The Westwood basketball teams squared off against Centertown on Thursday night in the semifinal round of the Morrison Ruritan Tournament.  With each team matched up against the 3^rd seeded Warriors of Centertown, both Rocket teams would have their hand full in their inaugural year in the Warren County Conference.  The Lady Rockets used their strong defense to earn a 38 to 17 win.  The Rockets pushed their game to overtime before falling 19 to 18. 

In the girls’ game, Westwood used a strong defense to hold Centertown scoreless for the first 9 minutes and 48 seconds.  Despite an effective passing game, the Lady Rockets had a cold shooting touch from the field as they led 14 to 4 at the half.  In the 3^rd quarter, Westwood caught fire and outscored the Warriors 15 to 6 to pave their path to Friday’s championship.  Leonor Moneno(on her birthday) and Remi Benjamin led the Lady Rockets in scoring as each had 9 points.  Princess Penaloza added 6 points. 

In a hard-fought defensive boys’ game, the Rockets got a buzzer beating basket from Jaiden Warren to cap a 4^th quarter comeback and send the game to overtime.  In overtime, the young Westwood squad was held to a single free throw in overtime to drop to the consolation game on Friday.   Caiden Warren led the Rockets in scoring with 7 points. Jaiden Warren added 4 points.

Westwood will return to Morrison on Friday night for the conclusion of the tournament.   The Rockets will take on the loser of the Eastside/Dibrell game in the consolation game at 6 PM.  The Lady Rockets will match up against Morrison in the girls’ championship game at 7 PM. 

The Coffee County Middle School 6^th grade basketball teams visited Winchester on Thursday night for a double header with North Franklin.  The Lady Raiders routed the Lady Gators 32 to 8.  The Red Raiders finished off a sweep with a 23 to 10 win.

The Lady Raiders help North to 2 points in the 2^nd half as they improved to 4 and 2 on the season.  Ella Arnold was the leading scorer for Coffee County as she scored 16 points.  Natalie Barnes added 11 points and Morgan Spears chipped in 4. 

The Red Raiders held North scoreless in the 3^rd quarter as they stretched a 7 to 4 halftime lead to 13 going into the 4^th quarter.  Jace Cashion and Alex Kilgore led Coffee Middle in scoring as they each finished with 6 points.  Landon Abellana added 4 points for the Raiders.

The Raider hoopsters will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to McMinnville to take on Warren County.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

The Coffee County cross country teams headed to Lebanon on Thursday to compete in the TSSAA Regional Cross Country Meet.  With state berths on the line, the Raider harriers had some strong performances but failed to earn a state qualifying berth.  As a team, the Red Raiders finished in 8^th place out of 16 teams.  The Lady Raiders came in 9^th place out of 12 teams. 

For the Red Raiders, Jacob Rutledge was the top finisher as he ran a time of 17:25.38 to finish in 15^th place.  Garrett Masters was 41^st with a time of 19:13.86 and Ethan Welch finished in 56^th at 20:07.08.  Other Raider runners were Jacob Slabaugh(20:21.92), Jacob Melton(20:36.23), Christian Alvarez(20:59.20) and Bodey Todd(23:12.96).

For the Lady Raiders, Madison Rooker was the top finisher as she covered the 5K course in a time of 23:44.15 to finish in 43^rd place.  Patricia Barrera was right on her heels in 44^th place with a time of 23:46.36 while Nayeli Cano was 48^th in a time of 24:10.75.  Zoe Mills ran a time of 24:57.51 and Haley Sherrill posted a time of 27:34.81.

For the JV Raiders, Holden Shew had the top time of 21:02.69 and Aiden Dubler ran a 22:33.95.

The Coffee County freshman football team traveled to McMinnville on Thursday night for a game against the freshmen and JV of Warren County.  In a game originally scheduled for the 14^th, Coffee County was looking to avenge a loss from September in Manchester.   An injury–riddled Raider squad was held scoreless as Coffee County lost 18 to 0.

