RUSSIA — Russia is continuing to progress, but it had a winning streak end in a nonconference game on Monday at Clair C. Naveau Gymnasium.

A big run by Covington in the third quarter was too much for Russia to overcome in a 44-37 loss. The Raiders, which had won three in a row, dropped to 3-4 overall.

Russia beat Houston by nine points on the road on Saturday and won another Shelby County Athletic League game on Dec. 5 by beating Fairlawn 48-20. The team also beat Mississinawa Valley 54-49 on Dec. 2.

The Raiders have only one starter back from last year in senior forward Roni Poling. The squad is playing many underclassmen, including freshman Hazel Francis, who started and scored six points.

Poling scored eight and junior Addison Shappie, who played sparingly off the bench last year, led the team with nine points. She made two 3’s in the fourth quarter to help Russia come as close as four points in the final minutes.

“Hazel is doing well, and we’ve got other girls coming along,” Russia first-year coach Michael Bashore said. “Celeste (Borchers, a freshman) did some things well tonight off the dribble. This was her first real time playing a lot of minutes at once. Her minutes had been sporadic. Claudia (Hoehne, a sophomore) does a nice job for us. She’s getting a little better every day.

“We’ve just got to keep plugging away. Our schedule is brutal, especially with a young team. But I love the effort. The things that are missing from us are things we can fix, so that’s a good sign.”

Poling is the team’s leading scorer but was held scoreless in a slow first half. Russia led 12-8 before Covington’s Delaney Murphy made a basket and Avery Koffer made two foul shots in the final minute of the second quarter to tie it.

Russia made the first basket of the third, but the Buccaneers scored the next 14 points to take a 26-12 lead.

Covington junior guard Maggie Anderson hit consecutive 3’s during the run, then senior guard Gracie Anderson made two more and Koffer made a basket.

“We just had a lull there and lost focus,” Bashore said. “It wasn’t a lack of effort; we just lost focus. They got some open shots, and it seemed every one of them went in. When you put yourself behind and you try to come back, you’re going to have to get every loose ball, and we didn’t.

“We really struggled on the offensive end. They took away our inside game, and we just struggled to shoot the ball.”

The Buccaneers pushed their lead to 13 points at one point and led 32-22 at the end of the third. Russia started the fourth on a big run and pulled within 37-33, but Delaney Murphy hit a 3 to increase the lead to seven.

Maggie Anderson, who is the team’s leading scorer, fouled out. The Raiders were able to cut the gap to four points again late, but they had accumulated fouls early in the quarter, and Covington made four late free throws to secure it.

“We started to get a little more rotation (in the last 12 minutes),” Bashore said. “When they throw that kind of zone on you, the way they were packing it in, and you have some newer kids playing for the first time and you’re missing one your shooters, it’s tough.

“We did good towards the end, picked it up and got up the floor. That last 3 (by Murphy) just was a dagger. Hat’s off to them, though. They’ve got girls who can shoot, they executed their game plan to perfection. They earned it more than we lost it.”

Koffer led Covington (7-1) with 14 points while Gracie Anderson scored 13.

Russia is tied for second in league play with a 2-1 record. It is scheduled to travel to Botkins (2-2, 0-2 SCAL) on Saturday, host Anna (3-2, 2-1) on Dec. 21 and travel to New Bremen (2-2) on Dec. 23.

Poling dominated in Russia’s 43-34 win over Houston on Saturday. She scored 27 points, including 15 in the first half to help the squad take a 23-11 lead. The Raiders led 35-23 at the end of the third quarter before the Wildcats trimmed the gap slightly in the fourth.

Francis added 10 points against the Wildcats. Makenna Vondenhuevel and Emilee Earl each scored 11 points for Houston (2-3, 1-2 SCAL), which lost its third in a row.

Fort Loramie gets starters back

Two starters dealing with injuries returned for Fort Loramie in a 69-17 win at Arcanum on Saturday.

It was the first game of the year junior Avery Brandewie, who had been dealing with a sprained ankle. She scored seven points. Senior guard Carissa Meyer also recently returned after missing time due to a minor ankle injury.

Victoria Mescher led Fort Loramie (5-1) with 17 points and six steals and had four rebounds while Summer Hoying scored 11 points and had four rebounds. Skyler Albers scored 11 points and had three steals.

The Redskins led 23-6 at the end of the first quarter and 43-12 at halftime. It was only the second loss for Arcanum (3-2); the Trojans lost 53-48 to Minster on Dec. 5.

Fort Loramie, which has won five straight since opening the season with a loss to Miami East, is scheduled to host Jackson Center on Thursday and to travel to Minster on Saturday.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.