Kids entering kindergarten through 8th grade who love basketball will have a chance to learn from the best this summer.
Coach Cope and Coach Taylor’s Basketball Camp 2022 will be June 8-10 from 8-10:30 a.m. each day at the Central High School gymnasium.
The camp is for boys and girls entering grades K-8 next school year.
Campers will be placed in groups by age and skill level and work on basketball fundamentals with Lady Raider head coach Joe Pat Cope and Red Raider boys basketball coach Andrew Taylor, as well as assistant coaches, current and former players.
The Lady Raider basketball program has won 5 consecutive district championships. Meanwhile, the Raider boys are fresh off a trip to the TSSAA State Tournament.
Campers will be working on dribbling, shooting, passing, offense and defense each day. Each camper will receive a t-shirt. Cost is $60 per player.
Registration for the camp is May 28 from 8-9 a.m. at the CHs gymnasium. Campers MUST register early to receive a camp t-shirt. If you have questions, contact Cope at copej@k12coffee.net
SPRING FLING STARTS TUESDAY: Lady Raider softball road to state title begins at 5:30 Tuesday
Coffee County Central will be well represented at the TSSAA Spring Fling State Championships this week in Murfreesboro.
The Lady Raider softball team, makes its second consecutive trip to the Spring Fling after a 3A state runner-up finish in 2021, will get things started on Tuesday, May 24. The Lady Raiders (24-14) are set to play at 5:30 p.m. at McKnight Park Field #3 against Springfield (29-4). The tournament is double elimination.
Win or lose in game 1 – the Lady Raiders will play again at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Starplex. Tickets can be purchased at the gate, or you can purchase in advance by clicking here. You can see the full bracket by clicking here.
All Lady Raider softball games in the state tournament will be broadcast LIVE on Thunder Radio through multiple channels. Listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM or listen online by clicking here or the Manchester Go Smartphone App.
Track & Field
Coffee County Track and Field will be well represented at the state meet, held at MTSU.
Senior Elli Chumley will throw shot put and senior Ethan Welch will throw discus in the 9 a.m. window on Thursday, May 26. Welch will then move to the pole vault area at noon and he will be joined by Madison Rooker, doing girls pole vault.
Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. the 4×800 girls relay team of Chumley, Rooker, Patricia Barrera and Kailee Rossman will compete. See the full schedule of events here.
Tennis Doubles will hit the court Thursday morning
The CHS doubles team of Lauren Perry (senior) and Rylea McNamara (sophomore) will hit the court at 9 a.m. Thursday. The duo will take on Elena Kurowski and Kylee Hockman from McMinn County. A win in that match would put Perry and McNamara in the semi finals at 2 p.m. and they would need to win that to advance to the championship round at 11 a.m. Friday.
All doubles tennis matches at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro. Click here for full schedule.
Lowery receives Brian Gregory Award for WMS
Westwood seventh grader Kaysen Lowery has been named the 37th recipient of the Brian Gregory Memorial Award.
Naming a Brian Gregory Award recipient has been a Westwood Rocket football tradition since 1985.
Lowery is the first ever 7th grader to receive the award. Lowery played quarterback for the Rockets this past fall.
MURFREESBORO TAKEOVER — Coffee County Central softball, track and tennis to TSSAA Spring Fling this week
Coffee County Central will be well represented at the TSSAA Spring Fling State Championships this week in Murfreesboro.
The Lady Raider softball team, makes its second consecutive trip to the Spring Fling after a 3A state runner-up finish in 2021, will get things started on Tuesday, May 24. The Lady Raiders (24-14) are set to play at 5:30 p.m. at McKnight Park Field #3 against Springfield (29-4). The tournament is double elimination.
Win or lose in game 1 – the Lady Raiders will play again at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Starplex. Tickets can be purchased at the gate, or you can purchase in advance by clicking here. You can see the full bracket by clicking here.
All Lady Raider softball games in the state tournament will be broadcast LIVE on Thunder Radio through multiple channels. Listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM or listen online by clicking here or the Manchester Go Smartphone App.
Track & Field
Coffee County Track and Field will be well represented at the state meet, held at MTSU.
Senior Elli Chumley will throw shot put and senior Ethan Welch will throw discus in the 9 a.m. window on Thursday, May 26. Welch will then move to the pole vault area at noon and he will be joined by Madison Rooker, doing girls pole vault.
Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. the 4×800 girls relay team of Chumley, Rooker, Patricia Barrera and Kailee Rossman will compete. See the full schedule of events here.
Tennis Doubles will hit the court Thursday morning
The CHS doubles team of Lauren Perry (senior) and Rylea McNamara (sophomore) will hit the court at 9 a.m. Thursday. The duo will take on Elena Kurowski and Kylee Hockman from McMinn County. A win in that match would put Perry and McNamara in the semi finals at 2 p.m. and they would need to win that to advance to the championship round at 11 a.m. Friday.
All doubles tennis matches at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro. Click here for full schedule.
STATE BOUND: Lady Raiders back to state softball tournament after 7-2 sectional win over Smyrna
Different year, same result.
When the pressure turned up and the games started to matter more, Coffee County Central Softball Lady Raiders showed up. The Lady Raiders got two home runs from Kaitlyn Davis in a 7-2 win over Smyrna Friday night in the state sectional, sending Coffee County back to the TSSAA Spring Fling State Softball tournament for the second year in a row.
Friday night in Manchester, Coffee County jumped in front early when Kiya Ferrell tripled and scored on a wild pitch, then Kaitlyn Davis blasted the first of her to home runs in the second inning to put CHS up 2-0.
