Finals are approaching, everyone's a little bit tired, and it’s nice and chilly outside. We all know what that means—Covenant College basketball is underway! Fall sports wrapped up just as it was getting a little too cold to go to outdoor games, perfectly transitioning into the always too-warm indoor basketball games. And oh boy are we in for some fun seasons from our men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Photo by Nina Grauly
The Covenant men's basketball team kicked off their season as they often do, with an exhibition loss at UTC, a D1 program that has been known to sneak into the NCAA Tournament every so often. They followed this showing up with three consecutive wins against Birmingham Southern twice, and Sewanee. And as the Scots got their legs under them, their margins of victory only grew. Their first victory saw some even scoring from three starters—Will Crumly ‘21 with 18 points, Chris Barnette ‘22 with 17 points, and Zack Allen ‘21 with 13 points. Crumly added another 15 rebounds as well. In their second regular-season game, Mitch Hollis ‘20 chipped in a remarkable 29 points on 10-13 from the field and 6-7 from downtown.
Photo by Nina Grauly
The Scots followed their three straight wins with two losses, to Centre and Emory. Crumly recorded his third double-double of the season against Emory, posting 23 points and 12 rebounds. The Scots have since bounced back with a close win against Maryville in which Crumly posted 29 points and Barnette 19. Additionally, Promise Igbanu ‘22 added 11 points on 100% from the field.
The Scots are sitting at 4-2 through six games. This, paired with Crumly averaging a 20 and 10 double-double, sets the Scots up for an exciting season. As the season gets into full swing, Crumly said of the remaining games, “We have a lot of momentum going into conference play in terms of our team’s focus on our goal to worship through competition and holding each other accountable to our standard. We are all very excited for the year moving forward.” Should be a fun season!
On the other side of things, the Covenant women’s basketball team has also gotten their season underway! With a few more games under their belt, they sit at 3-5 through 8 games. They started off strong with a huge victory against Toccoa Falls. Freshman Cosette Kirsch ‘23 came out swinging, putting up 23 points on 8-9 shooting. Senior Margo Koby ‘20 added another 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win. The Scots then began a slide, losing three straight to Millsaps, Birmingham Southern, and Sewanee. Hannah Monday ‘21 put up an astounding 27 points during the loss to Birmingham Southern.
Photo by Joshua McDonald
The team bounced back with a big win versus Blackburn. Five Scots scored in double-digits and Koby pulled down 14 rebounds. The Scots followed this with two consecutive losses to Webster and Oglethorpe. A win over Agnes Scott, helped along by Rachel Thomas’ ‘21 20 points, sets them up for another hot streak. Even scoring across the board and Koby’s 8 rebounds per game are solidifying the Scots chance to have a great season. Koby is locked in for this season, saying of it, “The team is full of players that have a desire to work hard. There’s definitely a sense of urgency that comes with senior year, and so it’s awesome to have a team committed to working hard and getting better daily.”
So, as finals die down and you return for the Spring semester, make sure you find yourself out at a Covenant basketball game!