COVINGTON – The Covington Lady Buccs have struggled recently getting out to a fast start to begin games and hopefully Wednesday’s performance against neighboring rival Bradford is the beginning of a new trend.
In the opening round of the Buccaneer Holiday Classic the Lady Buccs started out fast and cruised to a 53-7 win in a game where the score didn’t tell the entire story.
On Covington’s side, things went well – actually very well as the Lady Buccs put forth their best overall team performance of the year at both ends of the floor.Nine players contributed with points and everyone contributed defensively.
“This was a great, all-around team effort,” said Covington coach Shawn Naff. “We played amazing team defense and shared the ball very well.”
Even though the score was lopsided, Bradford played extremely hard from start to finish. Covington’s defense made it difficult for the Lady Railroaders, but when they did get open looks shots just wouldn’t fall. The effort the Bradford girls gave was apparent to those who were in attendance.
Covington built a 14-2 lead after one and pushed its advantage to 35-6 at the break.
The majority of the second half was played run under a running clock and Covington cruised to a 53-7 win. The seven points surrendered by the Lady Buccs tied a school record for the least amount of points allowed in a game – a record that was set in 2021 against Northridge.
Covington was led in scoring by Carlie Besecker, who tallied a game-high 10 points. Maggie Anderson finished with nine points, Avery Koffer had seven points and the trio of Gracie Anderson, Erika Gostomsky and Gabrielle Hartwig scored six points each. Delaney Murphy finished with five points, while Meg Rogers and Hannah Alexander both had two points.
The win boosts Covington’s record to 8-4 on the season as the Lady Buccs will take on Russia in the championship game tomorrow evening.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Bradford – 2 – 4 – 0 – 1 = 7
Covington – 14 – 21 – 20 – 8 = 53
COVINGTON SCORING:
Carlie Besecker – 10
Maggie Anderson – 9
Avery Koffer – 7
Gracie Anderson – 6
Erika Gostomsky – 6
Gabrielle Hartwig – 6
Delaney Murphy – 5
Meg Rogers – 2
Hannah Alexander – 2
BRADFORD SCORING:
Shay Swick – 3
Ryleigh Dotson – 2
Brooklyn Crickmore – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Gracie Anderson (2), Maggie Anderson (1)
Bradford – None
