WEST MILTON — It was not easy to determine who the winning coach and who the losing coach was after the Covington girls got past a young, scrappy Milton-Union team 59-46 Thuesday night in TRC play.

“All wins are not pretty,” Covington coach Brandon Studebaker said as his team improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Three Rivers Conference. “Absolutely, we had too many turnovers, but you have to give Milton-Union credit. Although, I don’t think all of them were forced.

“We had been sitting for awhile. We hadn’t played since Saturday (a 63-7 win over Northridge). I just didn’t feel like our intensity was where it needed to be tonight.”

Which was the exact opposite of how Milton-Union coach Katie Roose felt about her teams effort after her team dropped to 2-3 overall and o-2 in the conference.

“You know, we were down 20 in the third quarter and battled back to within 10,” Roose said. “We are young. There are going to be moments (where they make mistakes). But, I was really happy with the way the kids battled out there.”

At times, Covington seemed to take control.

After Milton-Union closed within 9-7 late in the first quarter, Covington ran off nine straight points to go up 18-7 and led 29-14 at halftime.

The Buccs increased the margin to 20 points early in the third quartet, but when Jenna Brumbaugh scored off a steal to open the fourth quarter, Covington’s lead was just 51-41. Milton-Union stayed within 10 or 12 points the rest of the game until Covington’s Erika Gostomsky closed the game with a basket.

“I thought we would open a comfortable lead and just go from there,” Studebaker said. “But, that is not the way it worked out. We were able to get some easy baskets in transition off the press — but, at the same time, the press is what got them back in the game with our turnovers.”

Which is exactly what Roose expected.

“We knew they were going to want to push the ball in transition,” she said. “But, I thought our girls did a good job and just kept battling the whole game.”

Claire Fraley got untracked for Covington offensively.

She had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

“A lot of our points came in transition,” Studebaker said. “It was good to see Claire have some success off the glass. Hopefully, that will give her some confidence. I felt like our scoring was pretty balanced.”

Claudia Harrington added 17 points, Maggie Anderson scored 12 and Carlie Besecker had nine points and 11 rebounds.

Kearsyn Robinson led Milton-Union with 17 points and three steals.

Jenna Brumbaugh had 11 points and three rebounds, Ava Berberich had eight points and four assists and Raegan Fulton had six points and six rebounds.

“The thing I like is there is not one girls teams can focus on stopping,” Roose said. “Kearsyn (Robinson) stepped up tonight (hitting five 3-pointers), sometimes it is Shannon Brumbaugh, sometimes it is Ava Berberich and sometimes it is Jenna Brumbaugh.”

Covington was 24 of 45 from the floor for 53 percent and six of 12 from the line for 50 percent.

Milton-Union was 18 of 49 from the floor for 37 percent and two of four from the line for 50 percent.

Covington won the battle of the boards 30-23, but had 15 turnovers to Milton-Union’s nine.

Both teams will be in action Saturday.

Covington faces Lehman and Milton-Union plays Bethel.