Hosting their first home games since November 8^th, the Westwood basketball teams welcomed Centertown to the Joel Vinson Gym.  With both games having a direct impact on the standings, the Rockets and Warriors battled in a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio.  The Lady Rockets held off a 4^th quarter rally from Centertown to get a 30 to 22 win.  The Rockets saw their fierce 4^th quarter rally come up short as they fell 42 to 39.

The Lady Rockets got off to a red hot start as they scored the game’s first 11 points and held a 20 to 5 lead at intermission.  After an even 3^rd quarter, Centertown cut the Westwood lead to 7 points but could get no closer.  Westwood was led in scoring by Princess Penaloza who had 16 points.  Leonor Moreno and Keena Seivers each chipped in 4 points for the Lady Rockets.   The win moves the Lady Rockets to 6 and 0 in the conference as they sit atop the conference standings. 

In the boys’ contest, Westwood and Centertown went to the 2^nd quarter tied at 11 before the Warriors outscored the Rockets 10 to 3 in the 2^nd period.  Centertown pushed that lead to 14 points with 5 and a half minutes left in the game before Westwood got fire in the 4^th quarter.  Westwood outscored Centertown 10 to 3 in the final 3:45 of the game but came up short.  Jayden Carter led Westwood in scoring with 15 points.  Caiden Warren added 13 points, including a pair of 4^th quarter 3 point baskets.  Cayden Trail finished with 7 points, all of them coming in the 2^nd half.  The loss drops the Rockets to 5 and 1 in the conference and into a 3 way tie for 1^st place with Centertown and Morrison. 

Westwood will have a week off before hosting Dibrell on Monday night as they begin the 2^nd half of the conference schedule.  The girls’ game will tip off the conference doubleheader at 6 PM at the Joel Vinson Gym.   The Westwood 6^th grade basketball teams will host Morrison on Tuesday night beginning at 6. 

You can download a recording of our broadcast at: www.thunder1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams returned to action on Monday night.  Hosting non- conference neighbor Cannon County, the Raider teams hit the floor for their first action since November 21^st.  The Lady Raiders claimed a 27 to 17 win.  The Red Raiders rolled to a 48 to 31 win.

After losing 4 of their last 5 games, the Lady Raiders were hungry for a great performance and they got it.   The Coffee Middle defense held Cannon County to 3 first half points as they took a 10 point lead into the half.   The Lady Raiders added 9 points in the 4^th quarter to salt away their 7^th win on the season.  Taylor Anthony led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 16 points.  Olivia Vinson added 4 points for Coffee County. 

The Red Raiders were looking for their 5^th win in the last 6 decisions as they hosted the Lions.  Coffee County was the one with the roar as they jumped out to a 14 to 7 lead in the 1^st quarter and stretched the lead to 13 going into the half.  Cannon County shot the ball better in the 2^nd half but could not overcome the Raider lead.  Ethan Hargrove led Coffee County in scoring with 17 points.  Cooper Reed added 13 points and Evan Kirby added 8 as the Red Raiders grabbed their 7^th win of the season.

Coffee County will hit the road on Thursday when they travel to Tullahoma to do battle with conference rival East.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Pregame is set for 5:50 with the tipoff at 6 PM at East Middle School. 

The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League wrapped up their regular season on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Those games set up the final seeding for the postseason tournament which is set to get underway on Saturday at “The Patch.”  Eight games will fill a day of action at CHS beginning at 9 AM.  The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, December 7^th with the finals scheduled for Saturday, December 14^th. 

Saturday’s Schedule

The Coffee County CHS basketball teams returned to Woodbury on Saturday for the final day of the Mitch Wilson State Farm Classic.  The Red Raiders got a last second bucket from Jaylon Wooten to capture a 53 to 51 win over Macon County.  The Lady Raiders rolled up a 52 to 30 victory over Huntland. 

The Red Raiders struggled in the first half as Macon County went on a 15 to 2 run in the first half to build at 21 to 8 lead.  Coffee County rallied from a 9 point halftime deficit to cut the deficit to 3 going to the 4^th quarter.  In the 4^th quarter, the Raiders tied the game late settling up a final play in the closing seconds.  After Hayden Hullett took the inbounds pass, he found Jaylon Wooten under the basket for the game-winning shot.  Wooten led the team in scoring with 13 points.  Hullett added 10 points, including 3 three pointers in the 2^nd half.  Rod Brinkley added 9 points with all of them coming in the 4^th quarter. 

The Lady Raiders held Huntland scoreless in the 1^st quarter as they built a 21 to 0 lead.  The Lady Raiders played a nearly flawless game as they committed only 5 foul on the game and were 8 of 12 at the free throw line.  Nine different Coffee County cagers scored on the night led by Bella Vinson who finished with 16 points.  Jalie Ruehling and Marley Perry chipped in 6 points apiece and four different Lady Raiders finished with 4 points. 

