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Coffee County Basketball Splits at Shelbyville on Friday Night
Jacey Vaughn of CHS Basketball[Photo by Demarco Moore – Manchester Times]
Turnovers and missed shots at the rim doomed the Lady Raiders bid to upset district leading Shelbyville. Coffee County turned the ball over more than 20 times in the game including 3 times in the final minute. Coffee County raced out to a 12 to 6 lead after the first quarter, but the Eaglettes closed the gap to 1 at the intermission. A back and forth 2nd half saw the lead change hands five times before Shelbyville went ahead with 3:55 remaining in the game. Coffee County trailed by 3 points with 38 seconds remaining but 3 straight turnovers let Shelbyville escape with the win and the season sweep over the Lady Raiders.
Jacey Vaughn led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 8 points. Alliyah Williams and Holli Smithson each added 7 points and Aerial Williams chipped in 6 points. Vaughn, who hit 6 free throws in the first quarter, was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. The loss snapped a 4 game district winning streak for the Lady Raiders and dropped Coffee County’s record to 14 and 5 overall and 4 and 3 in district play.
Stephen Sullivan of Red Raider basketball[Photo by Demarco Moore – Manchester Times]
Stephen Sullivan was the leading scorer for the Raiders as he had 14 points to lead a Raider attack that saw 4 players finish in double figures and 12 players tally points in the game. Tyrese McGee finished with 11 points while DeAaron Rozier and Garrett Eldridge finished with 10 points apiece. For his continued solid play, Sullivan earned the Crazy Daisies player of the game award. The win improves the Red Raiders to 18 and 4 overall and 5 and 2 in district play.
Coffee County is back at home on Tuesday night when Lawrence County invades the Joe Frank Patch Gym. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM. Thunder Radio will bring you live coverage beginning with the Powers Storage pregame show at 5:50.
Tori Bell Signs to Play Softball at Chattanooga State
CHS senior softball player Tori Bell signs to play softball at Chattanooga State next season surrounding by family and coaches, Front Row(left to right): Jeff Thompson, step father; Sydney Bell, sister; Tori Bell; Kim Thompson, mother; Rennie Bell, grandfather. Back Row(left to right): Barbara Bell, grandmother; Blythe Golden, Chattanooga State head coach; Steve Wilder, Coffee County head coach; Jackie Wilder, Coffee County assistant coach; Brandon McWhorter, former Coffee County assistant coach;
The chance to play at one of the most successful junior college softball programs in America was too much of an opportunity to pass up for Coffee County senior Tori Bell. Bell, a catcher who has led the Lady Raiders in homeruns the past 2 years, signed a scholarship offer with Chattanooga State on Friday at a ceremony at CHS. Bell became the 2nd member of the Lady Raider class of 2017 to sign a softball scholarship.
The Lady Tigers of Chattanooga State are looking to return to the Junior College World Series in 2017 after back to back 3rd place finishes in the nation in 2014 and 2015. Chattanooga State is coached by Blythe Golden, herself a former catcher, who “hit it right off” with Tori in their first meeting. “I like a (tall) catcher and Tori has a great arm and will bring a lot of tools to our program” said Golden. “We expect Tori to come in and compete on Day #1 to be our starting catcher” added Golden.
When asked, ‘why Chattanooga State’; Bell was quick to point out that she felt that the Lady Tigers are “the best fit” for her. “I loved the campus and their coach” added Bell who went on to say, “I am prepared to go in and work my butt off (to win a starting position).” Bell had praise for her high school coaches Steve Wilder and former coach Terry Floyd. “Playing high school ball for Coach Floyd and Coach Wilder has been a great experience and has really prepared me for college softball.” Bell plans on majoring in exercise science with a career goal of becoming a physical therapist.
Coach Wilder expects Tori to continue to be successful at the college level due to her strong work ethic. “Tori made up her mind up that it takes hard work to be successful and she is working harder than anyone we have right now.” Wilder went on to praise Tori for her tenacity in overcoming injury and adversity during her high school career. “She is blessed with an athletic body and I expect her to do special things for us this year and Chattanooga State in the coming years.”
Elementary League Sets Championship Matchups after Saturday’s Semifinals
Four games on Saturday have set up the finals for the Coffee County Youth Basketball League season title. Two boys’ semifinals and 2 girls’ semifinals have set the stage for next Saturday’s championship and consolation games.
In the girls semifinals, top-seeded Westwood dropped North Coffee 34 to 20 in the first semifinal. The Lady Eagles will take on defending champion New Union who squeaked past Hillsboro 18 to 17. North will meet Hillsboro on Saturday in the girls’ consolation game at 9 AM..
