The Westwood basketball teams welcomed Cascade to the Joel Vinson Gym on Monday night for a conference doubleheader.  Thunder Radio was on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  The Lady Rockets had few answers for the press and athleticism of the Lady Champions as they fell 45 to 10.  The Rockets overcame a halftime deficit and 32 free throws by Cascade to grab a thrilling 52 to 50 win.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Rockets saw Cascade close out the final 11 minutes of the first half on an 18 to 4 run to seize control of the ladies contest.  Turnovers and a strong defensive rebounding effort  by Cascade limited Westwood to 6 points in the first half and 4 in the second half.  Westwood was led in scoring by Alex Nelson who had 4 points.

In a physical and fast-paced boys game, Westwood sent Cascade to the free throw line 24 times in the first half as the Champions hit 18 of them.  Those 18 free throws lifted the Champions to a 26 to 24 halftime lead.  Westwood began to find their defensive rhythm in the 3^rd quarter as they outscored Cascade 18 to 8.  The Rockets held off a late Cascade rally to even their season record at 1 and 1.  Trent Thompson led Westwood in scoring with 22 points.  John Dobson and Will Partin each had 4 points in the 4^th quarter as Dobson finished with 10 points and Partin had 8.

Westwood is back at home on Thursday night when they welcome Moore County to the Joel Vinson Gym.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you live coverage as part of the Hometown Sports Series.  Our pregame coverage begins at 5:50.

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

NaJaah Brown of CCMS basketball

Taking on the always tough Warriors and Warriorettes on Monday night, the CCMS 6^th grade basketball teams welcomed White County to the Coffee County Middle School Gym.  After dropping the first meeting of the year to White County, Coffee County played much better basketball this time around.  Unfortunately, that was not enough to capture a win as White County swept the doubleheader.  The Lady Raiders fell 34 to 21 while the Red Raiders fell 45 to 33.

The Lady Raiders got off to a slow start falling behind 10 to 0 after 1 quarter.  A poor performance at the free throw line limited the Lady Raiders’ chance at the upset as Coffee County was 3 for 21 at the line.  The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by NaJaah Brown who had 6 points.  Marissa Medina had 5 points and Remi Benjamin added 4.

The Red Raiders jumped out to a 10 to 5 in the first quarter and a 20 to 19 lead at the half.  White County used a big second half to gain the series sweep over the Raiders.  Cooper Reed was the leading scorer for Coffee County as he had 13 points.  Ethan Hargrave added 10 points while Donovan Morgan chipped in 5.

The Raiders and Lady Raiders are back at home on Tuesday night for a triple-header.  The Red Raiders will host West Tullahoma at 4:30 PM to begin the action.  The Lady Raiders will take on Cascade at 6 PM followed by the boys taking on Cascade immediately following the girls’ game.

Ali Shelton of Motlow soccer

Riding a two-game winning streak that has seen them outscore the opposition 12-0, the Motlow Lady Bucks will play their final regular season soccer match on Wednesday, Oct. 25, when they travel to Pulaski to face the Martin Methodist JV squad at 7 p.m.

Motlow (7-7-1) has a chance to finish its first soccer season with a winning record following Friday’s 6-0 win over Martin Methodist JV at Smyrna High School. Last Wednesday the Lady Bucks tossed another shutout, beating the Covenant College JV 6-0 in Winchester. Motlow has won four of its previous five games.

Despite the impressive finish to the regular season by the Lady Bucks, they will not qualify for the playoffs in their first season. Because Motlow is the only NJCAA Division I team in the state, they were placed in a district that features teams from Florida and Mississippi. There were a number of criteria that Motlow had to meet to qualify for the playoffs and they came up short of meeting those benchmarks.

Despite that fact, Head Coach Andy Lyon has guided his team to continuous improvement throughout the season. Since starting the year 2-5-1, Motlow has won five of its previous seven games by a combined score of 24-1.

Against Covenant College JV last Wednesday the Lady Bucks dominated the action from start to finish, with much of the contest being played on the Covenant side of the field. Hannah Feaster got the scoring started at the 32-minute mark on an assist from Megan Blumhoefer, and Paige Loveless added an unassisted goal nine minutes later to give Motlow a 2-0 halftime lead.

After struggling to add to its lead in the first 33 minutes of the second half, the Lady Bucks broke loose and scored four goals in the final 12 minutes. Feaster added her second goal of the game on an assist from Loveless, Keely Smith scored unassisted, Blumhoefer and Bethany Porter added the final two goals, both with assists from Anastasia Wellington.

Ali Shelton and Lena Alakabi combined in goal to complete the shutout, with each making a save on only two shots by the opposition. Motlow had 30 shots and led in corner kicks 6-0.

Against Martin Methodist JV on Friday, the Lady Bucks came out of the gate with an offensive mindset and took the lead just four minutes in with Tyler Feaster scoring an unassisted goal. Smith added a goal at the 13-minutes mark, also without an assist.

Blumhoefer scored the first of two goals on the night just six minutes before the half, and the Lady Bucks took a 3-0 lead into the break.

Motlow’s dominance continued in the second half. Bailee Walls scored at the 66-minute mark on an assist from Wellington, and two minutes later Wellington assisted on Blumhoefer’s second goal of the game. Wellington capped of the scoring with an assist from Tyler Feaster at 81 minutes.

Emily Bryant, Shelton and Alakabi all played in goal for Motlow, with Shelton getting the lone save. The Lady Bucks outshot the Red Hawks 12-4 and led in corner kicks 6-1.

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.