The Temple Baptist Christian School basketball team ended the season on Saturday with in their annual Eagle Invitational Classic.  The Eagles finished the 2 day tournament with a 4^th place finish.   The tournament championship was captured by Victory Baptist Academy of Shelbyville. 

Temple lost in the consolation game 44 to 39 to Faith Christian of Jamestown.  Faith used a strong 2^nd quarter to a 27 to 19 lead into the halftime break.  Temple rallied to cut the deficit to 2 in the 2^nd half before Faith closed out with a strong 4^th quarter.  Alex Gloden led the Eagles in scoring with 23 points and 3 assists.  Mich Gloden 9 points and David Tran finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds. 

The Eagles advanced to the consolation game with a 24 to 19 win over Shenandoah Baptist in their final pool game on Saturday morning.  Alex Gloden was the leading scorer for Temple as he had 15 points and 7 steals.  Sam Floyd chipped in the final 9 points.  The Eagles were 0 and 3 in pool play on Friday night.  Temple finished the season with a record of 8 and 12. 

Victory Baptist won the tournament title with a win in the championship game over Philadelphia Christian School of Calhoun, Georgia.  Isaiah Lukis was the tournament MVP and the Hotshot Shootout winner.  Named to the All-Tournament team were Noah Hohmann of Shenandoah Baptist, Cameron Thomas of Philadelphia Baptist Academy, Aaron Nance of Faith Christian Academy, Marty Foday of Victory Baptist and Alex Gloden of Temple. 

Three members of the Coffee County CHS swim team are set to swim this weekend in Knoxville.  The trio are competing in the Tennessee Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association state championships at the University of Tennessee.  The 2 day championship will be held at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee Campus.

Competing on both days for the Raider swimmers are:  Nick Bogle, a freshman, is swimming in the 200 free on Friday and the 100 free on Saturday.   Emily Williams, a freshman, is swimming in the 200 Individual Medley on Friday and the 100 Breaststroke on Saturday.  Senior Kaylee Williams is swimming in the 200 Individual Medley on Friday and the 100 Breaststroke on Saturday.   Kaylee is ranked 10th in the 100 Breaststroke, and is looking for a spot in the finals on Saturday night.

The Temple Baptist Christian School basketball team will host their annual Eagles Invitational Classic basketball tournament this Friday and Saturday.  The Eagles will welcome 4 additional teams to the E.C. Bailey Gym at Temple Baptist Christian School for the 2 day tournament.

Round robin pool play will begin at 1:00 PM on Friday afternoon and continue through 9 PM on Friday night.  Pool play will resume on Saturday morning beginning at 8:45 AM.  The consolation game is set to begin at 2:15 PM with the championship set for 3:45 PM on Saturday afternoon.  Temple will play its pool games at 1:00, 3:30 and 7:15 PM on Friday and 10 AM on Saturday.  Admission for the tournament is $4 for students and $8 for adults.  Persons can also purchase a family pass for $20 which is good for both days.  A full concession stand will be available with food and drinks. 

The Coffee County Youth Bass Club is looking for volunteers for a trash cleanup this weekend at Normandy.   They will have a 40 yard dumpster dropped at Barton Springs ramp to collect the trash picked up.  There are 2 large high school tournaments coming up in the spring being hosted by the Raider anglers.  Per Phil Petty, Coffee County Youth Bass Club coach, “the road sides to the ramp look horrible, not to mention the trash that has made its way down the hill.”  Team members will be there 1 PM -4 PM both Saturday and Sunday.

Mikael Granlund made sure the Nashville Predators started their road trip 2-for-2.

The forward recorded his second consecutive game-winning goal, as the Predators topped the Calgary Flames, 3-2, on Thursday night at Scotiabank Saddledome and kicked off their four-game road trip with two victories in two stops.

The wins provide an ideal start to the excursion for the Preds, and at a time where every single point is paramount, Nashville is finding ways to collect them with some regularity.

“There’s a lot of teams who are in the same position as everybody, grinding for every single point, and you know these games are going to be tight games,” Granlund said. “We just have to find a way to get out of those games with points, and we’ve been doing that lately.”

“We knew coming in, it was going to be a hard-fought battle, and I thought that we were up for the task tonight,” Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. “We played well, and I particularly liked our third period. I thought coming in with the lead in the third period, that Calgary’s going to be able to make a push, but I thought our battle level [was great]. Our focus level, our attention to detail was strong in that period. We made decisions that allow you to be able to play well with a lead.”

