COVINGTON – The Covington Buccaneers scored a season-high 82 points in an 82-67 victory over Arcanum to advance to the championship game against Bradford in the sixth annual Buccaneer Holiday Classic.
“That was a great team win, but we want to win the whole thing tomorrow night,” said Covington coach Logan Carey. “Our guys are excited for the opportunity, and we’re ready for the challenge.”
The victory for the Buccs, who are now 3-4 overall, is their third win in the past four games after an 0-3 start to the season, which hopefully is a sign of good things to come over the remainder of the season.
It was a night where Covington shot its best so far this season. The Buccaneers made 12 three-pointers, converted on 12 of 14 free throws and made 17 two-point buckets.
Brogen Angle, a junior, had a huge night as he scored a career-high 37 points, which broke the previous tournament record of 32 points scored by Brady King of Graham in 2020. He also broke the tournament record in three-point field goals by dropping in seven treys in the game.
“Yes, Brogen had a heck of a game, but Sam Grabeman, Connor Humphrey, and making our free throws played a humongous part in that win,” Carey said. “We’ve been waiting for a performance like that from Brogen. When he’s hot, you just let him do what he does, and our guys knew he was smoking hot.”
Arcanum started out fast and built an 18-15 lead after one, but Covington took over the game throughout the next three periods. The Buccs took a 37-32 lead at the break and pushed their lead to 57-51 with one quarter to play.
“We got into foul trouble early with our two better defenders picking up two quick ones,” Carey explained. “We were able to navigate through that adversity and everybody responded well.”
The fourth period was all Covington as the Buccaneers outscored the Trojans 25-16 in the final frame. Brogen Angle and Bryson Hite combined to score 21 of the 25 points down the stretch for the Buccs.
Covington faces neighboring rival Bradford in the championship game tomorrow night at 7:30pm. Bradford defeated Houston earlier in the day to improve its record to 6-2 on the season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Covington – 15 – 37 – 57 – 82
Arcanum – 18 – 32 – 51 – 67
COVINGTON SCORING:
Brogen Angle – 37
Bryson Hite – 12
Tanner Palsgrove – 8
Britton Miller – 8
Sam Grabeman – 6
Connor Humphrey – 6
Gunner Kimmel – 4
ARCANUM SCORING:
Regan Christ – 23
Brady Lock – 16
Braylen Etherington – 11
Landon Flatter – 6
Luke Henninger – 4
Matthew McCans – 3
Caleb Burke – 2
Rylan Murray – 2
THREE-POINT SCORING:
Covington – Brogen Angle (7), Sam Grabeman (2), Britton Miller (2), Bryson Hite (1)
Arcanum – Regan Christ (5), Braylen Etherington (3)
