The Coffee County Youth Basketball League was in action on Saturday with 8 games played at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  In girls’ action:

Westwood dumped North Coffee 29-12
College Street bounced Hickerson 26 -4
New Union raced past East Coffee 35-9
Hillsboro won a forfeit over Deerfield

In boys’ action:

Westwood defeated North Coffee 27-10
College Street stopped Hickerson 29-22
New Union dropped East Coffee 30 -18
Hillsboro topped Deerfield 28-10

 

 

 

Standings

Girls	Wins	Losses
College Street	2	0
Hillsboro	2	0
New Union	2	0
Westwood	2	0
Deerfield	0	2
East Coffee	0	2
Hickerson	0	2
North Coffee	0	2

 

Boys	Wins	Losses
College Street	2	0
Hillsboro	2	0
New Union	2	0
Westwood	2	0
Deerfield	0	2
East Coffee	0	2
Hickerson	0	2
North Coffee	0	2

James Neal notched his first goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough as the Nashville Predators dropped a 4-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at SAP Center.

Down two goals in the third period, Nashville pushed hard to put the puck in the net, but Martin Jones and the Sharks ultimately staved off the pressure to hand the Preds their third defeat in as many games.

“We felt like we were coming and doing some pretty good things defensively, starting to get more offense and get some shots through, but we just couldn’t find it,” Captain Mike Fisher said. “Jones made some good saves late, and we just didn’t get those breaks. We’ve just got to find a way… It’s not going for us right now, but we have to just keep plugging away.”

After the Sharks took a 3-0 lead early in the second period, Neal gave the Preds life with less than a minute remaining in the middle frame, tipping in a Ryan Ellis shot. The Preds had their chances in the third, registering a significant amount of sustained offensive zone pressure, but couldn’t break through.

 

Nashville liked the way they responded in the latter portions of the game, but as Head Coach Peter Laviolette echoed, it’s never easy to try and come from behind.

“We have to find a way to come out in these games and score the first goal and get a lead and try and build off of it from there, as opposed to always trying to chase the game from behind and never having that comfort of being up a goal,” Laviolette said. “I thought we fought in the third period, but it’s tough coming down from 3-0. [Neal’s] goal was a big goal at the time, there wasn’t much time left on the clock, but falling into those holes like that is not helping.”

After falling in all three games on the current trip, the Preds have no choice but to keep playing, starting Tuesday in Colorado.

“We feel like we’re just not playing up to our potential right now,” Fisher said. “You know you’re a better team, and when you’re not getting results, it’s frustrating. But at the same time, we’ve gone through this before and it’s how you come out of it, how you learn, how you become a team. We’re going to do that, look back in a few weeks, and we’ll pull it together.”

Puck drop on Tuesday night is at 8 PM CDT and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action as part of the Nashville Predators Radio Network

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Westwood Middle School hosted a “Pink-Out Game” on Thursday night as Moore County visited the Joel Vinson Gym. The Lady Rockets fell to the visitors from Lynchburg 36 to 15. The Rockets held off Moore County to get a 33 to 30 win.
In the girls’ game, it was a tough defense from Moore County which limited Westwood to a pair of points in both the 1st and 4th quarters. Anna Johnson came off the bench to lead Westwood in scoring with 5 points. Clarissa Barrera chipped in 4 points for the Lady Rockets in the loss.
The Rockets hit just enough free throws in the 4th quarter to hold off Moore County for the conference win. Westwood was able to hold Moore County to 4 points in the 3rd quarter as they opened up a 7 point lead entering the final 6 minutes. Trent Thompson once again led Westwood in scoring as he netted 17 points. Will Partin added 5 points as the Rockets improved their record to 4 and 2 on the year.
Westwood is back in action on Monday when they travel to Wartrace to take on Cascade. The doubleheader gets underway at 6 PM beginning with the girls’ game.

Playing in their last home games of the season, the Coffee County Middle School 6th Grade basketball teams captured a pair of wins on Thursday over North Franklin. The Lady Raiders avenged a loss from 2 weeks ago with a 22 to 19 win. The Red Raiders raced past the Gators 39 to 4.
The Lady Raiders built an 8 point lead in the 1st quarter and never looked back against the Lady Gators. Alivia Reel led Coffee County in scoring with 7 points. Nikki Graham added 6 points and Abby Mahaffey added 4.

The Red Raiders held the visiting Gators to single buckets in each half as they raced past North to complete the season sweep. Coffee County was able to play every player who dressed as they ran their record to 7 and 1 on the year. Dayne Crosslin led the Raiders in scoring with 12 points. Jordan Smith added 7 points in the 4th quarter and Isiah Campbell chipped in 6 points.
The 6th grade teams will conclude their season next Thursday night when they travel to Sparta to take on White County. The girls’ game will get underway at 6.