UNION CITY – Covington had too much firepower for Mississinawa Valley on Tuesday as the Lady Buccs jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 65-33 win.
And it was Sammi Whiteman who gave the Lady Blackhawks fits as the senior standout led all scorers with 32 points in just over one half of action.
Whiteman had the hot hand from the outset, scoring 13 of Covington’s points in a 19-6 first quarter lead.
Covington then gave Whiteman a rest for the first five minutes of the second quarter as Mississinawa Valley went on a 5-2 run on a trey by Sidnie Hunt and a bucket by Kya Lavy. Once Whiteman returned to the game with just under 3:00 left in the half, Covington went on a 6-0 run to push its lead to 27-11 at the break.
Whiteman continued with the hot hand to start the second half and led Covington to a 24-4 scoring advantage by dropping in 13 points in the frame.
Freshman Claudia Harrington hit on a 3-pointer and Morgan Kimmel scored on two buckets inside to help push the Covington advantage to 51-15 with one quarter to play.
With the game well in hand, Covington coach Jim Meyer emptied his bench in the fourth quarter. Mississinawa Valley, which gave a gritty effort the entire evening, was able to find its shooting stroke for 18 points in the frame.
It wasn’t enough to catch Covington on the scoreboard, but it gave the Lady Blackhawks something to build on for the next outing.
For Covington, Whiteman was the story with her 32 points, but Harrington contributed with her best offensive output of her young career with 16 points.
Mississinawa Valley was led by Olivia Murphy, who dropped in a hard-earned 16 points against a relentless Covington defense.
Covington made19 two-point field goals, five 3-point field goals and was 12 of 16 from the line, while Mississinawa Valley connected on nine 2-point shots, four treys and made 3 of 7 from the line.
Covington improves to 6-1 (3-0 Cross County Conference), while Mississinawa Valley drops to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the CCC.
Mississinawa Valley hosts Tri-Village on Thursday, while the Lady Buccs travel to Bradford on Saturday.
Score by quarters
Covington^19^8^24^14^-^65
Mississinawa Valley^6^5^4^18^-^33
Individual scoring
Covington – Sammi Whiteman 32, Claudia Harrington 16, Morgan Kimmel 6, Lillian Hamilton 5, Leah Poling 2, Makenzee Maschino 2, Lauren Christian 2. Totals: 24 12 65.
Mississinawa Valley – Olivia Murphy 16, Kya Lavy 6, Sidnie Hunt 5, Leah Scholl 3, Lindsay Johns 3. Totals: 13 3 33.
