Luke Beachboard of Westwood basketball

The Westwood Rocket and Lady Rocket 6th grade basketball teams captured a pair of wins on Wednesday night as they traveled to Shelbyville to take on Harris. The Lady Rockets held Harris to 3 points in the first half on their way to a 21 to 10 win. Elizabeth Brown was the leading scorer for Westwood as she netted 8 points in the win.
The Rockets turned up the defense as well as they held Harris without a field goal in the first half in a 24 to 7 win. Harris managed 3 made free throws in the first half and scored 5 of their 7 points at the free throw line. Luke Beachboard was the leading scorer for Westwood as he finished with 6 points. The Rocket 6th grade teams will be back in action on Tuesday as they welcome West Tullahoma to the Joel Vinson Gym. The girls game will tip off at 5:00 PM.

Motlow College softball coach Janice Morey

Lynchburg native and former Motlow College softball player Janice Morey has seen her life and career come full circle after being named the new head softball coach at Motlow, according to Athletic Director Laura Monks.

Morey comes back home to Lynchburg and Motlow after serving most recently as an assistant softball coach at Stewarts Creek High School after 10 years as head softball coach at Oakland, where she led her team to the District 7-AAA championship in 2014.

“I am looking forward to the challenge coaching at the next level will bring,” said Morey. “Although coaching in District 7-AAA seemed pretty intense at times, coaching at the college level will bring new opportunities to make an impact on young adult’s lives. I cannot image wanting to take this step forward in my career anywhere other than Motlow.”

Monks, the former director of the Motlow Fayetteville Center, was recently named Motlow’s new athletic director as well as dean of students. She joined Morey in starting her new position effective Nov. 1.

“Janice’s passion for softball and for student achievement will be a great asset to the success of the Motlow athletic program,” said Monks. “Her talents as a coach will be felt on the field and in the classroom.”

Morey graduated from Moore County High School and continued her athletic career playing both basketball and softball at Motlow in the mid-1990s. She continued as a student-athlete at Cumberland University in Lebanon where she earned her bachelor’s degree. During the 1999 and 2000 seasons she served as a graduate assistant for the Cumberland softball program while earning her master’s degree.

She officially began her coaching career at Shelbyville in the fall of 2000 and coached the Eaglettes’ softball program for five successful seasons before moving to Murfreesboro and taking over as head coach at Oakland.

“I am very excited to return home to the community I was raised in and to have an opportunity to make a positive impact,” continued Morey. “Motlow has a strong foundation we plan to build upon. I look forward to building relationships with the local schools, outreach programs, and others to allow the girls to get involved and give back to the community. They have a chance to live out their dream of playing college ball, and with that chance comes the responsibility to give back.”

Morey becomes the College’s sixth softball head coach in the program’s 22 years of existence. She replaces Tori Raby-Gentry, another former Motlow player who served as head coach for the past four seasons and as athletic director for the previous 18 months. Raby-Gentry, who resigned in July, led the Lady Bucks to a 27-19-2 record in 2015 and an overall record of 84-107-2.

Motlow College Athletic Director Laura Monks

Monks is a native of Fayetteville and has been the director of Motlow’s Fayetteville campus for almost 10 years. She has held multiple positions at the College since her arrival in 1994, including assistant director of student services, programmer/analyst, and financial aid technician.

“Motlow’s athletic program is highly respected across the state of Tennessee, and I am excited to be part of its future success,” added Monks. “I am looking forward to working with our student athletes and the esteemed coaching staff.”

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.

After opening the 2015-16 basketball season winning two out of three non-conference games, the Motlow Bucks will jump into Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) play when they travel to Columbia State Friday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on Tullahoma’s sports radio The Ticket.

The Bucks have won two straight since dropping their season opener 68-66 to Olney Central College (Ill.) on Friday, Oct. 30, at the Vincennes Kiwanis Classic in Vincennes, Ind. The next night Motlow got its first win under head coach J.T. Burton by beating the home team, Vincennes University, 78-66.

Motlow won its second consecutive game Monday night, traveling to Boaz, Ala., and beating Snead State 92-70. The Bucks will be heavily tested Friday night against the Chargers, who have won back-to-back TCCAA tournament championships.

“This Friday is going to be another big road test,” said Burton. “Going to the reigning conference tournament champions’ place for the first conference game is going to be tough.

“They have very good guard play,” added Burton, “including Braxton Bonds, who I coached at the University of Tennessee. He will bring leadership and toughness to their team. We have to continue to do the little things in order to be successful.”

The Bucks dominated Snead State from the beginning, jumping out to a 51-32 halftime lead behind hot shooting that continued the entire game. Motlow connected on 56 percent of its shots from the floor and 52 percent from behind the three-point line.

Jaylen Barford and Darius Joell led all scorers with 23 point each. Barford added five rebounds, six assists and two steals; while Joell, who hit 5-9 three pointers, had three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ryan Jones scored 16 points with three rebounds and three assists and hit 3-4 from behind the three-point line.

Jared Pearson led all rebounders with 10 boards while also scoring seven points. Stephaun Adams was outstanding from his point guard position, dishing out 12 assists with six steals and seven rebounds to go along with three points. Reid Pierce and JaQualis Matlock each scored six, Jade Patrick added five and Axel Magnuson scored three points for Motlow.

Barford has led the Bucks in scoring in each of the first three contests, including his 27 points in the win over Vincennes, who entered the season ranked No. 6 in the nation by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Joell scored 18 points while Adams led the assist column with 10 and led the Bucks in rebounding with eight.

Motlow struggled in its season opening loss to Olney Central, falling behind 16-1 in the early going and trailing at halftime 41-24. The Bucks caught the Blue Knights, but lost the game on a buzzer beating layup as time expired. Barford scored 22 points and Adams added 13. Matlock and Barford each had eight rebounds, with Adams leading the team with six assists.

The Ticket can be heard in southern middle Tennessee on 105.1 FM and 740 AM, and around the world at TheTicketRadio.com and on your smartphone with the Tune In Radio app (search for WHMT). Those in Tullahoma who are LightTUBe subscribers can also listen live on channel 11.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.