Bethel's Tony Phillips led the Bees with 24 points in their weekend win over Covington.

Tony Phillips was wide-eyed when he sat down to talk with us prior to the JV game at Covington last Friday. Bethel, at 10-4 (7-1 in the Cross County Conference) had an opportunity to knock off the favored Buccs (13-2 and 8-0 in the league) and gain a share of the league title...at least for a time...and the moment was far from lost on Phillips.

"Oh man, this is what we've been talking about all week," he said. "This (Covington) is a great team, but we've been working all week on our game...and what we do best. Coach just told us to rebound, get what we can in transition, execute and focus for four quarters. Anything can happen."

Anything did! The Bees would come out and frustrate Covington in front of their home crowd, bringing more energy that night...both on the court and in the stands. Their defense and "focus" on playing hard for four quarters would hold Covington to just 22% shooting...well below their season average.

"Tony's right. That's what we talked about all week," said enthusiastic coach, Chris Enres, afterwards. "We've worked hard and come a long way since some disappointing losses early in the season...games we thought we had won against Lehman and Arcanum, only to let them slip away in the second half. This game could very well be a statement game for our program...one we look back on in a year or two and say that's when we really became a good basketball team."

Tony Phillips is a gifted two-sport athlete (football and basketball) who leads the Bees in scoring at 18.6 pts. per game, while stopping short of taking credit for being the team "leader". He likens the group as one with different leaders for different tasks.

"We have a couple of guys that I would name," he says. "Clayton Strunk is our leader inside because of his physical ability. He takes up a lot of space...he's kind of our enforcer in there. Brian Muse gets a lot of points and rebounds in the paint for us. Mitch Elam doesn't score a lot of points but takes care of the ball and plays defense. I get a lot of points in transition because those guys all do their job. We're that kind of a team."

Phillips has seen and played through frustrating times of late at Bethel. He's grown up with it in two sports and talks openly about dealing with failed expectations and what has seemed to be constant coaching turnover.

"We thought we had the personnel to win ten games in football last fall, but we just never played like it. You look up in mid-season and all of a sudden you have three losses. That was disappointing."

But the revolving door of basketball coaches at the school since Steve Fisher's departure in 2002 has been an even bigger frustration. The losing seasons in the face of a winning tradition, along with adjustment to new leadership has been a continual burden to members of the program.

"Three coaches in three years has been tough, but thankfully Coach (Enres) is here and has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I mean, he's up and pumped beginning to end and that's been a real positive for us. We've improved a lot since those games with Lehman and Arcanum. I mean, we had Arcanum beat...and just let it slip away...and we're beyond that now."

Phillips got his points against Covington...24 of them, in transition, inside and with his three-point shooting. What's more, the Bees had their night in the spotlight and a measure of redemption against a perrenial league rival.

"Four teams have a share of it now," said a still energized Enres on the WPTW 5th Quarter Show after the game. "Bethel, Covington, South and Tri-Village. We still have South and Tri-Village on the schedule and can only control our own fate...but this was pretty cool."

It was a big win, changing Covington's plans for an outright league title in 2006, and possibly the order of all things basketball for years to come...for Bethel and the Cross County Conference.

It was an upsetting win...for everyone!

The FanFile

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