The Covington Charger senior-laden basketball team opened the 2019-20 campaign with a wire-to-wire 80-63 road win over the Trezevant Bears last night.
Covington jumped out to a 24-15 advantage at the end of the first period and never looked back.
“Our guards did a really good job of protecting the ball,” said Covington head coach Charles Mitchell. “We have improved in that area over last season.”
Fouls were an issue as the officials called it close both ways. Covington was whistled for 26 violations and the Bears for 25.
“The foul situation hampered play somewhat,” Mitchell said. “Brandon Alston had a big game, but four fouls kept his scoring down.”
Three other Chargers collected a quartet of fouls.
Travontae Powell led the way for CHS with a 23-point performance that included a pair from beyond the arc. Tyjuan Smith, who Mitchell says is playing his best right now, added 19 points despite being saddled with four fouls. Senior transfer Martez Logan had 12 on 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line where the Chargers made 17 of 24 tries. Bremarious Tipton chipped in nine points. Alston had eight, Michael Renfrow five and Tyric Winfrey four.
The Bears were paced in scoring by Devion Lewis’ 17 points. Nautica Clark had 14 and Jordan Johnson 12 in the losing effort. Trezevant connected on 21 of 29 free throw attempts.
Covington will take on Olive Branch in the MLK Classic on Nov. 26 before making what has become an annual trek to New Madrid, Mo. over the Thanksgiving holiday Nov. 29-30.
