Kyle Farless of CHS basketball

Returning to district play on Friday night, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams traveled to Fayetteville to take on Lincoln County.  A pair of strong 2^nd halves by Coffee County led the Raiders and Lady Raiders to their second straight sweep.  The Lady Raiders outscored Lincoln County 31 to 13 in the second half to win 47 to 29.  The Red Raiders rallied from a 4 point deficit to beat the Falcons 54 to 51.

The Red Raiders led by 5 entering the final minute only to see Lincoln County rally to tie the game at 51 with 17 seconds remaining.  But Kyle Farless drained a 3 point basket from the left corner with 4 seconds to go to lift the Raiders to the huge district road win.  Farless finished with a game high 16 points as he was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.   Shawn Anderson and Darius Rozier each added 11 points as Coffee County improved to 10 and 4 on the year and 2 and 1 in district play.

Ellie Graham of Coffee County CHS basketball

The Lady Raiders struggled in the first half offensively but a strong defensive effort by Coffee County sent the game into the half tied at 16.  In the second half, Coffee County held Lincoln County to 2 points in a crucial 6 minute stretch to expand a 27 to 20 lead into a 37 to 22 cushion with less than 5 minutes to play.  Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 18 points as the sophomore had 11 of Coffee County’s 16 first half points to earn the Crazy Daisies player of the game award.  Abby Morgan finished with 7 points, all in the 4^th quarter.  Kiya Ferrell added 6 points and Ellie Graham, who was strong on defense all night, added 4.  The win lifts the Lady Raiders record to 17 and 3 and 3 and 0 in district play.

Coffee County returns to the court on Tuesday when they travel to Tullahoma to take on the rival Wildcats.  Tip-off for the girls’ game is set for 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you live coverage beginning with the Powers Storage pregame show at 5:50.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Chris Speagle of Coffee County CHS wrestling

The Coffee County wrestling team visited Smyrna on Saturday for the Red Hawk Rampage Individual Tournament at Stewarts Creek High School.  Taking a contingent of 11 wrestlers, Coffee County came home with a pair of medals in the event which attracted 18 teams from middle and west Tennessee and southern Kentucky.  In team points, the Red Raiders finished in 11^th place ahead of region rivals Shelbyville, Cookeville, Franklin County and Siegel.

Christopher Speagle(wrestling at 220 pounds) was the top medalist for the Raiders as he compiled a record of 5 and 1 and finished in 3^rd place.  In the 3^rd place match, Speagle got a 4 to 1 decision win over Samar Kattih of Riverdale.

Brett Francis(120 lbs) was 4 and 2 on the day and captured a 4^th place finish.  Francis’ two losses came in the 1^st round and the medal round to Tyler Dittmer of Independence.

Other Raider wrestlers and their records:

Hunter Massey(113) – 3 and 2 with 2 pins;

Gavin Prater(138) – 3 and 2 with 2 pins;

Hunter Waring(132) – 2 and 2 with 2 pins;

Cardin Stump(285) – 2 and 2 win 1 pin;

Reynaldo Reyes(182) – 1 and 2 with 1 pin;

Zack Bush(145) – 0 and 2;

Devin Judge(160) – 0 and 2;

Jacob Phillips(170) – 0 and 2;

Gabriel Westbrook(106) – 0 and 2.

The Raider grapplers are back in action on Tuesday when they welcome Warren County to the Coffee County Raider Academy.  The match will feature a head to head matchup between the Warren County High School and Coffee County High School wrestling teams and a head to head matchup between the Warren County Youth wrestling organization and the Coffee County Youth wrestlers.  The evening’s events get underway at 6 PM.

All Peter Laviolette wanted was a response. On Saturday night in Montreal, he got one.

Roughly 24 hours after the Predators produced what their head coach called an “awful” effort in a 4-3 overtime loss to Detroit, Nashville went into the Bell Centre on the second half of a back-to-back and defeated the Canadiens by a 4-1 final.

The victory gives the Preds points in four consecutive games – and three out of possible four in the last two nights. But it’s Saturday’s victory that makes the past 48 hours look a lot better. Right from the opening moments of the contest, the visitors were much better than they were a day before, and against an opponent with a better record as well.

“We were strong from start to finish,” Laviolette said. “We were competitive on pucks and detailed to our game. A lot of credit really goes to the players, just for making sure we’re ready to play.”

“This is one of our best road games of the year, for sure,” Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We played a simple game, got the first goal, got the second one, and even when they got one back, we responded right away. That was just a really solid effort from everyone.”

Nashville discussed having a much-improved start on Saturday, and midway through the first period, Craig Smith pounced on a loose rebound from a P.K. Subban blast to give the Preds a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later, and with less than a minute to play in the opening frame, Ekholm blasted a shot past Carey Price for a 2-0 lead after one period.

In the second, it former Preds Captain Shea Weber who got Montreal on the board when he floated a point shot past Juuse Saros. The response from the Predators was much different than a night before, however, when they also saw their 2-0 lead cut in half. This time, Smith put Nashville back ahead by two by scoring just 18 seconds after Weber.

