Bella Vinson of Coffee County CHS basketball

Friday afternoon saw the Lady Raider basketball team tangle with Eagle’s Landing out of McDonough, Georgia in the Tampa Bay Christmas Tournament. Missed free throws and turnovers spoiled a 2nd half comeback as Coffee County dropped their second straight game 71 to 61. The loss in the physical game drops the Lady Raiders record to 15 and 2 on the year.
Coffee County fell behind in the 1st quarter due to turnovers but roared back to take a 17 to 15 lead at the end of the period on a 3 point basket at the buzzer by Abby Morgan from nearly 30 feet away. The Lady Eagles defense stifled Coffee County in the 2nd quarter and built a 12 point lead in the 3rd period. Coffee County was able to trim the margin to 4 points near the 6 minute mark but could get no closer.
In a game that saw 81 free throws, Coffee County missed 15 of their 40 shots at the line in the game, including going 17 of 31 in the second half. Bella Vinson Led Coffee County in scoring with 29 points, including 22 in the second half. Morgan finished with 16 points hitting 3 triples in the game. Jenna Garretson battled foul trouble in the second half before fouling out with 6 points. Jacey Vaughn notched 5 points for the Lady Raiders.
Coffee County concludes tournament play on Saturday morning at 9 AM when they take on Spruce Creek out of Port Orange, Florida

Abby Morgan of CHS basketball

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team put their perfect record on the line on Thursday in Tampa, FL taking on Tampa Bay Tech in the opening round of the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational.  The Lady Titans entered the game with a record of 10 and 1 which included a win over previous Florida state champion Miami Country Day which is ranked as the #3 team in the nation.  After going toe to toe with the Lady Titans for most of 3 periods, Coffee County saw Tampa Bay Tech pull away in the 4^th quarter sending the Lady Raiders to their first loss of the year, 45 to 36.

Coffee County jumped out to an 11 to 6 lead after the first quarter only to run into a bit of foul trouble.  In the 2^nd quarter, Tech shut down the Lady Raider offense to hold an 18 to 14 lead at the half.  Coffee County cut the deficit to 29 to 27 in the last 2 minutes of the 3^rd quarter but could never catch up to the taller Lady Titans.  Needing to foul in the 4^th quarter to get the ball back, Coffee County saw Tampa Bay hit 6 to their 10 free throws in the 4th quarter to take the win.

Coffee County was led in scoring by Abby Morgan who had 21 points, including all 8 Lady Raider points in the 4^th quarter.  Jacey Vaughn and Jenna Garretson each finished with 4 points while Ashley Starks and Ellie Graham added 3 points apiece.

Coffee County’s record falls to 15 and 1 on the season.  The Lady Raiders will return to the court on Friday when they take on Eagles Landing(GA) at 4:30 PM(ET) at Seffner Christian.  The tournament concludes on Saturday.

As 2018 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the golf teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County and Westwood middle schools.

The Coffee County CHS team had the best finish of the year among TSSAA teams at the high school with a 3^rd place finish in the state tournament.   Thunder Radio reported on their amazing performance in a story we brought to you on September 28^th.

Austin Farris with his 3rd place medal on Wednesday[Photo provided]

As a team, the Raiders fired a 1^st day score of 309.  The Raiders finished behind 1^st place Science Hill who fired a 291 and Farragut who shot a 304.  The Red Raiders finish their historic season with a record of 80 and 7.    The 3^rd place team and 3^rd place individual finishes are the best in Red Raider golf history for the state tournament.

Individually, senior Austin Farris had 2 birdies on Tuesday as he finished with an even par score of 72.  Fellow senior Samuel Prater also had a pair of birdies as he carded a 76 to finish in 16^th place individually.  Senior Matthew Hale finished his round with 2 birdies and a score of 78 as he came in 26^th place.  Senior Josh Perry shot an 83 and freshman Logan Hale finished with a 95 to round out the Raiders scoring.

