LADY BUCCS BASKETBALL HISTORY

THE FIRST LADY BUCCS BASKETBALL TEAM - 1974-75: Kneeling (L-R) - B. Fletcher, M. Girouard, K. Brown, A. Adams, R. Reck, G. Dennings, T. Miller. Standing (L-R) - N. Tobias, M. Shoup, S. Yingst, K. Knick, S. Besecker, Coach Marty Dale Ward.

The Covington Lady Buccs have a rich tradition of success on the basketball court as the program has won 20 games or more in nine seasons since the sport was introduced to Covington in 1974. Jim Meyer’s 1988-89 team was the first to do it as they finished with a 22-4 record. Chris Besecker had four teams accomplish the 20-win milestone and it came in consecutive seasons; 2003-04 (22-3), 2004-05 (20-4), 2005-06 (20-4), and 2006-07 (21-4). Meyer then returned to coaching in 2016 and led his teams to three straight 20-win seasons in 2016-17 (20-6), 2017-18 (20-7) and 2018-19 (20-4). Brandon Studebaker then led the Lady Buccs to a 20-5 record in the 2021-22 season, which was just his third season at the helm.

The Lady Buccs have also had success in post-season tournaments as they won district titles in 1989, 1992, 2004, 2007 and 2018.

Chris Besecker, who coached 23 seasons at Covington, has the most wins in school history with 344 career wins against just 181 defeats for a winning percentage of .655. He also owns the most post-season wins at Covington with 44 victories against 23 defeats. Jim Meyer, who has coached 6 seasons at Covington, has the highest winning percentage of any coach at .678 with a career record of 95 wins and just 45 defeats.

As a player, Judy Miller set the standard of excellence for Lady Bucc basketball as she was the first player in the history of the program to score over 1,000 career points. Miller, who played from 1976 to 1980, tallied 1,396 points in her amazing career and still owns the school record by averaging 19-9 points-per-game.

Lynnette Roeth (1988-92) scored 1,879 career points and holds the school record for most points scored in a season (603 in 1991-92). Roeth also had a stellar collegiate career at the University of Cincinnati.

Samantha Whiteman established a legacy as one of the premier basketball players in the history of the program as she became the school’s all-time leading scorer in 2019 with 1893 career points – breaking the records previously established by Lady Bucc Legends Judy Miller and Lynnette Roeth. She also has career records for steals (266), assists (353), field goals made (734) and games played (100) and is second to Erica Bowman’s 937 career rebounds with 696.

Six other players have reached the 1,000-point plateau for a career; Michelle Meyer (1,560), Erica Bowman (1,495), Jessie Crowell (1,141), Claudia Harrington (1,101), Emily Enderle (1,065) and Cindy Byers (1,061).

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

1988-89 District Champions (22-4)
Deana Roeth, “A” Thephasdin, Tammi Johnson, Pam Sowers, Jodi Miller, Kari Niesley, Carolyn Deneke, Shannon Laughman, Pam Lee, Emily Huelsman, Lynnette Roeth. Head Coach Jim Meyer and Asst. Coach Chris Besecker.

1991-92 District Champions (18-7)
Front – Asst. Coach Dave Stroh, Head Coach Chris Besecker. Back – Manager Stacy Besecker, Jodi Longendelpher, Emily Huelsman, Tori Hartley, Elizabeth Marko, Natalie Apple, Angie Hartley, Lynnette Roeth, Jolene Naff, Manager Richelle Finfrock.

2003-04 District Champions (22-3)
Kneeling (L-R) – Amanda Furrow, Caitlin Sargent, Michelle Meyer and Mandy Kuharick. Standing (L-R) – Coach Chris Besecker, MaryBeth Bayman, Audrey Doseck, Meredith Besecker, Heather Fields and Assistant coach Lynnette Roeth.

2006-07 District Champions (21-4)
Row 1: Managers Heidi Snipes, Tera Snipes. Row 2: Alex Christian, Chelsea Tebbe, Ashley Johnson, LauriKate Bayman, Andrea Meyer. Row 3: Head Coach Chris Besecker, Alyssa Angle, Amanda Sprankle, Renee Otte, Shelby Hoblit, Katie Dickey, Jen Lowry, Junior Varsity Coach Lynette Roeth

2017-18 District Champions (20-7)
Kneeling (L-R): Morgan Lowe, Josie Crowell, Tori Lyle, Jordan Crowell. Middle (L-R): Hailie-Jo Taxis, Brenna Miller, Kenzie Long. Standing (L-R): Asst Coach Adam Sweigart, Ellie Hedges, Autumn Rich, Leah Poling, Hailey Houshel, Lauren Christian, Lillian Hamilton, Samantha Whiteman, Asst. Coach Brandon Studebaker, Morgan Kimmel, Head Coach Jim Meyer.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

1984

1994

1995

1996

1998

2004

2006

2022

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

1989

1992

2004

2007

2018

REGIONAL CHAMPIONS