2017 Red Raider Christmas Tournament

Hitting the road for the final regular season game before the holidays, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams traveled to Huntland on Friday night.  Both Raider teams were looking to complete the season sweep over Huntland as each got wins on December 4^th.  The Lady Raiders overcame a slow start to win 57 to 47.  The Red Raiders stormed out to a huge first quarter lead as they won 64 to 38.

The cold, frigid air outside must have affected the Lady Raiders offensively as they struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first half.  Taking a 10 to 6 lead into the 2^nd period, Coffee County saw Huntland take a 19 to 18 lead with 1:45 to go in the half.  But the Lady Raiders closed out the half on a 4 point run and never trailed again.  Coffee County built a 16 point lead early in the 4^th quarter to earn their 10^th win of the season.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Bella Vinson who had 18 points as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Alliyah Williams finished with 9 and Jenna Garretson added 8 points.

The Red Raiders got off to a blistering hot start as they built 22 to 3 lead after the first period.   A scrappy Huntland team was able to cut the lead to 12 points in the 2^nd quarter but could never get within 10 points the rest of the night.  The win improved the Raiders record to 8 and 2 on the year.  Darius Rozier was the leading scorer for Coffee County as he finished with 12 points.  Garrett Booth finished with 10 points and 5 assists as he earned the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor.  Grey Riddle finished with 10 points as well.

The Red Raiders will return to action on Monday as they play host to their own 3 day tournament at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The tournament will run Monday thru Wednesday with games being played each day beginning at 3 PM and the final game tipping off around 7:30 PM.  The Red Raiders will open up against Smyrna on Monday night beginning at 7:30 PM and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast.

The Lady Raiders will return to play on Thursday, December 28^th when they travel to Whitwell for a 3 day Christmas Tournament.  The Lady Raiders open play at 3 PM on the 28^th when they take on Ringgold, Georgia.   Both Coffee County teams return to regular season action on Tuesday, January 2^nd when they host Warren County.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

Download a copy of the game broadcasts at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Lady Rockets of Westwood returned to Community on Saturday for the consolation game of Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament.   Westwood squared off against Moore County with a 3^rd place finish in the conference on the line.  Despite outscoring Moore County in the final 3 quarters, the Lady Rockets fell 44 to 34.

Westwood outscored Moore County 30 to 27 in the final 18 minutes of the game but it could not overcome a slow start.  The Lady Rockets were held to 4 points in the 1^st quarter which put them in a hole they could not overcome.  The Lady Rockets were led in scoring by Elizabeth Brown and Alex Nelson who each had 8 points.  Haidyn Campbell had 7 points for Westwood which finished the year with a record of 10 and 6.

Following the tournament, the all-conference and all-tournament teams were named for both the boys and girls.  Named to the DRVC All-Conference team for the Lady Rockets were Elizabeth Brown, Alex Nelson and Kasen Holt.  The Rockets were represented on the all-conference team by John Dobson, Will Partin and Trent Thompson.   Haidyn Campbell and Alex Nelson were tabbed to the all-tournament team for the Lady Rockets while Trent Thompson was named to the all-tournament team for the Rockets.

The Coffee County swim teams traveled to LaVergne on Thursday night for a division meet on Thursday night.  The Coffee County teams were paired up against Stewarts Creek in the duals scoring format.  The Red Hawks swept Coffee County’s men and women and also captured the combined title in the head to head matchup.

The night did feature some strong individual performances for both the Lady Raiders and Red Raiders.

For the Lady Raiders

• Kaylee Williams won the 200M IM with a time of 2:42.71 as she cut 1.2 seconds off her state qualifying time.  She also won the 100M breaststroke in a time of 1:22.11
• Anna O’Connor finished in 2^nd place in the 100M butterfly and 2^nd in the 100M backstroke
• Lindsey Cauble came in 3^rd in the 400M freestyle and 5^th in the 50M freestyle
• Alessandra Marlow finished 6^th in the 50M freestyle and 12^th in the 100M backstroke
• Andie Clutter cut four seconds off her 200M freestyle time to finish in 10^th place.   She also finished in 11^th place in the 100M freestyle
• Allyson Talley finished 12^th in the 200M freestyle
• Lacey West finished 11^th in the 50M freestyle and 15^th in the 100M freestyle
• E’Melilia Walker finished 14^th in the 100M backstroke