Warren County got their first score with 5:11 left in the 1^st quarter to take a 6 to 0 lead.  The Pioneers added another touchdown with 4 minutes remaining in the half to take a 12 to 0 lead into halftime.  Warren County added the 3^rd goal in the 3^rd quarter to sweep the Raiders in the season series. 

The Coffee County freshmen will end their season on Tuesday as they travel to Tullahoma to take on Riverdale in the Tullahoma Lions Bowl.  Kick-off is set for 6 PM at Wilkins Stadium. 

Thursday Prep Schedule
9:00 AM – CHS Cross Country in TSSAA Region Championship at Cedars of Lebanon
5:00 PM – WMS Basketball vs. Centertown(Girls at 5, Boys at 7) – Ruritan Preseason Tournament at Morrison
6:00 PM – CCMS Basketball(6th Grade) vs. North Franklin at Franklin Co HS
6:00 PM – CHS Football(Fresh) at Warren County

1st National Bank and Thunder Radio will once again combine forces this fall and winter to continue to highlight more and more local athletes. The highly acclaimed 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series returns for its 4th season of middle school basketball coverage.  Thunder Radio and First National Bank will bring you a series of 10 Westwood Middle School and Coffee County Middle School basketball games beginning on Monday, October 28th and continuing into January.  We also hope to add games from the respective postseason tournaments for each school. 

Thunder Radio’s Josh Peterson and Dennis Weaver will combine forces to provide unparalleled coverage for middle school basketball.   We take our responsibility seriously to provide exclusive coverage of our Manchester area youth and bringing you live play-by-play action is a part of our celebration of the local teams.  The tentative schedule is as follows:

The Coffee County freshman football team has accepted an invitation to compete in the 54th Annual Semmes-McKenzie Lions Bowl in Tullahoma on Tuesday, October 29^th.  The Red Raiders will square off against the freshman team from Riverdale in a game that will begin at 6 PM.  In the second game, the Murfreesboro Oakland Patriots face off against the Franklin County Rebels in a game set to start at 8 PM. 

The Lions Bowl originated in 1965 and was sponsored by the Tullahoma Civic and Service Council.  Sleepy McKenzie was one of the bowl’s originators and continued leading the bowl team through 2006.  Bill Comer has been the bowl chairman from 2006 to the present.   

During the early years, there were no TSSAA playoffs, and the bowls were the only post-season rewards for teams with outstanding records.  The Tullahoma Lions Club became the sole sponsor of the game in 1970.  After the playoff system was implemented, the bowls continued to operate successfully since only the top teams in a district participate in the playoffs, leaving ample teams with 7 or more wins (the TSSAA requirement at that time) to fill the bowl slots.  Eventually, the TSSAA increased participation in the playoffs to the point that only a few teams across the state were available for the bowls.   Clester Winningham, Tullahoma freshmen football coach at the time, suggested that the Lions Bowl format be changed to feature freshmen teams.  This was done in 1997 and was highly successful.  Today, the bowl is widely recognized across the mid-state area as an effective and meaningful reward for high school freshmen football teams.

In June of 2011, The Tullahoma Lions Bowl was renamed the Semmes-McKenzie Lions Bowl.  This was done in memory of Dr. Frank Semmes who almost single-handily produced the Lions Bowl printed program from the time the Lions Club assumed sponsorship until his death in early 2011, and James “Sleepy” McKenzie who was one of the original founders of the bowl and chaired the bowl from its inception until 2006.

Proceeds from the game received by the Tullahoma Lions Club are used to support the club’s Sight Conservation Program which purchases eyeglasses and provides surgery for needy citizens of the local area.  The participating schools keep funds from their sale of advanced tickets.

Members of the bowl committee for 2019 are: Bill Comer, chairman; Woody Reasonover, team selection; Carl Webster facilities coordination; Sally Hoehl program; Don Jones, concessions; J. Ray Joellenbeck, tickets; Bob Johnson, press box; Richard Kulp, DVD sales; and Jasper Smith and Tom Redman, gates. Carl Webster is the current president of the Tullahoma Lions Club.