Alivia Reel of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams traveled to Woodbury on Monday night for a pair of games with Cannon County.  Playing in their last games before the Christmas break, the Raiders and Lady Raiders settled for a split with the Lions.  The Lady Raiders won 37 to 33 while the boys fell 48 to 34.

Trailing at the half, the Lady Raiders turned up the defense in the 3^rd quarter holding Cannon County to just 4 points in decisive frame.  Coffee Middle was able to hold off a 4^th quarter Lionettes rally to grab the non-conference win.  Chloe Gannon led Coffee County in scoring with 11 points.  Alivia Reel scored 8 points and Olivia Vinson added 7.

Dayne Crosslin of CCMS basketball

The Red Raiders fell behind early, but it was an ice cold 4^th quarter that doomed Coffee Middle in the boys’ game.  Trailing by 5 entering the final period, the Red Raiders managed only 5 points in the minute 6 minutes in the loss.  Dayne Crosslin led the Raiders in scoring with 14 points.  Cooper Reed came off the bench to add 8 points while Hayden Garr and Ethan Hargrove each finished with 4 points for Coffee Middle.

The Raiders and Lady Raiders will now take off for the Christmas break.  Coffee Middle will return to the court on Thursday, January 3^rd when they play host to Warren County.  Tipoff is set for 6 PM at the CCMS gym.

Alex Gloden of Temple Baptist Christian School basketball

The Temple Baptist Christian School Eagles welcomed Philadelphia Baptist to the E.C. Bailey Gym on Friday night for a JV/Varsity doubleheader.  The Eagles kept their hot streak alive as they captured a 49 to 36 win.  The JV Eagles won their match-up by a final score of 37 to 33.

In the varsity game, the Eagles pulled away in the 4^th quarter to win the hotly contested contest.  Leading by 3 points entering the final frame, Temple outscored Philadelphia by 10 points to capture the win.  Cody Swayze led Temple in scoring with 26 points.  Alex Gloden chipped in 8 points and Trace Woodard added 6 points.  The win is the Eagles 4^th in a row and 5^th in their last 6 games.

In the JV game, the Eagles built a first half lead and held on down the stretch to claim the win.  Sam Floyd was the leading scorer for the Eagles as he put up 16 points, including 7 points in the 4^th quarter.  Alex Gloden and David Tran each added 9 points.

Temple will close out the 2018 portion of their schedule on Tuesday night as they travel to Cleveland to take on Shenandoah Baptist Academy.  Tipoff is set for 5 PM EST.

Roman Josi

The Nashville Predators came back to salvage a point in the standings, but the goal is two.

Monday’s game had all the makings of an unforgettable comeback as the Preds erased a three-goal deficit – but the Ottawa Senators found the fourth goal in overtime to take the win. The result ends Nashville’s win streak at three as they complete their season series with Ottawa, collecting three out of a possible four points.

The Preds played well enough to collect three goals in the game’s final 40 minutes, but when it was all said and done, it was the start that was still fresh.

“Frustrated, disappointed, we came here to play a game, and we didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s not good enough, especially when you’ve lost as many on the road as we have.”

Roman Josi scored two of the Predators three goals, two of which were on the power play, as the visitors turned 3-0 into 3-3 with two tallies in the final frame. Thomas Chabot’s 10th of the season, only 21 seconds into overtime, ruined the storybook evening for Nashville, however.

“We started slow – unacceptable,” Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “It was not at all what we want… and we battled back and we fought hard and got a point. That was good, but there’s certainly some areas we can be better.”

The opening period couldn’t have gone much worse for the visitors as Nashville surrendered three goals in the frame, including the third with just 12 seconds to play. Laviolette elected to switch up his goaltenders to start the second with Juuse Saros taking over for Pekka Rinne, and then the group began to chip away.

Josi got Nashville on the board when he tallied a power-play goal at 5:37 of the period, and Nashville held a 24-18 lead in shots after 40 minutes.

And things got even better in the third.

First, it was Craig Smith who rifled home a shot on the power play just 46 seconds into the frame, and then Josi got a friendly bounce with a shot that deflected off the stick of Ryan Dzingel and past Craig Anderson to tie the game at three all.

Nashville’s best chance to take their first lead – and likely win the contest out right – came with 3:25 left when the Predators earned their fifth man advantage of the night. The special teams unit was turned away in the closing moments of regulation, finishing the contest 2-for-5.

There will be little time for the Preds to reflect on this one as they’ll immediately head to Chicago for a meeting with the Blackhawks on Tuesday night. There will be plenty to build off of from Monday’s outing, but also much to correct as well.

“With the exception of the first, we were right there, we were skating and competing and doing all the good things that we need to do on the road to get points,” Ekholm said. “We just have to clean up that first 20 and then we’re good but obviously we can play better.”

Notes:

Prior to Monday’s game, P.K. Subban (Injured Reserve) and Viktor Arvidsson (IR) participated in Nashville’s morning skate, the first time they’ve been on the ice with the team since suffering their respective injuries.

Anthony Bitetto and Zac Rinaldo were scratched for the Preds on Monday.

Nashville now immediately heads back to the U.S. – Chicago to be specific – for a date with the Blackhawks on Tuesday night (at 7:30 p.m. CT). The Preds then finish off their trip on Thursday in Philadelphia and Saturday in Boston before the Christmas break.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report