You can find a link to stats and scoring for the state tournament at:  http://golf.tssaa.org/teamplayers.cfm?id=20181202

Coach Mike Ray and members of the Coffee County golf team will be featured on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast LIVE each Saturday morning from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln in Manchester.  The Coffee Coaches Show can be heard from 10 to 11 AM here on Thunder Radio.

The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School golf teams battled horrible weather all spring after finally opening their season on April 2^nd at Willowbrook.  The Raiders defeated Tullahoma on that wet Monday while Westwood dropped a close decision to Fayetteville.  Thunder Radio reported on it in a story we brought you on April 3^rd

The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School golf teams opened up the 2018 season on Monday with a home match at Willowbrook.  The Raiders teed off against Tullahoma while the Rockets battled the Tigers of Fayetteville.   For the 2^nd year in a row, the middle schoolers used the “flag scoring” system with a 2 person scramble format.

In Westwood’s match with Fayetteville, the Rockets fell 7 ½ to 4 ½. The team of Katie Lawrence and Araya Hughes won their match 2 ½ to ½.  Westwood also captured single flags from the team of Elizabeth Brown and Chloe Martin and the team of Macie Lawrence and Brylee Chansky.

In Coffee Middle’s match with Tullahoma, the Raiders captured a 7 to 5 win.  The teams of Logan Hale/Cole Fowler and Xavier Bartley/Kaleb Jarrell won their matches 2 to 1.  The team of Kira Jarrell and Lillian McGee got a 3 to 0 forfeit win.

The middle school golfers will hit the road on Tuesday when they travel to Shelbyville’s Riverbend Country Club.  Coffee County will square off against Liberty while Westwood will do battle with Harris.  The golfers will go off with a shotgun start at 3:30 PM.

As 2018 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the prep football teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County and Westwood middle schools.

The Coffee County CHS Red Raiders struggled at times in the “Year After Alontae” but kept up the tradition of beating Hwy 55 rival Warren County.  As always, Thunder Radio brought you the broadcast of the game and wrote about the resounding win in a story we published on September 15^th:

Andrew Mahaffey of Coffee County football

With the Warren County Fair taking place in McMinnville, senior Andrew Mahaffey put his Coffee County football team on his back for a ride on Friday night.  The senior rushed 35 times for 303 yards as the Raiders returned to region play with a convincing win over the Pioneers.  Taking on their bitter rival, Coffee County ground out a 35 to 13 win.

The Red Raiders got a pair of touchdown runs from Mahaffey in the 1^st quarter to build a 21 to 7 lead after the first 12 minutes.  A pair of long touchdown runs by Warren County sent the 2 teams to the locker room at halftime with Coffee County up 21 to 13.  In the second half, quarterback Matthew Pittman hit Trace Bryant for a 25 yard touchdown pass in the 3^rd quarter and Marshall Haney rushed for a 10 yard touchdown run in the 4^th quarter to close out the scoring.

With his 303 yard performance, Mahaffey was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.  Pittman rushed 10 times for 64 yards with a rushing and a passing touchdown.  Haney finished with 13 yards on 3 carries as Coffee County improves to 1 and 1 in region play.

The Red Raiders return home next Friday night to Carden-Jarrell.  Coffee County will play host to Cookeville.  That game will kick off at 7 PM and Thunder Radio will once again be your source for exclusive coverage.  Lucky Knott and Dustin Murray will bring you the kickoff at 7 PM, Thunder Radio’s live coverage begins with the pregame show at 6 PM.

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

The Coffee County Middle School football team got hot late in the season winning 3 of 4 during a stretch in September.    The big win was a hard fought upset of North Franklin on Homecoming.  Thunder Radio reported on the win with the following story on September 12th:

2018 CCMS football team [Photo by DanasDigital.com/ShannonSmiles.com]

Cole Pippenger scored both Raider touchdowns with one in each half including a run from 49 yards out.  Caleb Boothe added a 2 point conversion on the first Raider score as Coffee Middle enjoyed an 8 to 6 halftime lead.  Leading 14 to 6 late in the game, Coffee County needed a stop on the Gators after they got a first and goal at the 7 yard line.  The defense rose to the challenge to halt North on downs and run out the clock.