Coffee County returns to action on Tuesday when they travel up Highway 55 to tangle with non-district rival Warren County.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action beginning with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50.  Tipoff is set for 6 PM at Warren County High School. 

The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League concluded their season on Saturday with a full slate of games.  Four boys’ contests and 4 girls’ contests were featured on the full slate of action at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The postseason tournament is set to get underway on Saturday.  Eight games will fill the schedule for the quarterfinal round.  Thunder Radio will have that full schedule for you later in the week. 

In boys’ action on Saturday, New Union ran past Deerfield 27 to 8; East Coffee tamed Hillsboro 23 to 14; Westwood clipped Hickerson 38 to 2 and College Street held off North Coffee in a battle for the regular title.

In girls’ games, New Union drilled Deerfield 40 to 5; East Coffee edged Hillsboro 15 to 11; Westwood dropped Hickerson 35 to 4 and North Coffee bested College Street 26 to 15.

Regular Season Final Standings(unofficial)

The Coffee County Central High School basketball teams traveled to Woodbury on Black Friday to open play in the Mitch Wilson State Farm Classic.   The Red Raiders dropped their first decision on the year as they lost to Livingston Academy 76 to 75.  The Lady Raiders battled hard and got a 51 to 30 win. 

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders built an 18 point lead with 2:30 left in the 3^rd quarter.  From that point, Livingston Academy outscored the Red Raiders 16 to 5 to close out the quarter to take the momentum into the 4^th quarter.  The Raiders fell behind for the first time with 4 minutes left in the game to set up an exciting final.  The Raiders missed a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds and 6 in the 4^th quarter as their record fell to 4 and 1.  Jaylon Wooten led Coffee County with 21 points.  Kyle Farless and Rob Brinkley added 13 points each. 

The Lady Raiders fell behind 7 to 0 in the first 2 minutes if their game.  Coffee County rallied to score the final 10 points of the quarter to take a lead into the 2^nd quarter.  Coffee County had a cold shooting night as they opened 1 of 10 from behind the 3 point line and hit only 12 of their 25 free throws in the game.  Bella Vinson Led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 18 points. Ellie Chumbley, Kiya Ferrell and Jenna Garretson each finsihed with 6 points.  The win improves the Lady Raiders record to 5 and 1.     

Coffee County will return to the court on Saturday when they finish up play in the Mitch Wilson State Farm Classic in Woodbury.  The Red Raiders will take on Macon County at 3 PM.  The Lady Raiders will follow the Red Raiders again as they are set to take on Huntland at 4:30 PM.  Both games will be held at Cannon County High School. 

You can download a recording of our broadcast at: www.thunder1320.com/downloads

One night after the Predators shut out the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville was the club unable to beat their counterpart.

It was the Florida Panthers, who blanked the Preds on Saturday night at BB&T Center, putting an end to Nashville’s four-game point streak. Panthers goaltender Chris Dreidger recorded the shutout in his first-career start, as the Preds failed to score a goal for the first time this season.

“We lacked a little bit of effort,” Preds Associate Captain Ryan Ellis said. “We’re in a back-to-back, which is always tough, it makes you use the energy that you do have more effectively, and I don’t think we did that tonight. We’ve been playing much better of late, and tonight, maybe we took a little bit of a step back.”

“We played eight games in a row with pop, and tonight, for me, we were flat,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We started out just OK, and it slid from there in the third period, so it’s not enough. You have to play at a higher tempo and a higher level in order to be successful, and if you don’t, you roll the dice and it didn’t go our way.”

The game’s only goal through the first 40 minutes came courtesy of Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman, who beat Juuse Saros on a rebound early in the second period.

In the third, with the Predators desperate to knot the contest, Stralman notched his second goal of the night and of the season. Aleksander Barkov salted the game away a few minutes later with an in-tight shot around Saros and into the top corner of the net.

“We were just OK tonight,” Preds center Ryan Johansen said. “It’s tough, back-to-backs are tough traveling, but the bottom line was we needed to do more to be successful. We didn’t create enough opportunities, and when we did have ours, their goalie played well.”

Their four-game point streak at an end, the Preds will return to Music City for a three-game homestand with a need for an improved effort on Tuesday night.

“It’s a statement for us that we’ve been playing good hockey, but we’re not there yet, and this is a good example of it,” Ellis said. “We can’t take a night off, we can’t take a step back, and it’s a good wake-up call that we have to bring our A-game every night to be successful in this League.”

Notes:

Kyle Turris and Matt Irwin were scratched for the Preds on Saturday night.

With their first back-to-back set of the season now complete, the Predators will return to Nashville to begin another three-game homestand starting on Tuesday night (at 7 p.m. CT) against the Tampa Bay Lightning.