As 2017 has drawn to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at the year for the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider basketball team.  The highlight of the year 2017 may well have been their performance at the Whitwell Christmas Tournament last week as the Lady Raiders went 3 and 0 and captured the tournament title.

Thunder Radio reported on their championship win over Red Bank in a story we published on December 30^th

A pair of great defensive plays and a huge Ellie Graham three point basket midway through the 1st quarter sparked a 7 point rally that gave Coffee County a lead they would not surrender on Saturday night.  The Lady Raiders parlayed that 5 point lead into a 19 point advantage at the half as Coffee County won the championship of the Whitwell Christmas Tournament.  Coffee County outlasted a big and physical Red Bank team 60 to 50 to run their record to 13 and 1 on the season.

A trio of sophomores had strong 1st halves as Graham, Jenna Garretson and Ashley Starks all had clutch performances in the half as Coffee County played their 2nd straight game without injured senior post player Alliyah Williams.  Junior Jacey Vaughn was also pressed into service in the post and performed well against the tall and physical Lady Lions.

Red Bank cut the Raider lead to 5 before Graham hit a three point basket in the closing seconds of the 3rd quarter and another to open the 4th quarter.  An Abby Morgan runner with 4:57 remaining stretched the lead back to 6 points and effectively ended Red Bank’s 2nd half rally.  Coffee County hit their free throws down the stretch to claim the tournament title.

Coffee County was led in scoring by Bella Vinson who finished with 22 points.  Garretson added 12 points, Graham finished with 10, Morgan had 9 points and Starks tallied 7 points.

The Lady Raiders and Red Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they welcome Warren County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM with the boys to follow.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast beginning with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 5:50.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves and the Nashville Predators fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The result in Nashville’s first game of 2018 sees it remain at the 51-point mark, five behind the Golden Knights for tops in the Western Conference.

Vegas used their speed throughout the night and showed why they’re at the top of the West standings, capitalizing twice in the second period and holding the Preds off the scoresheet.

“I think at times in the game we played really well, and other times not so much,” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We need to continue to get better inside of our own game, being more responsible, and that goes for everyone.”

“They’re fast; there’s a reason for them to be that high up in the standings,” Captain Roman Josi said. “They’re fast, they got a lot of speed and they’re a real complete team, definitely one of the fastest teams.”

After 32 minutes of just about the most exciting, scoreless hockey possible, Vegas tallied twice within 90 seconds to carry a 2-0 advantage into the second intermission. Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore each beat Pekka Rinne, while the Predators were unable to convert on their opportunities in the middle frame, Nashville’s best period of the game.

“The second period, I thought we played a pretty good period, with the exception of a four-minute span,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “The second period wasn’t bad, with the exception of those four minutes. Inside of those four minutes, we made too many mistakes and that cost us the game.”

Tuesday brought about the return of Ellis to the Nashville lineup, after the defenseman missed the first 38 games of the season recovering from offseason knee surgery. After leading the team with 7:37 of ice time after one period, Ellis finished with 18:27 to his credit, fourth among Preds defensemen.

“First period, I think I was a little rusty,” Ellis said. “As the game went on, I kind of found my legs and felt better and better and more comfortable out there.”

“I thought he was great,” Josi said of Ellis. “I thought he played really well. It’s not easy coming back after such a long time, and he looked like he didn’t miss a beat. I thought he was really good.”

Notes:

Ellis skated alongside Roman Josi in his return to the lineup, with P.K. Subban and Alexei Emelin remaining together and Mattias Ekholm and Anthony Bitetto making up the third pairing.

Yannick Weber, Matt Irwin and Pontus Aberg were scratched for Nashville against Vegas.

The Golden Knights extended their winning streak to eight games and their point streak (12-0-1) to 13 with the victory – the longest such runs by a team in its inaugural season in NHL history.

Nashville’s three-game trip to start 2018 continues on Thursday with a meeting against the Coyotes before finishing on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Pete Weber’s Post Game Report