Coffee County will hit the road next Tuesday for their final road game of the year.  The Red Raiders will take on Warren County in McMinnville.  Kick-off is set for 6:30 PM.

The Westwood Rockets football team struggled with a young roster but closed out the year with a dominating win over their fierce rival Liberty in Shelbyville.  Thunder Radio reported on the win with the following story on September 28th:

2018 Westwood football team [Photo by Dana Giltner – DanasDigital.com]

Eight grader Konnor Heaton had 2 first quarter touchdowns and a 2 point conversion to give Westwood a 14 to 0 lead at the end of the 1^st quarter.  Ian Weldon scored on a 40+ yard jet sweep in the 2^nd quarter and Heaton added the 2 point conversion to give the Rockets a 22 to 0 lead at the half.  Heaton added his 3^rd touchdown in 3^rd quarter to give Westwood a 30 to nothing lead late in 3^rd quarter.  Liberty and Westwood traded 2 touchdowns apiece to close out the final 10 minutes of action with the Rockets last score being on a kickoff return by Brayden Dixon.

The Predators registered 49 shots on goal, but they were unable to beat Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin as Nashville fell to Dallas by a 2-0 final on Thursday night. It’s Nashville’s fifth consecutive defeat, and the result sees them move to 1-1-0 against the Stars on the season.

A record hockey crowd of 17,697 at Bridgestone Arena saw the return of P.K. Subban and Viktor Arvidsson to the Predators’ lineup, and Nashville had their chances throughout the night, but the group left frustrated as they simply couldn’t get the shots to fall.

“We did some things well, but I think the two goals were tough ones and we would like to have them back,” Subban said. “We have to be more solid coming back into our zone, keep getting pucks to the outside. We had a lot of chances, but we just couldn’t bury them.”

“We had a lot of shots, but we just have to find a way to score goals and that’s what it comes down to at the end,” Arvidsson said. “We were in the game the whole night, but we couldn’t find a way to get the puck in the net.”

Tyler Pitlick gave the Stars a 1-0 lead in the opening period when he beat Pekka Rinne to the glove side, and Mattias Janmark bumped the Dallas lead to 2-0 through 40 minutes of play.

Khudobin continued to stymie the Nashville chances as they game went along, including 19 saves in the second and 18 more in the third. When all was said and done, the mark of 49 shots was the highest total in a shutout loss in Preds franchise history.

“We had good looks tonight; we put nearly shot attempts on the net and not a lot of teams can do that,” Subban said. “For us, we would like to get more bodies in the paint and make it tougher on them, but you have to give them credit. They did a great job of boxing us out, but I thought we did a better job in front of our goaltender as well with boxing out and clearing pucks.”

The return of Subban and Arvidsson did give the Predators life, and with Arvidsson, in particular, skating with Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok on the team’s top line, seemed to generate chances every time he was on the ice.

“They gave us good energy early on,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of the return of Arvidsson and Subban. “They were both firing pucks early, both had a possibility to score a goal. Both of them early in the first 10 minutes had a couple of different looks. I thought just having them back in the lineup gave us the layers we needed in our lineup to be successful. It was big for our team to have them back. We’ll look to build off of it.”

The boost from the injured players was noticeable, and although the results weren’t there for the Predators, it was a much-improved effort from what the group displayed on their recent road trip that delivered just one out of a possible eight points in the standings.

Now, it’s about taking the positives from Thursday’s outing and focusing on what’s to come – and that’s a date with the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

“We are going to build off of this and get out of this thing, it’s just a matter of keeping our focus where it needs to be,” Subban said. “That’s on the next game, for now.”

Notes:

Thursday marked Ryan Hartman’s 200th NHL game.

Following Thursday’s morning skate, the Preds placed defenseman Yannick Weber on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury. Weber joins Filip Forsberg (upper-body) and Colton Sissons (lower-body) on IR.

Nashville welcomes the New York Rangers to town on Saturday night before a back-to-back set to close out 2018 and ring in 2019. The Preds will face the Capitals in Washington on Monday before returning to host the Flyers on New Year’s Day.