November 29, 2007 – Covington

Story by www.buccshoops.com

In a battle between Cross County Conference foes Tri-Village overcame a late Covington surge to take a 32-26 win at Covington High School, Thursday.

Trailing 21-14 and held without a second half field goal with 2:57 left in the third period, Covington made a run to get back into a game that appeared virtually decided.

Shelby Hoblit scored on a short jumper to close out the third period and Kayla Fissel drilled a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter to cut the margin to 21-19.

But the Lady Buccs couldn't stop Jordyn Fisherback, who scored six of her game-high 18 points in the final period to prevent a Covington comeback.

"She (Fisherback) killed us tonight," said Covington coach Chris Besecker. "We didn't do a very good job of putting a body on her and keeping her from getting to the basket."

Fisherback picked the ideal situations to make an impact.

First, she sparked an 11-6 first quarter lead with a pair of baskets and a free throw and followed with a huge three-pointer in the second quarter.

Then Fisherback accounted for ten of the 18 second half points Tri-Village
put on the board, including six in the fourth quarter.

"We just have to defend better," Besecker stated.

Covington did had success in two of the four quarters - the second and the fourth.

The Lady Buccs cut an 11-6 first quarter lead to 14-13 at the half on a pair of buckets by Renee Otte and Katie Dickey as well as a three-pointer by Fissel.

Fissel also drilled two more treys in the fourth as the freshman led Covington with nine points.

"We have started slow in the first and third quarters all season," Besecker explained. "But then we've played well in the second and fourth quarters. It's probably our youth, but we need to learn how to maintain consistency."

After Fissel's second trey of the contest closed the gap to 21-19 early in
the fourth quarter, the Lady Buccs had a golden opportunity to capitalize on the momentum.

But turnovers turned the the tide and gave Tri-Village some easy baskets at the other end, two by Fisherback.

"The turnovers have been killing us all season," said Besecker. "It's the
uncontested turnovers that hurt the most. The double-dribbles, throwing the ball away - those types of turnovers."

Still, Covington was within striking distance with 4:15 left in the game as Tri-Village called a timeout after Renee Otte hit on a pair of free throws and Fissel drilled her third trey of the game to cut the margin to 27-24.

But Fisherback, who was the clutch performer all evening, made a pair of
free throws to spark a 5-2 Tri-Village run to end the game.

"Our youth and inexperience showed again tonight," Besecker said. "This was a game that was right there for us and we let it get away. We're still
learning how to win. We'll continue to improve."

Tri-Village goes to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. They will be back in action next week with two big games. First non-conference action at Houston on Tuesday and then face perennial power the Miami East Lady Vikings on Thursday.

Individual Scoring:

Tri-Village Scoring:
Jordyn Fisherback - 18
Tina Allison - 4
Bre Abney - 4
Kaila Burns - 3
Shawnda Stamps - 2
Kaley Stahl - 1

Covington Scoring:
Kayla Fissel - 9
Renee Otte - 8
Katie Dickey - 4
Shelby Hoblit - 3
Alyssa Angle - 2

Scoring by Quarters:
Tri-Village ...........11......14......21......32
Covington .............4......13......16......26