For the Red Raiders

• Jack Beachboard won the 200M IM with a time of 2:42.71 as he cut 1.2 seconds off his season best time.  He aslo won the 100M breaststroke in a time of 1:15.67
• John Michal finished in 4^th place in the 400M freestyle and 13^th in the 50M freestyle
• Luke Irwin finished 11^th in the 100M freestyle and 15^th in the 50M freestyle
• Ben Davis finished 12^th in the 100M freestyle
• Terreal Clayborne finished 14^th in the 50M freestyle and 15^th in the 100M freestyle

For the middle school swimmers,

• William Tobitt bested the HS regional time by an amazing 10 seconds in the 200 meter freestyle time as he hit the wall at 1:04.24.  He also posted a time of 2:25.35 in the 200M freestyle
• Rilye Bellamy swam the 100M breaststroke in a time of 2:34.76 and the 50M freestyle in 45.38
• Emily Williams posted a time of 5:49.50 in the 400M freestyle and 1:46.56 in the 100M breaststroke
• Aly Hutchings swam the 100M breaststroke in a time of 2:11.25 and the 50M freestyle in a time of 38.54
• Tristan Sons swam the 50M freestyle in a time of 53.44
• Patience Drigger swam the 50M freestyle in a time of 52.34 and the 100M freestyle in 1:59.53
• The Lady Raider middle schoolers swam the 200M freestyle in a time 2:53.40.  That team was made up of Emily Williams, Patience Drigger, Aly Hutchings and Taylor Wall

In the team relays, the Lady Raiders placed

• 1^st in the 400M freestyle relay as Anna O’Connor, Lindsey Cauble, Lacey West and Kaylee Williams swam for Coffee County.
• 2^nd in the 200M freestyle relay
• 6^th in the 200M Medley relay

The Red Raiders in the team relays placed

• 3^rd in the 400M freestyle relay
• 5^th in the 200M freestyle relay

The Raiders return to the water on January 11^th when they square off in a division meet with Siegel.  That meet will be held at the LaVergne High School natatorium.  First race is set for 6 PM.

2017 Red Raider Christmas Tournament

The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team will be hosting their 4^th Annual Christmas Tournament beginning next week.  Eight teams, from as far away as Jamestown and Jackson, will compete in the 3 day event to crown a champion.  The tournament begins on Monday, December 18^th and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.

Competing in the tournament will be Shelbyville, York Institute, Franklin County, Lebanon, Glencliff, University School of Jackson, Smyrna and Coffee County.  Games will begin at 3 PM each afternoon and will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at CHS.  The championship game will be held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, December 20^th.

Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of Monday night’s game against Smyrna.  That game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 PM and Thunder Radio will begin live coverage at 7:20 with the Powers Storage Pregame Show.

Pekka Rinne

Pekka Rinne stopped all 32 shots he faced and the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames by a 2-0 final on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s the second consecutive shutout for the Preds, after a 4-0 victory in Edmonton on Thursday. The win gives the Preds points in seven consecutive outings, as well as a three-game sweep through Western Canada.

The Predators haven’t lost a game in regulation in the month of December and the club now has 16 victories in their last 20 tries, and after completing this three-game excursion, Nashville is six points richer.

“A full-team effort again,” Nashville center Ryan Johansen said of the win. “The trip hasn’t been perfect by any means, but we played a lot of good hockey. We started off right in Vancouver and found ways to win the last couple games, so a lot of credit to every guy in here. Every guy was contributing throughout this trip, so it was a fun three games for us.”

After a scoreless opening frame, Nashville continued their second-period dominance with two tallies in the stanza, courtesy of Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala. The latter marker, assisted by Kyle Turris, extended a pair of point streaks to seven games each for Fiala and Turris. As a line, Turris, Fiala and Craig Smith have now combined for 49 points across 17 games since Turris arrived in Nashville.

Not to be lost in the scoring was a solid effort from the Nashville penalty kill in the middle frame, with the Preds fending off a five-minute major penalty taken by Austin Watson, which included a full, two-minute 5-on-3 advantage embedded within.

Another successful third period followed, and the Preds closed it out with sound defense and clutch saves from Rinne to finish the trip with just one goal allowed.

“Somehow, we find a way to win, and I think that’s the biggest thing, just win,” Preds forward Filip Forsberg said. “That’s what you try to do in this League.”

How Sweep It Is:

Vancouver? Win. Edmonton? Same deal. Calgary? You can probably guess.