In the third, the Preds continued to keep the Habs to the outside, and Juuse Saros was there when they needed him to make key stops. Viktor Arvidsson threw one into an empty net to ice it late, the perfect ending to exactly the kind of game the Predators needed.

“It feels like every time we get challenged by a coach or ourselves, or we feel like we don’t play as good as we can, the next game is usually a strong one,” Ekholm said. “Tonight was really strong for us, but it’s just one game. We have a long road trip to go, so it’s nice to get this one, but we have to refocus.”

Anything You Can Do…

When Shea Weber’s shot found a way through a host of people and rekindled life into the Bell Centre, it would’ve been easy for those on the Nashville bench to think: “here we go again.”

After all, with the exception of a win in Washington on New Year’s Eve, life on the road hasn’t been great for the Predators over the past two months.

However, the man who has been a part of this club just about as long as anyone else on the roster wasn’t about to let it happen again on Saturday night.

It took Craig Smith only 18 seconds to respond to Weber’s strike, as he got untangled from Carey Price to start, whipped around the net – and beat the goaltender there – before banking the puck in off the blocker and over the line. Montreal challenged the play for goaltender interference, but unlike on Friday in Detroit, the call went the visitors’ way.

It was by far the biggest goal of the four Smith has scored over his past three outings, and from a team standpoint, well, it was monumental.

“In terms of responses, that was probably the one that meant the most so far this year,” Laviolette said of the goal. “We’re coming off a tough game and you have a two-goal lead, they close it, and to immediately go down and score a goal, that’s really important. Smith had a super strong game, too. He was physical, he was fast, competitive on pucks and chipped in the offense as well.”

Smith now has points in each of his last five outings (4g-2a) and continues to produce for the Preds as they get back on track – and on Saturday night, he helped lead the way.

“It’s the process in which we enter a game, the way we play, the passion we lay on the ice,” Smith said. “The process is more important, but we have to take ownership in how we start games… We want to have a great start and play with speed.”

Notes:

P.K. Subban had two assists on the night, the second of which was his 300th in the NHL.

Preds forward Colton Sissons returned to the lineup on Saturday night after missing the previous six games with a lower-body injury. He was a +2 in 14:20 of time on ice.

Nashville winger Miikka Salomaki did not play on Saturday and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Salomaki left Friday’s game in Detroit and did not return.

Nashville’s six-game adventure continues on Monday night in Toronto when they’ll face the Maple Leafs. Then, it’s onto Chicago, Columbus and finally Carolina to finish things up next weekend.

P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators [Photo by nhl.com]

Preds center Ryan Johansen whacked home the tying goal at 18:44 of the third, but Dylan Larkin cut to the slot and won the game for the Red Wings at 4:34 of overtime. The contest ends Nashville’s two-game win streak with a less than desirable result as the team begins a season-long, six-game road trip.

“Awful,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of his team’s performance. “We lost every 50-50 puck battle. Our goaltender was incredible tonight, the way he played the game. We had three or four guys that showed up to compete on some pucks, and we had 15 that didn’t. You’re never going to win that way. It’s impossible. It’s very, very, very disappointing how soft we were.”

Goaltender Pekka Rinne kep his club in the game, but the positive of a point in the standings and a three-game point streak is only a small amount of solace following a frustratingly inconsistent effort from the Predators which they say cost them a victory.

“It just wasn’t good enough tonight,” Johansen said. “We took two steps in the right direction and took a step back tonight… Pekka gave us a chance, and it’s hard to win on the road. The good thing is we play again tomorrow night, and hopefully we can come away with a game that we’re proud of.”

It took the Preds the majority of the opening period until they registered their first shot on goal, but it was P.K. Subban who struck in the final three minutes of the frame for his first since returning from injury to give his club a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Just three minutes into the middle stanza, Craig Smith scored his second in as many games when he roofed a shot past Jimmy Howard for a 2-0 lead. But, goals from Andreas Athanasiou and Thomas Vanek saw Detroit even the score as the period went along.

Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto countered shortly after the Wings made it 2-2, but the marker was called back for goaltender interference, and the teams entered the third period tied.

Detroit took the lead in the third on a goal from Tyler Bertuzzi, and Johansen’s late tally forced OT to give Nashville their 51st point in the standings before Larkin ended it.

“It was the same throughout the entire game,” Laviolette said of the effort. “Pekka, I mean, I can’t even count the amount of times we left him with nothing in front of him. Terrible.”

Nashville won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as they prepare to face the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday night (at 6 p.m. CT), a chance to erase this one from the memory bank.

“The biggest [thing we need to change] is the start of the game,” Johansen said. “Make sure we’re ready, and not just to go out and have a solid start, but to dominate and set the tone for the game.”

Notes:

Forward Phillip Di Giuseppe made his Nashville debut on Friday night, registering two shots, three hits and three blocked shots in 11:48 of ice time.

Preds forward Miikka Salomaki left Friday’s game after taking a hard it along the boards and did not return.

Nashville’s trip continues on Saturday night in Montreal as P.K. Subban and Shea Weber face off at the Bell Centre. Next week, it’s onto Toronto, Chicago and Columbus before finishing in Carolina a week from Sunday.