win against a Bethel team who had defeated the Buccaneers 54-33 earlier in the season.

“This was the first complete game of the season,” commented Covington coach Logan Carey. “We were down a starter and Caleb (Smith) stepped up and played that role well when we got into some foul trouble. It feels like we are really starting to gel. Communicating on the floor, anticipating on both ends of the floor, taking care of the ball, etc. We looked really good tonight. That was a good win against a team that beat us by 20 the first time.”

Covington is now 3-13 overall and 3-7 in the TRC. Next is another critical league contest at Northridge next Tuesday.

	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	FINAL
COVINGTON	14	11	14	13	52
BETHEL	4	7	17	12	40

COVINGTON SCORING:
Brant Angle – 19
Brairen Denson – 15
Kent Welborn – 10
Landin Cassel – 4
Nicholas Carnes – 4

BETHEL SCORING:
Landen Cornwell – 11
Brennan Montgomery – 9
Cooper Mears – 7
Kaden Jackson Hardacre – 6
Rueger Harrah – 5
Deiss – 2

THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Kent Welborn (2), Brant Angle (1), Brairen Denson (1)
Bethel: Landen Cornwell (1), Rueger Harrah (1)