Dennis Clark
The Tribune-Star
Cayuga — For the second night in a row, Covington junior Cyle Knecht was the man with a plan in the clutch.
Knecht calmly drilled a 3-pointer from the baseline corner with 29 seconds left as Covington nipped Turkey Run 36-35 in the championship game of the Class A North Vermillion boys basketball sectional on Saturday.
Just 24 hours earlier, Knecht scored on a drive to the basket with 15 seconds left to nudge Covington past Rockville 49-47 in their semifinal matchup.
“Cyle’s a scorer for us, he’s explosive … he stepped up last night, he stepped up again tonight when the pressure was on,” Covington coach Kent Chezem said.
As it turned out, Knecht’s trey was the final thrust of the dagger, but both teams exchanged jabs in the game’s final 29 seconds and came up wanting.
First, the two teams turned the ball over. Second, both teams — TR with 12.2 seconds left, Covington with 5.7 seconds left — missed the front end of one-and-one free throw opportunities.
But when Josh Karr’s lean-in 3-pointer for Turkey Run went awry at the buzzer, Covington fans stormed the court in a celebration frenzy.
Both coaches echoed each other after the game — Chezem in the midst of the celebration on the court, Turkey Run coach Joey Hart down a hallway outside his team’s lockerroom door.
“We just made one more shot than they did at the end,” Chezem said.
“We came up one possession short,” Hart said.
After slow starts their previous two sectional games, Turkey Run was sharp offensively at the outset vs. Covington. The Warriors scored on their first four possessions to jump to a 9-5 lead. Later they worked for the final shot of the first quarter, Jacob Hayn nailing a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 15-9 lead.
Early in the second quarter, TR opened its largest lead at 18-9, and still led 21-16 with 5:18 left to halftime following a 3-pointer by Jake Weaver.
Starting at that point, the Warriors allowed Covington back into the game with a stretch of 7 minutes, 36 seconds without scoring a point.
TR didn’t score the rest of the first half — 0-for-4 shooting and four turnovers in the last eight possessions. Meanwhile, Covington scored just five points in that span of time — three free throws and a rebound basket by Knecht — for a 21-21 tie at intermission.
The second half was a back-and-forth encounter, featuring four ties and six lead changes.
Covington enjoyed the biggest lead of the second half at 33-30 on a basket by Johnny Brazas, assisted by Knecht, with 2:57 remaining. But Turkey Run quickly tied the game for the final time at 33-33 with 1:52 remaining on a second 3-pointer by Hayn.
“I was a little upset with [Knecht], he gave [Turkey Run] one [defensively] when we had a 3-point lead … so he owed us,” Chezem joked.
Seth Marshall put the Warriors back in front for the final time at 35-33, sinking two free throws with 45.5 seconds left. But just 16 seconds later, Knecht connected on his game-winning trey.
“Really proud of our guys and how they battled back,” Chezem stated. “When you fall behind 18-9 early against a team like Turkey Run, you’re in for a really long night. Pretty exciting game, two really evenly matched teams. Two teams that fought like crazy.”
Knecht paced the Trojans with 14 points and six rebounds.
Marshall led the Warriors with 13 points and pulled down six rebounds. Josh Karr nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds.
“Kids played their tails off, did the best they could,” Hart concluded. “We just ran out of time.”
Covington (17-6) will face Southern Wells in the Class A Frankfort regional on Saturday. Turkey Run (14-10) finished its season.
