Josh Peterson

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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Gannon pounds Tullahoma into submission, Lady Raiders roll 54-36

Chloe Gannon scored a game-high 24 points for the Lady Raiders Friday, Dec. 17, 2021 in a 54-36 win over Tullahoma. – Thunder Radio photo by Holly Peterson

It was only a matter of time before Chloe Gannon’s shots started to fall Friday night.

They did, Tullahoma had no answers and the Central High School Lady Raiders beat Tullahoma for the 12th time in the past 13 meetings: 54-36 at Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium.

“We knew if we executed the game plan that we had that we would take care of business,” explained CHS head coach Joe Pat Cope. “We didn’t do that early, and it was so frustrating for me. We had a discussion at halftime and things improved.”

Improve they did. Coffee County struggled through the first half, but still took a 21-20 lead to the locker room. Foul trouble haunted the Lady Raiders early – Chloe Gannon and Channah Gannon each picked up 3 fouls in the first half.

But Cope put Chloe Gannon right back on the floor to start the second half and she went to work – not picking up a foul the rest of the night and finishing with a game-high 24 points (17 of those came in the second half).

The Lady Raiders turned up the defensive intensity, as well – holding the Lady Cats to just 6 third quarter points.

Senior Elli Chumley also turned in a solid performance – playing shutdown defense on Tullahoma’s top guard Lucy Nutt, and scoring 14 points on the offensive end. And in Jalie Ruehling’s first start of the year, she put up 8 points for the Lady Raiders, including a 3-pointer. It was one of only two 3-pointers CHS hit all night, with the other coming from Olivia Vinson.

But the 3-pointer wasn’t needed – size and dominant post play was the emphasis of the night for the Lady Raiders.

With the win, CHS moves to 7-3 on the year. It marks the Lady Raiders’ 4th straight win. Tullahoma falls to 5-2 – it is the Lady Cats’ second straight loss.

Coffee County will play next week in a pre-Christmas Tournament in Fort Payne, Ala.

THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPLAY.

Birthdays- December 17

Birthdays:

Keira May Wilson- 11- Pizza Winner!

Josh Carney- 40

Ross Farless- 71

Skylar Farless- 15

Jennifer Vandagriff

Amber Reed

Weekly Winners:

Cake- Lana Creek

Donald Bruce Ball

DONALD BRUCE BALL

Louisville, KY – 74, passed away peacefully on Dec. 7, 2021.

Don was a highly respected Archaeologist, M.A., R.P.A., and U.S. Army
Veteran.  Born in Nashville, TN, he spent the majority of his life in
Louisville, KY.

Don graduated, in 1970, from Middle Tennessee State University,
Murfreesboro,  TN with a B.S. degree. He later graduated in 1977, from
University of Tennessee,  Knoxville, TN with a M.A. degree.

Don entered the U.S. Army 18 June 1970. He served in Berlin, Germany, with
A  Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th U.S. Infantry, and a unit of the Berlin
Brigade. He was  discharged from active service 21 December 1971 having
obtained the rank of  Sergeant (E-5). He was the recipient of the National
Defense Service Medal, the  Army of Occupation Medal and the Good Conduct
Medal. Honorable discharge  was effective 1 June 1976.

Don’s professional career was spent as an Archaeologist at the U.S. Army
Corp of  Engineers, Louisville District, Environmental Analysis Branch,
Planning Division.

Don continued his work in archaeology with research interests focused on:
Prehistoric archaeology of the Southeastern U.S.; History of archaeology
research  Southeastern U.S.; 19th Century – rural historic and industrial
archaeology and  firearms technology; Spelean history and more. In his
field he authored and co authored 467 Publications. He has another 35 plus
publications in-press or submitted  for professional review.

Don is survived by his beloved Marcia Hemming of over 20 years; his sister,
Mary  Jane Knight; his son, Donovan Ball and grandchildren Anna and
Sophie.

A graveside service with Military Honors is being administered by
Manchester  Funeral Home, 214 E. Main St., Manchester, TN 37355 (931)
728-3505; with  service and burial on Saturday, Dec. 18, 10:00 AM at Shady
Grove Cemetery, 779  Deberry Rd., Morrison, TN.

Manchester Funeral Home is honored to serve the Ball family.

BASKETBALL: Coffee Middle splits on the road with East

A first-half shutout in basketball is rare. But that is exactly what the Coffee County Middle defense did to East Tullahoma Thursday night – taking a 27-0 lead into halftime as the Lady Raiders cruised to a 44-11 win.

It was a marked improvement over a team that scored 41 against CMS earlier this year.

“We made some changes this week to our defense and it worked Monday and tonight,” said CMS head coach David Vinson.

Eighth grader Natalie Barnes turned in an 18-point performance and sixth grader Adalyn Clark pitched in 11. Ella Arnold scored 8

The Lady Raiders move to 14-2 with the win and 8-1 in CTC play. They won’t play again until after the Christmas break.

