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Mississinawa
Valley senior Dalton Geesy hits for two in the paint early
in the game
Tuesday against Covington. The Blackhawks made it fore
straight wins with a 56-53
victory over the Buccs. CNO Photos by Dylan
Knoop
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Blackhawks win
fourth straight
Covington proves a stiff test
By George Starks
UNION CITY- Coming in to Tuesday’s Cross County Conference game with
Covington, the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks had been on a roll.
The Hawks had won their last three games and had won six of their last
seven contests.
Make that four straight and seven of the last eight.
A sub-par Covington team gave Mississinawa Valley all it could handle
before the Hawks posted a 56-53 CCC victory.
In a game that was back and forth for 32 minutes, it was put on ice
with 14.4 seconds remaining as junior Ethan Bowman (21 points) calmly
hit two from the stripe, putting the Hawks up by the three point margin
and the final score.
“This was a great game,” said Covington coach Matt Pond.
From outside the three point line, the Buccs were deadly, knocking down
eight bombs with four coming from junior Trevor Miller who led
Covington with 16 points.
“I’m not going to say we give them those baskets,” said Hawks coach Tim
Barga. “We never had a hand in the face on them. That was the problem.
We know we have to make kids put the ball on the floor. You’re not
nearly as dangerous when there’s a hand in your face and you have to
put the ball on the floor. Anybody can stand out there and make three’s
when you play the catch and shoot game. I guess I was just happy we
weren’t up by only two points in that last couple of seconds.”
After the Buccs went up 2-0 early on foul shots by senior Jordan
Maschino, MV reeled off six straight points.
That was all the Hawks would get for a while as Covington would go on a
10-2 run and close out the frame holding a 12-8 lead.
It would prove to be a game of runs the rest of the night.
With 3:45 left in the half, Mississinawa Valley would be clinging to a
slim 17-16 advantage.
At the half, the Hawks would still be holding on by a slim margin,
22-19.
Pushing a tough 2-3 zone at the Hawks, Covington was looking to keep
Bowman quiet, and did but there was one huge problem.
Covington had no answer for 6-4 senior Dalton Geesy in the post.
Geesy accounted for eight huge points and was controlling the boards
while, Bowman was still looking for his stroke.
Once he was able to get on track, The Buccs were forced to play the
Hawks honest on defense and that didn’t work.
Held to only five first half points, Bowman lit it up in the final 16
minutes, scoring 16 points.
The sweetest play of the night came late in the fourth quarter when
Geesy took an entry pass on the block from Devin Rinderle at the 1:52
mark of the game, putting the Hawks up 49-42.
It was a play that had Barga dancing with some excitement.
“It was really a nice pass from Devon that created all of that,” said
Barga. “I’ve always said that anybody can make a lay-up but it takes
someone special to make nice passes. I really like guys that can make
nice passes and Devon is one of the better ones around. He didn’t show
his best game tonight but he had some nice shots (15 points) and good
rebounds (6).”
With solid games from Bowman, Rinderle and Geesy, Barga had accolades
for one other player.
Junior Andrew Johns.
Johns came off the bench to give Barga some quality time and scored
four points with two big offensive rebounds.
“Andrew comes off the bench all the time and always gives me a good
effort,” said Barga. “He does a lot of things that many people never
notices and you’ll never see in the box score. He’s a good shooter and
good on the boards. He’s a good player coming off the bench and we need
that kind of play from him.”
Now sitting with a 13-7 record, the Hawks will welcome Bethel on Friday
in another conference clash.
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Sophomore
Ethan Bowman drives to the bucket during first half action.
Bowman led all in scoring with 21 points.
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The Mississinawa Valley mascots get into the action by running circles
around the officials before the start of the game.
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