Abby Morgan of CHS basketball

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team used a huge first half as they feasted in the opening game of the Mike Mitchell Thanksgiving Classic at the LEAD Academy in Nashville.  Taking on Hillwood High School out of Nashville, the Lady Raiders blasted the over-matched Lady Hilltoppers 90 to 10.

Coffee County got off to a red hot start in the game as they opened up a 27 to 0 lead in the first quarter and pushed that to a 56 to 3 lead at the half.  Coffee County’s Abby Morgan hit her first eight 3 point shots in the first half.  10 different Lady Raiders scored in the game with 4 finishing in double figures.  Morgan finished the game with 30 points, all of those coming in the first half.  Freshman Kiya Ferrell added 15 points, Jacey Vaughn scored 14 and Bella Vinson poured in 12 as the Lady Raiders improved to 5 and 0 on the season.  The Lady Raiders will return to action on Saturday when they take on Covington.  That game will tip off at 1:30 PM.

Coach Joe Pat Cope will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about Friday’s game and give a scouting report for Saturday’s contest.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

The boys and girls will return to action on Tuesday at home when they play host to Nashville Central Christian.  Nashville Central Christian is a home school cooperative basketball program.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, Thunder Radio will begin live coverage with Lucky Knott on the call beginning with the pregame show at 5:50.

St. Louis struck early and often and the Nashville Predators fell to the Blues Friday night at Enterprise Center, 6-2.

The result snapped Nashville’s three-game win streak as the Blues took the second half of the home-and-home set between the two. The Preds were three-for-three in their last trio at home, including a 4-1 win over the Blues on Wednesday, but Nashville is now 0-3-1 in their last four on the road.

“There were things we did wrong from the start right to the end,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We made too many mistakes. That’s why we lost the game.”

“We didn’t play well defensively at all,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “They had a lot of chances, and the chances they had were really good chances right in front of the net. We have to play a lot better for [goaltender Juuse Saros] in net there.”

After a 4-1 Predators’ win on Wednesday that included plenty of feistiness, it took Austin Watson and Patrick Maroon all of two seconds into Friday’s game to drop the gloves. Ryan Hartman and Brayden Schenn did so as well just over a minute later, and as the physical start continued, it was the Blues who went up 2-0 midway through the first.

Nick Bonino got the Preds on the board with a power-play goal to cut the lead in half, but Schenn gave the Blues a two-goal lead once more before the period was out.

St. Louis added their fourth and fifth goals in the second period, with Laviolette electing to pull Saros for Pekka Rinne after the fifth strike. Both teams traded goals in the third period with Ryan Hartman getting his sixth of the season late in the game.

From here, the Preds return home to face the Ducks on Sunday as Nashville will look to erase this effort in St. Louis.

“You have to make sure you correct some things, but after that, you have to focus on the next game,” Josi said. “It’s such a long season, and you’re going to have games that you don’t like your effort. We certainly didn’t like our effort tonight and we have to look at it, but then focus on Sunday.”

Notes:

Preds center Kyle Turris left the game in the first period after taking a hit into the end boards and did not return.

The win was the first behind the Blues’ bench for interim head coach Craig Berube. His first game in charge was on Wednesday in Music City.

Until tonight’s loss, Nashville had won seven of its last eight games against St. Louis – including five in a row with four goals in five of those win.

The Predators now return back to Nashville to begin a five-game homestand, starting on Sunday evening when the Anaheim Ducks come to town.

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball will hit the road on Friday morning to compete in the 2 day, Mike Mitchell Thanksgiving Classic at the LEAD Academy in Nashville.  The Lady Raiders will play at 11:30 on both Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, Coffee County will take on Hillwood and then take on Whites Creek on Saturday.  LEAD Academy is located at 1034 1st Ave South just off of Lafayette Street.

Coach Joe Pat Cope will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about Friday’s game and give a scouting report for Saturday’s contest.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

The boys and girls will return to action on Tuesday at home when they play host to Nashville Central Christian.  Nashville Central Christian is a homeschool cooperative basketball program.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, Thunder Radio will begin live coverage with Lucky Knott on the call beginning with the pregame show at 5:50.