Unbeaten Tri-Village rallies to dodge Covington

Down 13 points midway through the fourth quarter, Tri-Village coach Brad Gray shrugged and suggested to his assistants the Patriots’ first loss was impending.

And then it happened. Emma Printz hit a 3. Trisa Porter bombed another. Printz bottomed yet another trey. Not to be left out, high-scoring Allie Downing joined in the 3-ball fun.

Just like that, Tri-Village forged an unlikely recovery to stun visiting Covington 57-55 in a girls high school basketball Cross County Conference showdown Thursday night.

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The win boosts Tri-Village to 10-0 and likely secures a top seed in the Division IV sectional seed meeting. Covington limped home 10-2, wondering how this seemingly sure win slipped away.

“We feel very fortunate and lucky to get out of here with a win,” Gray said. “Fortunately, we caught fire and it made a couple of our other kids feel good and it became contagious. We made some big defensive stops, too.”

Tri-Village, seeking yet another CCC championship, trailed 46-33 before making those four consecutive 3s. A layup by Danika Mann held up as the game-winning points.

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Printz hit three 3s and led Tri-Village with 16 points. Rachel Miller added 14 points and connected on four 3s. Porter was good for 10 points. Downing, Tri-Village’s leading scorer, was limited to 6 points.

Samantha Whiteman was nearly unstoppable for Covington and poured in a game-high 18 points. Jordan Crowell added 16.

That’s the only regular-season game these CCC rivals will play. But they could meet again in the postseason. Both are in the same sectional and likely will position themselves as far away as possible.

“There’s a chance we could always run into them there,” Gray said. “I’m hoping we don’t run into them there and maybe a little further on into the tournament.”

Jim Meyer is in his second run as the Covington coach, but it’s been 19 years since he last held a practice. A Covington native who played collegiately at Wittenberg University and also coach the Troy girls, he landed the job just two weeks before this season started.

“They hit some big 3s late in the game,” Meyer said. “When you have a lead and they hit 3s, that lead can shrink in a hurry and that’s what happened. I’ve got some tremendous kids. I’m so proud of them. We prepared them, they executed the game plan and we deserve better. When you come over here you’re playing a great program and great team.”


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View photos and video from the game at MyDaytonDailyNews.com

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