Kennedy Young of Westwood basketball

The Westwood basketball teams traveled to Lynchburg on Thursday night to take on Moore County.  The Lady Rockets fell by a final score of 36 to 23.  The Rockets dropped their contest 40 to 27.

Despite holding Moore County scoreless in the 4^th quarter, a sluggish first half doomed the Lady Rockets in the loss.  Moore County raced out to a 24 to 10 margin by intermission and coasted to the conference win.  Westwood was led in scoring by Kennedy Young who had 8 points.  Kasen Holt added 5 points while Elizabeth Brown and Alex Nelson each finished with 4.

A big 4^th quarter allowed Moore County to pull away late and salvage a season split with the Rockets.  Leading 25 to 18 entering the 4^th quarter, Moore County exploded for 15 points in the final 6 minutes to  salt away the victory.  Westwood was led in scoring by John Dobson who had 7 points.  Bodey Todd came off the bench to add 6 points on a pair of 3 point baskets in the 2^nd half.  Will Partin also chipped in 6 points.

Westwood opens the final week of the regular season on Tuesday when they travel to take on Fayetteville.  The girls’ game will begin at 6 PM at Fayetteville Middle School.

Connor Shemwell of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams kicked off the 2^nd half of the regular season on Thursday night at home.  The Raiders and Lady Raiders welcomed West Tullahoma to the CCMS gym for the conference doubleheader.  The Lady Raiders were clipped in overtime 37 to 31 while the Red Raiders fell by a final score of 40 to 35.

With Coffee County leaded to the 4^th quarter leading 16 to 13, the Lady Raiders and Lady Bobcats exploded for 25 points in the period to knot the game at 27 following regulation.  In the overtime period, West got a huge 3 pointer and nailed enough of their free throws to hand Coffee County their first conference loss of the season.  The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Marley Perry who had 17 points.  Kiya Ferrell added 6 points.

The Red Raiders were 6 of 6 at the free throw line in the 4^th quarter, but that was not enough to take down the tenacious Bobcats.  Connor Shemwell led the Red Raiders in scoring with 14 points.  Aiden Abellana added 9 points and Dayne Crosslin finished with 5.

Coffee Middle is back in action on Monday when they host South Franklin.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

The Vancouver Canucks scored three times in the third period as they came back to defeat the Nashville Predators by a 5-3 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena.

It’s just the second regulation loss at home for the Predators this season, as they finish the month of November with a 10-3-1 record, tied for the second-most wins in a single month in franchise history. And although the big picture is a positive one, it didn’t make Thursday’s result any easier to take.

“We had our looks and it didn’t go in for us,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I don’t think that we stopped playing, I just don’t think that we played very well defensively. I thought that we gave up too much… We gave up too much in the second and in the third. When you have a 3-2 lead going into the third, you can continue to push, but you have to do it inside of some structure. I thought that we lost the structure and they gained a lot of opportunities from it. We need to play better defense.”

After a scoreless first period, Nashville struck first when Craig Smith potted his ninth of the season by beating goaltender Anders Nilsson. Vancouver quickly tied it, but Filip Forsberg came right back and scored his team-leading 13th of the season and eighth on the power play for a 2-1 advantage. Loui Eriksson gave the Canucks their second goal of the night in the latter half of the second stanza, but less than three minutes later, Nick Bonino scored against one of his former clubs to give the Preds a lead headed into the intermission.

Forsberg’s goal on the power play marked the 12th-straight home game the Preds have converted this season – setting a franchise record.

The Predators had ample opportunities to score their fourth as the third period began, but they hit the post twice and then saw a puck come inches from crossing the goal line before the Canucks stormed back. Daniel Sedin recorded his 1,000th career point when he tied the game at three, and then Brock Boeser scored his second of the night to give Vancouver the first and only lead they’d need.

“We’re in this position in the standings for a reason,” Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban said. “We show up every night to play hard, but it’s hard when you just have those lapses. In the second period, I don’t think we did a good job at managing the puck and extended our shifts. We have to manage the puck better. They capitalized when we made mistakes, though, so you have to give them credit.”

After a stellar November, the Predators will enter the month of the December by hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, their first visit to Nashville since falling in the Western Conference Final, a chance for the home team to start a new streak against a rival.

“It’s a disappointing night for us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We know we have to be a lot better. We want to play to a certain standard every game, and we definitely didn’t do that tonight, so it’s obviously disappointing for us. We have to make sure we show up on Saturday.”

Notes:

Prior to Thursday’s game, defenseman Ryan Ellis joined the Preds on the ice for their morning skate as he recovers from offseason knee surgery. It was the first time Ellis has participated with his teammates this season.

The Predators finish the month of November with a 10-3-1 record, the 10th time in franchise history – and first time since February 2015 – the team has won at least 10 games in a month. The Preds have now won 10 games in the month of November three times (also: 2006 and 2014).

Nashville’s four-game homestand continues on Saturday night as they host the Anaheim Ducks at Bridgestone Arena before wrapping up against Boston on Monday.