COVINGTON — You can add another thrilling chapter to the Covington/Fountain Central boys basketball rivalry. The game between the two Fountain County and WRC rivals came down to the final minute on Thursday. The Mustangs had held the lead for basically the entire game and had a 37-27 lead in the middle of the third. That’s when Covington began the comeback. The host Trojans ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to make it 37-36. The game would be tied for most of the final frame with both teams exchanging baskets. At the 57 second mark is when Covington got its first lead at 45-43 since early in the first thanks to Curt Slider’s layup. Just 13 seconds later freshman Eli Foxworthy had the most pressure packed free-throws of his young career and only managed one of two. A pair of Slider free-throws on the other end made it 47-44 with the Mustangs having one last chance to force OT. Will Harmon’s three fell short and the Trojans picked up the thrilling 47-44 win over the arch rivals.
“We just simply talked about not panicking,” Covington coach Evan Morgan said. “We’ve been down in a lot of our games and our last three wins I think we’ve been down double digits in all of them. Our guys just continue to battle back and if we’re able to put something together, this is the time to do it.”
The packed gym which holds roughly 2100 probably had that many in the stands as fans from both teams did a tremendous job of making it feel like a playoff atmosphere.
What allowed the Trojans right back in the game in that final stretch of the third quarter was the Mustangs and their live ball turnovers which resulted in fast break layups for Covington (10-9, 4-1 WRC).
“I thought we were in a good spot in that third quarter but when you have live ball turnovers that give them layups, that hurts,” Fountain Central coach Greg Dean said. “We just had too many possessions because of those turnovers where we didn’t get shots off. Defensively we held them to a good number, it just comes down to us valuing the basketball and we have to be better on offense.”
Harmon did everything he could to keep the Mustang offense going. He ended with a game-high 29 points including six made threes. Isaac Gayler and Owen Acton both had just seven and Foxworthy ended with one. Gayler fouled our of the game with 3:01 to go. For the game Fountain Central (7-9 1-3 WRC) shot 17-39 (43.5%) from the field and 6-14 (42.8%) from three with all 14 attempts and six makes coming from Harmon. FC went 4-8 (50%) from the foul line and grabbed 31 rebounds, 14 of which came from Gayler. They turned it over 11 times but eight of them coming in the second half.
Covington shot was led in scoring by senior Coye Ferguson who had 22 points. Kolten Haymaker scored seven, Urban Roarks six, Austin Stein five, Slider four, and Landon Herzog three. On the night Covington shot 17-41 (41%) from the field, 3-11 (27%) from three, 10-12 (83%) from the free throw line along with grabbing 21 rebounds and turning it over just nine times and more impressively just two in the second half.
Morgan spoke on a couple of players after the game who stepped up big in the win.
“We have a lot of faith in Curt who didn’t score until that layup and those free-throws,” Morgan said. “He came up so big when we needed him to. Coye stepped up like a senior should in these kind of games. He’s really starting to roll and is fun to watch play out there. This rivalry is something we’re trying to revive here and the atmosphere from our fans, student sectional and everyone was electric. We need this type of environment year after year for this game.”
Fountain Central returns to action on Saturday when they’re back at home against the Rossville Hornets. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. tip due to the girls basketball sectional championships being played that night. Covington is off until next Friday when they travel to Seeger.