In the boys’ semifinals, top-seeded and defending champion College Street raced past Hickerson 35 to 22. The Cougars will take on their city rival Westwood in Saturday’s final after the Eagles got past Hillsboro 25 to 16. Hickerson and Hillsboro will meet in Saturday’s other consolation game scheduled for 10 AM at CHS.
The league’s final weekend is coming up on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym as the girls’ consolation game will get underway at 9 AM. The boys’ consolation is scheduled for 10 AM. At 11 it will be a cheerleading exhibition by each school’s cheerleading squads. The girl’s championship game is set for noon with the boys to follow. Thunder Radio will be on hand to record each championship game and downloads will be made available at our website. Additionally, Thunder Radio will rebroadcast the games sometime next week, so stay tuned to Thunder Radio for a date and time.
Central Tennessee Conference Basketball Tournament Starts on Monday Night
Coffee County Middle School basketball teams are back in action this week as they enter play in the Central Tennessee Conference postseason tournament. The CTC tournament will begin on Monday as the Lady Raiders will take on Warren County at 6:30 PM at Tullahoma High School. The Red Raiders open play on Tuesday at 8 PM against North Franklin also at Tullahoma High School. The conference tournament will conclude on Saturday. You can click the brackets to get a full size for printing.
2017 CTS Girls Tournament(Click to enlarge & print)
2017 CTS Boys Tournament(Click to enlarge & print)
Forsberg Leads Comeback, Preds Beat Wild
After they fell behind to the top team in the Central Division and in a hostile building, the Nashville Predators still found a way to claim two points. Not bad for a grand finale.
Filip Forsberg scored twice in the third, and the Preds defeated the Minnesota Wild by a 4-2 final at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night. It’s Nashville’s third consecutive victory, tying a season-high once more, giving the Preds 53 points, good enough to solidify third place in the Central Division. Plus, it came with a milestone in tow.
With the victory, Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette recorded his 500th career win behind an NHL bench, becoming the 25th in League history to accomplish the feat.
“It could [have been] a day where you pack it in and fight for another day, and we didn’t do that,” Laviolette said. “We just kept fighting. So I think i’ll remember [the milestone] because of that more than anything.”
“That was a big one,” Captain Mike Fisher said of Laviolette’s win. “It’s a lot of wins and deservingly so. He’s done a great job.”
After Minnesota took a 2-0 lead early in the first period, the Preds settled down, controlling the play in the second and leading to James Neal’s 16th of the season. As the third frame began, it didn’t take long for Forsberg to collect his 13th of the season to knot things at 2-2, prior to striking a second time at 13:24 for a 3-2 Predators advantage. And that was all it took.
“Our start wasn’t great, but after that, we got going,” Forsberg said. “You just get back in the game and [Pekka Rinne] bailed us out in the first period, but after that we played better.”
If the Predators were to win on Sunday night, they needed a hero in the third period. Enter Filip Forsberg.
The Swede scored twice in the final frame, first to tie the game, 2-2, and then with 6:36 remaining to give Nashville their first lead of the night, the only one they’d need. Fosberg has 10 goals in his last 19 games, five of them game winners, including three on this road trip alone.
“He playing great,” Fisher said of Forsberg. “He’s finding the net and doing some great things and playing with that confidence we’re used to seeing. It’s awesome.”
In classic bookending fashion, the Predators concluded the road trip just how they started it. After a comeback win in Colorado, scoring three unanswered goals to defeat the Avalanche, Nashville completed the same task in Minnesota, coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to ultimately defeat the Wild and collect two more points.
The Wild scored twice in the first 7:31 of the game, but that was all they managed to muster as Nashville took over, sustaining pressure throughout the second and third periods to score four unanswered.
“We were slow getting out of the gate,” Laviolette said. “I don’t think that we were moving that fast, and I blame part of that on myself. We were trying to make sure we were doing the right things out there. The second period, we took the brakes off the players and got them moving and tried to play a much more aggressive game. That seemed to get us going in the right direction.”
“After the first 10 minutes, I thought we kind of took over the game and we just played a really solid, hard game,” Fisher said. “We tightened up defensively. They came at us pretty strong, it was a 2-0 lead then. After that we tightened up a lot better.”
With the exception of a 1-0 loss in Vancouver, the Predators had themselves quite an excursion away from home. Nashville collected four wins and eight points to regain a playoff position – third place in the Central Division to be exact – over the course of the last week. All while facing plenty of adversity along the way.
“It hasn’t been the smoothest thing, lot of things out of our control, and not necessarily the fault of anybody in particular, but things that just happened,” Laviolette said. “Our guys have just rolled with it and stayed focused and played some pretty good hockey along the way.
“Falling down 2-0 to the top team in our division, fighting back on them in their own building… they’re playing terrific hockey and they showed that in the first period. But it was a good road trip where the guys really dug in and made some noise, made up some ground.”
