Motlow State sophomore Joy Porter prepares to shoot a free throw during a recent basketball contest at Copperweld Arena. Porter, a transfer from Little Rock, Ark., almost had a double-double in Motlow’s 68-64 loss to Central Georgia Tech on Sunday, scoring nine points with nine rebounds. Motlow will host Cleveland State Friday night and Chattanooga State Saturday afternoon. [Photo by Jeff Reed Photography]

The Lady Bucks (1-6, 0-3) are coming off a holiday road trip that they hope to quickly put behind them. Motlow traveled to Jacksonville and lost a 66-50 decision to Florida State College last Wednesday. They followed that with a trip to Americus, Ga., over the weekend, falling to South Georgia Tech 72-53 on Saturday and Central Georgia Tech 68-64 Sunday.

Both Cleveland State and Chattanooga State are 1-3 in TCCAA play, giving the Lady Bucks a real opportunity to get back into the conference race. The Lady Bucks and Lady Cougars will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Friday, while the women’s game begins at 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free both days, and the men’s teams will play after the women both Friday and Saturday.

Motlow has started well in most every game this season, but the second half has not been kind to the Lady Bucks. That trend held true in two of their three games last week, including the contest against Florida State College. After leading 11-10 at the end of the first quarter and being tied 20-20 with 2:30 to play in the half, the Lady Bucks trailed 28-24 at intermission. FSCJ led 50-41 after three quarters and pulled away for the final 16-point margin.

Joy Porter and Janna Lewis led the Lady Bucks with nine points each, while Miranda Boutwell scored eight and Tajah Clark had seven. Lewis led the rebounding for Motlow will seven, with Porter, Jasmine Williams, Brianna Jones and Jewel Ledbetter each adding five boards. Clark dished out six assists and had five steals and Lynshawn Ebron added two assists and a pair of steals.

Saturday afternoon in Americus, the Lady Bucks trailed South Georgia Tech 20-15 after one quarter but fought their way back to take a 35-34 lead at halftime. The bottom fell out after the intermission though, with SGT outscoring Motlow 20-6 to take a 54-41 lead into the final quarter.

The Lady Bucks have struggled shooting the ball this season, connecting on only 27.4 percent of their shots in Jacksonville and 25.5 percent against SGT, including 6-18 from behind the three-point line, although they did make 20-26 free throws on Saturday.

Lewis was the top scorer with 19 points, including 11-14 free throws made, and also led the Lady Bucks with six rebounds. Ledbetter scored eight points and had five rebounds, and Clark, Ebron and Chantel Maxwell each scored six points.

Shooting woes again plagued Motlow on Sunday, especially in the first half when the Lady Bucks hit only 24.1 percent of their shots and trailed 45-21 at intermission. Motlow fought back though, closing the gap to 55-44 after three quarters. Despite outscoring CGT by seven in the fourth, the Lady Bucks had dug themselves too deep of a hole to overcome.

Lewis and Maxwell each scored 15 points to lead Motlow, with Lewis adding six rebounds and a pair of assists. Porter scored nine points with nine rebounds and five blocked shots, and Boutwell had nine points and six boards. Clark also scored nine and added two rebounds and two steals. Motlow shot 33.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at MotlowSports.com for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics on social media at MotlowSports.

Self Serve kiosks at Bridgestone Arena [Photo courtesy of Nashville Predators]

With the idea of constant improvement to the guest experience at Bridgestone Arena in mind, Smashville Self Serve kiosks will be making their debut on Thursday night when the Preds host the Vancouver Canucks.

The goal with the new point-of-sale stations is simple: allow fans to spend more time doing anything else, other than standing in line while waiting for a delicious offering.

“This is an innovative idea where you take the longest process and the most boring part of the food and beverage experience, and you completely revamp it,” Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena President and CEO Sean Henry said. “Now, the physical concession stand can be dedicated to higher quality, better displays, faster turnarounds and more unique items.”

Six new touchscreen, self-serve kiosks have been installed at the Hot Chicken station at Section 109 in Bridgestone Arena.
Six new touchscreen, self-serve kiosks have been installed at the Hot Chicken station at Section 109 in Bridgestone Arena. Nashville Predators

The stations are being unveiled on a trial run and will be available at three different areas around the arena to start. The Hot Chicken Stand outside of Section 109 on the main concourse and the Ole Mole Nacho Stand near the SoBro Entrance of the building will feature tablet-style ordering stations. On the Upper Level, the Hunt Brothers Pizza stand outside of Section 310 will feature six full-size, touch-screen kiosks available.

In each location, fans will be able to order every menu item available at the respective station by simply selecting their items from the touch-screen devices. Once the order is complete, fans will swipe their credit card to complete the transaction before receiving a printed ticket to confirm their order for pickup at the counter.

