As 2015 draws to a close, it is time to look back at the highlights from our local prep teams in the past 12 months.  We began our review on Wednesday with a look at Coffee County Middle School.  Today we will visit the highlights of the year from Westwood Middle School and on Friday, we look back at 2015 sports at Coffee County CHS.

2015 at Westwood ended much like it started, on the basketball court; only with dramatically different results.  In January, the Rockets and Lady Rockets were eliminated in the 2^nd round of the Duck River Valley conference as each finished with sub 500 records.  The lessons learned from those young teams provided an excellent springboard to this past season.  The Lady Rockets claimed the regular season conference title earlier this month and saw their season end with a record of 19 and 3 in the finals of the Duck River Valley Conference tournament.  The Rockets finished 2015 with a 5^th place finish in the conference tournament and a 500 record in a season that saw them defeat all but 1 of the teams in the conference.  Perhaps the most impressive win of the year came against eventual conference champion Forrest on November 11^th as the Rockets spanked Forrest 45 to 33 in a game on their home floor in Chapel Hill.  Both Westwood 6^th grade basketball teams finished with records of 4 and 2 against teams from the bigger Central Tennessee Conference.

In the spring, the Westwood Rockets claimed the conference title in the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference as the Rockets finished with an 11 and 2 record and were unbeaten in conference play.  After a 1 to 0 nail-biter over Fayetteville City in the conference semi’s, the Rockets throttled Cascade 4 to 1 in the finals on April 25^th.  Also in the spring, Westwood began play in tennis as the Rockets and Lady Rockets fielded brand new teams.  The young teams showed improvement throughout their season as they look ahead to 2016 with new coach Melissa Askins.  The baseball and softball teams saw youth, inexperience and injuries combine to leave them out of the hunt for conference titles.  The Westwood golf team saw a drop in numbers keep them out of the hunt for a conference title as well, but Coach Doug Roorda will welcome back several golfers who gained experience last season.

In the fall, the Lady Rocket soccer team claimed the regular season title of the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference before getting stunned in the tournament semifinals by Community 3 to 2.  The Lady Rockets finished the year with a record of 6-1-1 as they outscored their competition 34 to 8 on the season.  The cross county Rockets and Lady Rockets had another great season as they won a pair of meets each.  Coach Jim Dobson has had amazing success with his 2^nd year program and looks forward to more great finishes in 2016.  After opening the season with an impressive 14 to 0 defeat of Moore County, the Westwood Rocket football team struggled at times this season as heavy graduation loses hurt the Rockets in the trenches.  Look for Westwood’s football fortunes to improve in 2016 as Coach Chad Dyer always finds a way to handle the yearly task of rebuilding at the middle school level.

2016 promises to be another great year for Westwood Middle School sports and Thunder Radio will keep you updated with all the great performances daily.  We will continue our look back the highlights of 2015 on Friday as we check out the year in sports at Coffee County Central High School.

As 2015 draws to a close, it is time to look back at the highlights from out local prep teams in the past 12 months.  We begin our review today with a look at the Raiders and Lady Raiders of Coffee County Middle School.  On Thursday, we will visit the highlights of the year from Westwood Middle School and on Friday, we bring look back at 2015 sports at Coffee County CHS.

2015 began with a championship for the Lady Raiders basketball team as they finished the season with a record of 19 and 1 and claimed the conference title.  The Lady Raiders defeated South Franklin 25 to 24 in the tournament finals before a packed house at CCMS.  The Red Raiders advanced to the tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champ, White County.

2015 also saw a first in spring sports for Coffee County Middle School as the baseball and softball teams enjoyed their first on-campus, home fields.   The Lady Raider softball team also claimed the CTC title as they battled out of the loser’s bracket to defeat Warren County twice in the tournament championship.  The Lady Raiders finished the season with a record of 15 and 5.  The Raider baseball team got off to a 5 and 1 start in conference play before a late season slump ended their season in the conference tournament.  On the links, the Red Raider golf team battled their way to a 2^nd place finish in the conference tournament.  Samuel Prater finished with a 1st place individual finish while Austin Farris was 1 stroke back to finish in 2^nd place.   In track, the Lady Raiders won their 3^rd straight CTC conference title.  The Red Raiders saw their 3 year string as conference champion come to an end as they finished in 2^nd place to Tullahoma.  On the soccer pitch, the Red Raiders finished with a winning record and a 4^th place finish in the conference championship.

The fall season saw the Lady Raider soccer team finish with an unbeaten record and a CTC championship of their own.  The Coffee County team allowed only 9 goals in their 10 games while the JV team won their conference tournament as well.  The Red Raider football team finished tied for the CTC regular season title with a record of 7 and 1 on the year.  Coffee County lost a hard fought bowl game to Harris in the postseason.   The Lady Raider volleyball team finished their 3^rd season of competition with a record of 12-7-1.  2016 will see the CTC begin conference play in volleyball and expect Coffee County to compete for a conference crown in September.   2015 closed out with the completion of the 6^th grade basketball season which saw both Raider teams have outstanding performances.  The Lady Raiders finished with a mark of 9 and 0 while the Red Raiders compiled a record of 7 and 2.