Notes:
The Predators return home for a two-game set prior to the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend, beginning Tuesday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres at Bridgestone Arena.
Filip Forsberg scored three-game winning goals during the Preds five-game trip.
Nashville earned their second and third wins of the season when trailing by multiple goals during the recent excursion.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
Ryan Ellis Leads Predators Past Oilers 3-2 in Shootout
Ryan Ellis scored in the third period and added the shootout winner as the Nashville Predators snapped Edmonton’s four-game winning streak by beating the Oilers 3-2 on Friday night.
Viktor Arvidsson also scored in regulation for the Predators, who have won five of six.
Matt Hendricks and Milan Lucic had the goals for the Oilers, who got 42 saves from Cam Talbot.
Pekka Rinne stopped 30 shots for the win.
Nashville went up 2-1 seven minutes into the third when Ellis’ long knuckler beat Talbot up high after appearing to deflect off the glove of defender Brandon Davidson.
Edmonton tied it again on a power play with 4:29 left in the third. Leon Draisaitl sent the puck in front and Lucic tipped it past Rinne to end a 12-game scoring drought.
1/21/17 — Julie Ann Suttles
There will be a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of
Julie Ann Suttles, age 59 of Tullahoma, held 4-6pm Saturday, January 21,
2017 at 107 Point Circle Tullahoma, TN.
In Lieu of flowers donations may be made in Julie Ann Suttles name to the
Blue Monarch.
Doak-Howell Funeral Home is serving the family.
1/20/17 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Ray Carter, 56 — Pizza Winner!
Laura Barnes, 23
Tommy Huddleston, 55
Jamie McCullough
Food Lion Birthday Cake Winner:
Lindsey Simpson
Flowers by Michael Anniversary Winner:
Michael & Brenda Zuccaro
1/22/17–Mary B. Forrester
Mary B. Forrester, of Tullahoma, passed this life on Thursday, January 19th, 2017 at NHC in Tullahoma at the age of 90. Mary was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee to the late Willie and Eva Sanders. During her life, she worked as a ball sewer and janitor at Wilson Sporting Goods, as well as Motlow State Community College and Arnold Engineering Development Center. Mary B. very much loved to cook, crochet and sew. She took great pride in making many quilts, curtains and afghans for others to enjoy. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband J.W. Forrester; a brother, James Sanders; and a son, Billy Forrester. Mary is survived by a daughter, Wilma Jean Adcock; two sons, James Forrester and Eddie Ray Forrester; and many loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Visitation for Mrs. Forrester will be held on Sunday, January 22nd, 2017 at Kilgore Funeral Home from 12:00-2:00pm. A graveside service will follow at 2:30pm at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens with Bro. Chris Harris officiating. For those who wish, in lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Hospice Compassus, 110 East Lauderdale Street, Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388.
CCMS Closes Regular Season with a Split at Harris
Kylie Phillips(right) of CCMS on defense against Harris
The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams ended the regular season in Shelbyville taking on Harris Middle School on the Eagle’s homecoming on Thursday. In a pair of games that that saw each team rally from 1st quarter deficits, the Raiders and Lady Raiders split the conference contests. The Lady Raiders fell 20 to 19 while Red Raiders won 32 to 27.
A game winning shot at the buzzer rimmed out for the Lady Raiders in a defensive struggle in the girls’ game. Harris took the lead with 8 seconds remaining and after a Coffee County time out, Bella Vinson got an open look for a 25 footer at the buzzer that rimmed out as the final horn sounded. Coffee County held Harris to 10 points in the final 3 quarters after falling behind 10 to 2 in a turnover filled first period.
The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Kylie Phillips who finished with 5 points. Vinson and Kiya Ferrell each finished with 4 points. The Lady Raiders will end the regular season with a record of 14 and 4 overall and 10 and 4 in conference play.
Trevor Horne(#52) of CCMS goes up for a shot over a Harris defender
The Red Raiders rallied from a 4 point deficit in the 1st quarter as they held Harris to 2 points in the 2nd quarter. Coffee County tied the game with a minute remaining in the 3rd quarter on a Jaxon Vaughn 3 pointer before dominating the 4th quarter. Trevor Horne contested every Eagle shot in the paint and finished with 9 blocked shots.
The Red Raiders were led in scoring by Vaughn who had 11 points, Horne and Trenton Scrivnor each finished with 6 points for Coffee County who improved to 11 and 7 on the season and 7 and 7 in conference play.
Coffee County is back in action next week as they enter play in the Central Tennessee Conference postseason tournament. The CTC tournament will begin on Monday as the Lady Raiders will take on Warren County at 6:30 PM at Tullahoma High School. The Red Raiders open play on Tuesday at 8 PM against North Franklin also at Tullahoma High School. The conference tournament will conclude on Saturday.