Three stops in Western Canada brought about the same result each time as the Predators collected victories over the Canucks, Oilers and Flames within a four-day span. And while Ryan Johansen admitted the trip wasn’t perfect, the six additional points in the standings are all the Predators need to see to confirm the success they’ve had over the past four days.

“[That’s] three teams that are fighting for their lives, and to be able to have two shutouts and one goal against – one goal in three games – I guess that says a lot about our group right now and the direction we’re going,” Johansen said.

“To go into this trip on the road you, want to be above .500 and this kind of trip is really a confidence booster,” Rinne said.

Pesky Preds:

Sure, the Predators tallied a total of 13 goals in three games to finish out their road trip, but it was the stinginess at the other end of the ice – just one goal allowed, including back-to-back shutouts – that will end up being the story of the journey.

Juuse Saros and Pekka Rinne combined for consecutive blankings of their opponents, just the second time in franchise history two different goaltenders have posted back-to-back shutouts.

Whether it was the men in the blue paint or the players in front of them, the Predators hardly gave the opposition anything, just another reason why Nashville continues to sit atop the Central Division.

“That’s pretty amazing that as a team we gave up one goal [in] three games,” Rinne said. “But it speaks volumes about this team and the way we’re playing right now.”

“Our goaltending was outstanding on the trip,” Laviolette said. “You think about it, it’s a really difficult trip with the flights, the time zones and getting in at whatever time in the morning, the goalies were sharp. That’s just flatout what happened. They just played lights out for three games.

“Our guys did a really good job right in front of the goalie. I thought the same thing tonight as well. The first period was a little bit loose, but I thought we did a really good job in that zone just wanting to clean things up.”

Notes:

With an assist on Ryan Johansen’s goal, Viktor Arvidsson recorded his 100th career point.

Preds Assistant Equipment Manager Jeff Camelio worked his 1,500th professional hockey game when he stepped behind the bench on Saturday night in Calgary.

With the Western Canada trip now complete, the Predators will head home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before a trip to Dallas on Dec. 23 to round out the schedule leading up to the Christmas holiday.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

The Titans lost a heartbreaker here on Sunday.

A 45-yard field goal by 49ers kicker Robbie Gould on the final play of the game was the difference in a 25-23 loss to the 49ers.

The Titans had taken the lead 23-22 on kicker Ryan Succop’s 50-yard field goal with 1:07 left.

With the loss, the Titans dropped to 8-6 on the season, two games behind in the Jaguars (10-4) in the AFC South.

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 23-of-33 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns, with a 110.8 rating. But the Titans couldn’t stop 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who completed 31-of-43 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns.

Titans fell behind 16-3 before rallying, only to come up short.

The Titans cut the lead to 16-10 just before halftime on a four-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to tight end Delanie Walker, which capped a 6-play, 79-yard drive. Mariota completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive, including the scoring strike to Walker with just 29 seconds left before halftime. Until then it had been a tough half for Walker, who let a catchable ball go off his hands in the end zone, and later lost a fumble.

The Titans cut the lead to 16-13 early in the third quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Succop, which capped off a 14-play, 62-yard drive.

Then came the Mariota and the Titans offense again.

Working primarily out of the no huddle, the Titans put together another long drive, and capped it off with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to receiver Rishard Matthews. The third-down play came at the end of a 12-play, 84-yard drive for the Titans, and it made it 20-16.

The 49ers cut the lead to 20-19 with on a 50-yard field goal by Gould, his fourth field goal of the day. Gould’s fifth field goal of the game gave the 49ers a 22-20 lead over the Titans with 3:08 left.

The Titans took over at their own 25, down 22-20 with 3:08 left. The team drove to take the lead, but let it slip away late.

It was a tough loss at the end of an 0-2 road trip.

The 49ers took a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by kicker Gould, which capped a 12-play, 64-yard drive. Titans linebacker Avery Williamson’s sack of Garoppolo backed the 49ers up, and helped the team get a stop.

The 49ers made it 6-0 on Gould’s second kick of the game, this one from 48 yards.

After the Titans cut the lead to 6-3 on a 40-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Succop, the 49ers answered back with a long drive of their own.

Garoppolo’s five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Garrett Celek capped a 17-play, 85-yard drive that took 8:36 off the clock, and made the score 13-3. Gould’s third field goal of the half made it 16-3 with 1:37 left before halftime.

The Titans face the Rams next Sunday at Nissan Stadium.