“We want our fans to be able to experience everything Bridgestone Arena has to offer, while spending minimal time standing in a concession line,” Delaware North General Manager John DonVito said. “For example, during an intermission, fans may have to make a choice of do I go to the bathroom, do I go to the concessions or do I enjoy another experience? We don’t want fans to have to choose, we want them to be able to do all three in the allotted amount of time.”

A view of the self-serve kiosks at the Hunt Brothers Pizza station outside of Section 310 at Bridgestone Arena.
A view of the self-serve kiosks at the Hunt Brothers Pizza station outside of Section 310 at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville Predators

Henry and his staff realize that, as with all new technology, there may be glitches to start. But the eventual goal is to begin adding these kiosks throughout the arena, offering fans greater quantities of ordering points, which will in turn will produce a better experience on a nightly basis.

“It’s not perfect, but because of the type of fans we have with their input, it will be in pretty short order,” Henry said.

Fans are welcome and encouraged to test out the kiosks and provide feedback by tweeting @SMASHVILLE_FnB or reaching out to their ticket representatives via phone or email

Abby Morgan of CHS basketball [File Photo by Demarco Moore – Manchester Times]

The Lady Raiders never trailed as they captured their first win of the year under the mercy rule.  Coach Joe Pat Cope was able to play all of his players as Coffee County opened a lead in the first 2 minutes and coasted to the win.  Bella Vinson had the hot hand in the first half as she scored 20 points by intermission and finished with 22 on the night.  Junior Abby Morgan played her first complete game of the year as she has recovered from a torn ACL which occurred in February and a broken arm in September.  Morgan finished with 13 points as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Jacey Vaughn added 11 points for Coffee County.

The Red Raiders rallied from deficits in the 4^th quarter and the first overtime period to capture a thrilling win.  Tied at 51 entering the second overtime, the Raiders never trailed in the decisive period as some great defense and clutch free throw shooting carried the Raiders to the win.  Garrett Booth led the Raiders in scoring with 20 points, including 7 in the 2 overtime periods to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Darius Rozier finished the night with 11 points and had a huge blocked shot to send the game to a 2nd overtime period.  DeAaron Rozier added 9 points and Harley Hunshaw chipped in 8 in the win.

Coffee County returns home on Friday when they open district play against Lawrence County.  The girl’s game will get underway at 6 PM.  Thunder Radio will begin live coverage with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 5:50.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Isaiah Baker of Temple Baptist Christian School basketball

The Temple Baptist Christian School varsity and junior varsity teams traveled to Hixson on Tuesday for a doubleheader with Berean Academy.  Playing their first games since the Thanksgiving holidays, the Eagles dropped both contests.  The junior varsity fell 40 to 22 while the varsity fell 56 to 22.

In the JV game, despite playing Berean tight in the 2^nd half, Temple fell behind 25 to 11 at the half and could not make up ground in the final 12 minutes.  Isaiah Baker was the leading scorer for Temple’s JV as he had 10 points.  Alex Gloden added 8 points while Joey Lacy and Colton Summers each chipped in 2 points.

In the varsity game, the Eagles were held to 1 point in the opening quarter and 8 points in the first half in the loss.  Cody Swayze led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points.  Mich Gloden added 3 points and David Tran and Colton Summers each added 2 points.

The Eagles return home on Friday night when they play host to Shenandoah Baptist Academy of Cleveland.  The JV game will tip off at 5 PM with the varsity contest to follow.  Coach Jeff Stewart and members of the Eagles team will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard LIVE each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 here on Thunder Radio.  The Coffee Coaches Show begins its 3^rd year of being broadcast each Saturday from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.

Roman Josi

Filip Forsberg, Austin Watson and Roman Josi scored, and goaltender Pekka Rinne won his fifth consecutive start in a 3-2 win for the Nashville Predators against the Chicago Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

The Predators (15-6-3) are 10-1-1 in their past 12 games.

Rinne made 37 saves.

Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma scored for the Blackhawks (12-9-3), who are 6-5-2 on the road.

Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the first period on a rebound of his own shot. He took the original shot from the slot, got to the rebound and beat Blackhawks goaltender Anton Forsberg for his 12th goal.

Wingels tied the game 1-1 at 5:10. Forward Alex DeBrincat skated the puck around the net and found Wingels for his second goal.

Watson made it 2-1 at 3:48 of the second period on a redirection. Defenseman Matt Irwin took the shot from the point, and Watson sent it past Forsberg for his third goal.

Josi extended the lead to 3-1 lead at 2:32 of the third period on a slap shot on the power play from the left face-off circle. His shot went off Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook and beat Forsberg on the glove side for his sixth goal.

Bouma brought the Blackhawks within 3-2 at 9:38. He received a pass from John Hayden and scored his second goal on a shot through traffic.

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane had his point streak end at seven games.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report