Taking on White County for the first time since 2013, the Coffee County Central High School basketball teams hosted the visitors from Sparta on Monday night.  The Lady Raiders saw a 4^th quarter lead slip away as they fell 49 to 46.  The Red Raiders rallied from a 1^st half deficit to stun the Warriors 57 to 52.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders took the early lead against White County and held it until the final minute before falling.  Coffee County committed 7 turnovers in the 4^th quarter, including 2 in the final minute as they suffered their first loss of the season.  The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Ellie Graham who had 20 points.  Bella Vinson finished the game with 8 points and Kiya Ferrell added 5. 

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders fell behind by 11 points halfway through the 2^nd quarter before mounting a comeback to close out the half.  Trailing by 6 at the half, Coffee County outscored White County 17 to 6 in the 3^rd quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish.  The Red Raiders were led in scoring by Jaxon Vaughn who had 17 points, including 10 made free throws.  Kyle Farless added 14 points and the duo of Rod Brinkley and Jaylen Wooten each tallied 8.    

Coffee County will return to the court on Friday when they compete in the Mitch Wilson State Farm Classic in Woodbury on Friday and Saturday.  The Red Raiders will take on Livingston Academy at noon on Friday and the Lady Raiders will take on Siegel at 1:30 PM.  Both of those games will take place at Woodbury Grammar School and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all of Friday’s action.

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

The Temple Baptist Christian School basketball teams made the long trip to Jamestown on Monday night to take on Faith Christian.  The Temple JV team was ice cold on offense as they fell 30 to 8.  The varsity Eagles got off to a good start before falling 51 to 34. 

In the JV game, Temple was held to one score in each quarter.  A 3 point basket and a 2 point field goal gave the Eagles 5 points at the half.  In the 2^nd half, Temple’s JV squad was held to a free throw and a field goal.  Issac Stewart led the Eagles in scoring with 3 points.  John Green and Brennan Davis each added 2 points. 

In the varsity game, a cold shooting 2^nd quarter saw the Eagles go from 2 points ahead to 7 points behind by intermission.  Temple never could get their offense untracked in the second half as they dropped the road decision.  Alex Gloden led Temple in scoring with 20 points.  Michael Gloden added 10 points and 7 rebounds along with 5 steals. Nolan Hughes was the leading rebounder as he finished with 8 boards

The Eagles will take off until Thursday, December 12^th when they host the home opener for the season.  The Temple varsity will play host to Dogwood Christian from Tunnel Hill, Georgia.  Opening tip is set for 5 PM.

Juuse Saros made 23 saves through 65 minutes – plus three more in the shootout – and Daniel Carr potted the winner, as the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 3-2 final on Monday night.

The result gives the Preds a four-point sweep of their home-and-home set with the Blues, as well as two-straight victories, after putting an end to their six-game winless streak on Saturday night.

Going into a hostile environment in St. Louis on Saturday, the Predators came away with a much-needed win against the top club in the Western Conference, but to do it again on Monday night was even sweeter.

“We played two pretty complete games of great hockey,” Preds forward Ryan Johansen said. “For our team to get back on the winning side of things and to do it against them, it’s great. Now it’s about building off those two wins.”

“It was tight out there, both in St. Louis and here,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “The guys had to compete hard. I thought St. Louis was competitive tonight as well. The game was close, and I thought we were good defensively. We couldn’t seem to cash it in offensively and just get it going in our direction. We had lots of chances and opportunities, some chances that were in tight and some that could have put the game away, but we couldn’t get it done. It was nice to get it done in the shootout.”

Just as they did 48 hours ago, the Preds had an ideal start, and they found themselves up by two after the opening 20 minutes. First, Dante Fabbro lobbed a pass to Rocco Grimaldi in neutral ice, and Grimaldi then fed Nick Bonino, who walked in and sniped home his 10th of the season.

Just a few moments later, Johansen followed up a play at the net and roofed the rebound past Jake Allen to give the Preds a 2-0 advantage.

In the second stanza, it was David Perron, who cut the Nashville lead to one when he beat Juuse Saros on his own rebound, and then with just over six minutes to play in regulation, Brayden Schenn evened the score at two, forcing overtime.

The extra session saw a myriad of chances for the Predators, and after everyone collected their breath following an incredible five minutes of hockey, both clubs settled in for the shootout.

Ryan O’Reilly put the Blues up one on the first shot, but Saros was perfect the rest of the way, and after Filip Forsberg tied it on Nashville’s last chance, Carr, who was recalled from Milwaukee on Monday morning, sent the locals home happy.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Carr said. “One of the coaches [in Milwaukee, Assistant Coach Greg Rallo] said to me after I basically dumped one in my first game in a shootout and he looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you just shoot the puck?’ I’ve been having some success with it, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Even when the Predators were in the midst of their losing streak and it didn’t look promising on the outside, there were elements inside of their game that told them the wins weren’t far off. At the same time, they needed more to end up on the right side of the ledger, and now they’ve done so on consecutive occasions for the first time in a long time.

“We had to find a way to do a little more,” Johansen said. “You’ve got to keep finding ways to handle the little details and the little plays in the game. I think we’ve done that in the last two games now. We’ll look at things again tomorrow and keep finding ways to improve and continue to get better.”

Saturday’s triumph was satisfying, and Monday’s was even better. Now, it’s about getting back to playing Predators hockey and executing at the level the group knows they’re capable of achieving.

The past two outings will certainly help matters.

“We have to string them together now,” Bonino said. “Winning one isn’t enough. You look at the standings and it’s a very tough division. It’s tough, but for them to tie it up and put our back against the wall, I’m just happy we got those two points and just gave them one.”

Notes:

Between the AHL and NHL, Carr now has four goals in the shootout this season, and all of them have been game-winners.

The Preds now have points in eight-straight home games against the Blues.

Kyle Turris and Yannick Weber were scratched for Nashville on Monday.

Nashville’s two-game homestand concludes on Thanksgiving eve when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at Bridgestone Arena (at 7 p.m. CT). The Preds will then head on the road for meetings in Carolina and Florida on Friday and Saturday, respectively.