Meanwhile, the Raider boys struggled again to find offense and lost a 44-12 decision to the Panthers. Luke Campbell and Levi Rollman each scored 3 points for CMS. The Raider boys fall to 3-11 with the loss.

BASKETBALL: Ferrell lights up Eagleville with 28 points in WMS blowout

Lady Rocket Jules Ferrell had herself a memorable Thursday night.

Eagleville will have nightmares about it.

The seventh grade guard piled up 28 points – 17 in the second quarter alone – to lead the Westwood Lady Rockets to a 47-19 conference beatdown of visiting Eagleville at Joel Vinson Gymnasium.

Westwood really took the game over in the second quarter. Leading 6-1 after a period, Westwood outscored Eagleville 21-2 in the second frame to put the game away by halftime.

The win improves the Lady Rockets to 17-1 on the year and a perfect 11-0 in conference play. They won’t play again until after the Christmas break.

Audri Patton also scored in double-figures for WMS Thursday with 11 points. Reece Finch added 4, Maddie Meacham 2, Bella VanZandbergen 2

The Westwood boys weren’t so fortunate, dropping a decision to the Eagles to fall to 6-11 overall, 6-5 in conference play.

These games were broadcast live on Thunder Radio! Listen to the replay here!

Birthdays- December 16

Bobby Warren

Angela Prater

James Hale- Pizza Winner

Nola French

Tennessee unemployment hits pre-pandemic levels at 4%

Tennessee’s unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level since March 2020, the last month before COVID-19 business closures impacted workers across the state. According to new data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), Tennessee recorded an unemployment rate of 4% in November 2021.

The new seasonally adjusted rate is down 0.2 of a percentage point from October and it matches the March 2020 rate. In a year-to-year comparison, the November figure dropped by 1.6 percentage points.

Tennessee experienced its highest unemployment ever in April 2020 when the rate spiked to a historic 15.8%.

Business owners increased employment across the state by 4,900 jobs between October and November. Tennessee’s leisure and hospitality sector accounted for the largest number of hires during the month. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector, along with the manufacturing sector, had the next highest number of new jobs.

Over the year, nonfarm employment grew by 87,800 jobs in Tennessee. The largest gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and the trade, transportation, and utilities sectors.
Unemployment also dropped nationwide in November. The seasonally adjusted rate for the month came in at 4.2%, down 0.4 of a percentage point from October’s rate. One year ago, the national rate was 2.5 percentage points higher.

TDLWD has produced a complete analysis of the November 2021 unemployment data. That information is available here (https://www.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=166478db53c066a7d114ea462&id=6dc6df04a2&e=29851e7b63) .

While the state’s unemployment numbers have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, many Tennesseans are still searching for good, steady employment. TDLWD offers a variety of services that can help individuals land their next job. With more than 100 American Job Centers across the state and Jobs4TN.gov with its 410,000 job postings, assistance is available online or in person. www.TNWorkReady.com is the site where all those services are listed and made easily available.

Wanted Franklin County man captured in Bedford County

At approximately 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, an assault suspect out of Franklin County described as “armed and dangerous” was taken into custody. His name was actually Cody Daniel Morrow – not the previous name given to authorities of Andrew Gregory White.

Morrow was found by K9 officer Trigger and handler Officer Brock Horner of the Shelbyville Police Department. He was found in the 700 block of Madison Street.

Once found, Morrow refused verbal commands to exit the wooded area. However, once he was threatened with the release of trigger, he surrendered. At the time of his arrest Morrow was in possession of a loaded firearm, two additional loaded magazines and body armor.

New Union, Coffee Middle cadets host toy drives to benefit local charity

Safety Patrol cadets helped organize a toy drive to donate to the Gene Taylor-Steve Graves Christmas Charity.

Coffee County Sheriff’s Department teamed up with the safety patrol cadets at New Union Elementary and Coffee County Middle School to do a toy drive as a community service project.

The two schools were able to collect a truck full of toys to donate to the Gene Taylor-Steve Graves Christmas Charity.

Pictured – toys collected at New Union Elementary.
Toys collected at Coffee Middle School.

H&R BLOCK STUDENT OF THE WEEK – Elizabeth Montes

Pictured are, from left, Rosalyn Partin with Manchester H&R Block, student of the week Elizabeth Montes and WMS assistant principal Jim Dobson.

Join us at Thunder Radio and Rosalyn Partin of the Manchester H&R Block and congratulate our student of the week – Elizabeth Montes

Elizabeth is a 6th grader at Westwood Middle School. She was nominated by her teachers and administrators.  Elizabeth is the daughter of Amanda and Moy Montes. Her favorite subject is English – Language Arts. During her free time, Elizabeth enjoys art.

After she graduates high school, Elizabeth would like to be a teacher.

All students of the week are selected for their work ethic and excellent attitudes in and out of the classroom. 

Rosalyn Partin, owner of the Manchester H&R Block, has been inspired to recognize great kids in our community all year long. H&R Block gives each Student of the Week a commemorative plaque, a special letter of recognition and two tickets to Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park.

Job well done, Elizabeth!