2016 promises to be another great year for Coffee County Middle School sports and Thunder Radio will keep you updated with all the great performances daily.  We will also bring you exclusive coverage of Coffee County Middle School basketball as we will broadcast the Raiders and Lady Raiders home game on January 11^th as Coffee County hosts Warren County.  We will continue our look back the highlights of 2015 on Thursday as we check out the year in sports at Westwood Middle School.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Alexander Steen scored with 58.2 seconds remaining in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.  Steen got a breakout pass through the Nashville zone from Paul Stastny and took a wrist shot past Nashville goalie Carter Hutton.  “Yes, and a good first pass by [Alex Pietrangelo] to go to [Stastny] as opposed to me,” Steen said. “And [Stastny], I knew he was coming to me. Nice play.”

The Blues outshot the Predators 6-0 in overtime and had the majority of zone time.  “We started with the puck, which is huge in OT and kind of waited for our chance to shoot,” Steen said. “We didn’t waste anything. For the most part, we were pretty good in OT. It’s all puck possession.”

Dmitrij Jaskin had a goal and an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk and Robby Fabbri scored, and Jori Lehtera and Pietrangelo each had two assists for the Blues (23-12-4). Goalie Jake Allen made 30 saves to defeat the Predators for the third time this season, though the Predators got a point after trailing 3-1 with four minutes left in the third period.

St. Louis, which has won six of eight, is an NHL-best 17-5-0 against the Western Conference.

St. Louis defeated Nashville 2-1 here on Dec. 17, but according to coach Ken Hitchcock, the Blues got too comfortable in this game.

“If you’re sitting on the bench, you’re hoping you get to the end of the buzzer because we weren’t really in control of anything,” Hitchcock said. “Other than the first two-thirds of the first period, which was exceptional, we weren’t in control of anything. We were trying to keep up to them and they were trying to keep up to us, but neither team was checking very well. Both teams looked like they were a little bit tired for whatever reason. When you come off your checking against that team, you’re going to get beat.”

Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist, and Shea Weber and Colin Wilson scored for the Predators (18-12-7). Hutton made 21 saves; he is 0-2-3 lifetime against St. Louis.

The Predators are 0-6 in overtime this season but were pleased to battle back and get a point being down two goals on the road on the second of back-to-back games. Nashville defeated the New York Rangers 5-3 at home Monday.

“It was good,” Weber said. “It’s a huge character [point], especially against a team that defends so well usually as a team. This team, when they get a lead, it’s so hard because they collapse and they block a lot of shots. The way Allen’s played against us this year too.

“I think that was the first time we’ve scored even strength on them this year, so to get two late, that’s a big deal for us here and to get one point in a division game is big.”

Weber’s 11th of the season cut the lead to 3-2 on a quick shot from the high slot after taking Roman Josi’s feed with 3:52 remaining. Wilson collected a rebound and beat Allen with 1:32 remaining after the Predators pulled Hutton for an extra attacker.

“I think we were just pressing,” Predators center Mike Fisher said. “We felt good about our game and we were getting pucks and getting chances. We felt like it was just a matter of time that we were going to get our break and we did. … We ended up with those last two goals, which were key.”

Fabbri broke a 1-1 tie on a give-and-go play with Lehtera. Fabbri skated toward the slot and pulled the puck around sliding defenseman Seth Jones before beating Hutton five-hole 12:04 into the second period to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.

Shattenkirk gave the Blues a 3-1 lead when he took a breakout pass from Lehtera and beat Hutton with a slap shot from the top of the right circle 1:55 into the third period.

Jaskin’s first goal in 20 games put the Blues ahead 1-0. He was able to tip Jay Bouwmeester’s shot on goal, then collect the rebound and backhand it past Hutton 9:38 into the first period.

The Predators tied it 1-1 on Ekholm’s shorthanded goal, his first goal in 21 games. Fisher won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Ekholm, who seemed to catch Allen off-guard with a quick shot inside the near post at 14:00.

“We had a great start and the first goal was exceptional, and then when we got scored on, we sagged, and it took us a whole [period] to catch it back up,” Hitchcock said. “Then when we started to play again, we started to play, but we were vulnerable defensively. We had too many just-abouts. We were vulnerable back there, so I think we became hesitant and when you become hesitant defensively, that’s usually when you get in trouble.”

Things looked good for the Blues after Shattenkirk’s goal, but they caught themselves fending off a late Nashville push and had to refocus to get the second point.

“The win’s the win at the end of the day but to give up with five minutes left a two-goal lead and let them back in the game and give them hope, it’s not the right thing to do and we all know that,” Allen said. “You can’t really say anything about it now, but we wish we could take those five minutes back and do it a little differently, but we got the win, we found a way, and move on to the next game.”

The Predators are back in action on New Years Eve when they travel to Dallas to take on the Stars.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 7:30 PM.