For the second-straight game, the visitors were able to overcome giving up a goal in the opening minutes. Seventy-six seconds after Sam Bennett put the Flames ahead on their first shot on goal, Preds Captain Roman Josi led the rush and threw a pass over to Dante Fabbro, who snapped home a shot to even the score. The helper gave Josi his 400th career point – a mark that didn’t last long, as he hit No. 401 before the game ended.

The milestone saw Josi become just the second Swiss player in NHL history to reach 400 points, a feat he now shares with one of his idols.

“That’s pretty cool,” Josi said. “Mark Streit, he was always my big idol. He was the first one who really made the NHL as a player, and I think it opened up a lot of doors for us young players.”

Midway through the first frame, Kyle Turris got his seventh of the season by crashing the net, and the Preds took a 2-1 advantage into the first intermission. Mattias Ekholm charged into the crease and placed a rebound chance right back at the net, off Turris’s skate and into the cage.

“It seems like this whole road trip now, starting in Winnipeg, they’re a point ahead of us going into the game, and tonight, Calgary was three ahead of us, and then Edmonton, Vancouver, they’re all right ahead of us,” Turris said. “We’re coming together. We’re finding ways to win.”

Nashville’s lead swelled to 3-1 midway through the contest after Granlund converted on the Predators’ one and only power-play chance of the evening. Granlund poked home a loose puck sitting behind Flames goaltender Cam Talbot for his fifth goal in his last eight outings.

Rasmus Andersson got the Flames back into the contest at 11:06 with his fourth goal of the season, but the Predators never surrendered the lead they earned in the first period. Making his second-straight start, Juuse Saros notched 37 saves for his third win in a row overall.

“He was awesome, especially in the second and third,” Josi said of Saros. “They had some really good looks, and he was great. He was great tonight, and he definitely won that game for us.”

Only a point out of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot to end the night, the mantra is simple for the Predators: onto Edmonton. The showdown on Saturday night (at 6 p.m. CT) will provide Nashville the opportunity to claw back into playoff positioning and could be their third-straight win, something they haven’t done since October.

“We’re coming around and getting a little bit more consistency to our game,” Hynes said. “Mentally, our attention to detail, our push back and certain components of the game is something we really addressed. I still think there’s so much more than that… It’s nice that we’ve been able to find ways to win. I think it builds belief, it builds confidence, but we’re doing enough things to win games. The exciting thing, as a coach, is I still think there’s more here.”

Notes:

Calle Jarnkrok, who missed the previous three games due to illness, took part in Nashville’s morning skate on Thursday, but did not play against the Flames. Austin Watson and Matt Irwin were also scratched for the Preds.

Nashville will continue their four-game trip on Saturday evening in Edmonton against the Oilers (6 p.m. CT; on Thunder Radio) before wrapping up in Vancouver on Monday night.

The Coffee County CHS basketball teams will host Lawrence County on Friday night in their next to last home games of the year.  Also on Friday night, all current and former players who have 1,000 career points will be acknowledged and honored.   Any and all Red Raiders who scored at least 1,000 points will be honored at halftime of the girls’ game.   Any and all Lady Raiders who scored at least 1,000 points will be honored at halftime of the boys’ game.   A plaque commemorating all members of the 1,000 point club will be hung in the gym area and updated as new 1,000 point members are identified or as players eclipse the 1,000 point mark. 

As expected, Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of Friday’s doubleheader as your official station of Coffee County Central High School sports.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.  Thunder Radio’s live coverage will begin at 5:50 PM with the Powers Storage Pregame Show. 

Coming up on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show, Thunder Radio has an exciting lineup.   We will open up with an interview with new Coffee County CHS golf coach Brad Costello.  Costello will talk about his plans for the Red Raider and Lady Raider golf teams moving forward.   We will also talk to Jonathan Oliver, the head coach for the Coffee County Middle School Red Raider basketball team.    The Red Raiders won the area tournament and advanced to the TMSAA Sectional Tournament.  The Red Raiders finished the year with a record of 18 and 6.  Coach Oliver will talk about the season and his plans for the upcoming year.  Our final guest will be new Westwood soccer coach Kevin Smith.  After helping the Lady Rockets in the fall, Coach Smith will take over as the Rockets head coach this spring.  We will talk to Coach Smith about his plans for the season and review their upcoming schedule.

The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM.  The Coffee Coaches Show is the only source for complete coverage of Coffee County and Westwood sports.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.   You can listen in Coffee County at 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM and  AM 1320 or you can listen anywhere on Earth at WMSRradio.com and on the Manchester Go App.