Smyrna rebounded in the third, scoring a pair on two hits and the help of a Lady Raider error to tie the game at 2-2. Then Smyrna looked to have all the momentum with the scored tied at 2-2 and the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth. But a comebacker to Davis started a 1-2-3 double play. Davis followed suit with a strikeout of Anna Lay to end the threat and then promptly put the Lady Raiders back in front in the bottom half of the inning with another solo blast.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE BROADCAST REPLAY.
CHS never gave up the lead from there. The Lady Raiders went on to deliver the backbreaker in the sixth inning on hits from Jalyn Moran and Haidyn Campbell, paired with two Smyrna errors and a hit by pitch to push the lead to 7-2.
Davis earned the win in the circle. She allowed 5 runs through the first three innings and settled in after that, allowing just 3 hits over the last few innings. She struck out 4 batters.
Coffee County now returns to the TSSAA Spring Fling State Softball Tournament for the second consecutive year. Last year the Lady Raiders finished state runner up to Farragut. This will be the first year with four classifications – previous years only have three.
Other 4A teams that have already punched their tickets to the state tournament include Daniel Boone, Stewarts Creek, Wilson Central, Summit, Springfield, and Clarksville. One other game remains – Farragut and Dobbyns-Bennett will play on Saturday at 6 p.m. for the final spot.
State tournament games will be at Murfreesboro Starplex and McKnight Park. All Lady Raider games will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio, WMSR – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com.
ONE MORE WIN: Lady Raiders host Smyrna Friday with state spot on the line
One more win.
That is all the Central High School Lady Raider softball team needs to return to the TSSAA BlueCross Spring Fling in Murfreesboro next week. And from there, anything can happen – last year is proof of that.
But the one final hurdle will not be an easy one. The Lady Raiders welcome Smyrna to Manchester for the state sectional on Friday, May 20, 2022 – first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. The winner moves on to the state tournament next week with 7 other teams in 4A. The loser’s season comes to a close.
Smyrna enters Friday with a 27–7 overall record and an impressive resume. The Lady Bulldogs have only lost games to two teams from the state of Tennessee – once to Morristown West in a weekend tournament and four losses to Stewarts Creek, including a 7-5 loss in the Region 4-4A Championship. Smyrna’s other two losses came to teams from Alabama.
Meanwhile, Coffee County enters Friday’s sectional coming off of two nice wins, an 8-2 effort over Walker Valley in the region semi-finals and a 6-2 revenge victory over Warren County in the Region 3-4A championship. And don’t forget postseason pedigree, the Lady Raiders are used to big games in May – reaching the state tournament last year and finishing state runner up. Part of that postseason run last spring was an 11-1 win over Smyrna in the Region 4-3A semi-finals to eliminate the Lady Bulldogs.
Friday’s sectional game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go App and thunder1320.com. First pitch at 6:30 p.m., pregame at 6:15 p.m.
COLLEGE CHECK UP: Ashley Evans earns 2nd team all-conference
Former Coffee County Lady Raider Ashley Evans earned big honors for the Cumberland Phoenix at the conclusion of her softball season.
Evans was named to the All-Mid-South Conference Second Team.
Evans had a breakout year this season for Cumberland leading the team in batting average (.384), hits (53), runs scored (24), walks (15), and on-base percentage (.448). She is the sparkplug for the Cumberland lineup at the top of the order and has registered the highest average since Tyra Graham hit .426 in the 2018 season.
REGION CHAMPIONS! Lady Raiders beat Warren County to claim 3-4A title
Coffee County jumped in front 2-0 early Wednesday against Warren County.
But unlike in the district championship, there would be no comeback in the cards for the Lady Pioneers.
Coffee County added 2 more runs in the fourth and 2 in the sixth to beat Warren County 6-2 Wednesday (May 18, 2022) in McMinnville, claiming a Region 3-4A Championship (a game you heard live on Thunder Radio).
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE OT LISTEN TO A REPLAY.
Coffee County outhit the Lady Pioneers 12-6 in the win – 7 of those hits came from the top two spots in the lineup. Kiya Ferrell had 3 hits and Olivia Evans added 4 and each knocked in a run and both had triples. Haidyn Campbell scratched out two hits and an RBI.
Channah Gannon blasted a monster home run for the Lady Raiders deep to left field.
Kaitlyn Davis earned the win in the circle with a superb outing. Davis scattered six hits and allowed two runs – both were unearned and on the heels of 2 CHS errors in the bottom of the sixth. She struck out 3.
With the win, CHS improves to 23-14 overall. The Lady Raiders will host Smyrna in the state sectional game at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Terry Floyd Field. If the Lady Raiders win that game, they will return to the TSSAA Spring Fling state tournament next week in Murfreesboro. A loss Friday will end the season. The game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go App and thunder1320.com.
REGION CHAMPIONSHIP: Lady Raiders and Lady Pioneers start at 6 p.m. Wednesday
The Lady Raider softball team of Coffee County Central will take on Warren County in the Region 3-4A Championship Wednesday night in McMinnville.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio: 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com. If you plan to attend the game, tickets must be purchased digitally through GoFan by clicking here.
The Lady Raiders had not lost to Warren County since 2018, including three straight wins in the regular season against the Lady Pioneers this season. But the postseason Pioneers have been different – beating CHS 3-1 in the winner’s bracket finals of the district tournament and again 4-3 in the district championship.
The winner on Wednesday will host the loser of Stewarts Creek vs. Smyrna / Rockvale. The loser on Wednesday will travel to the winner of that matchup. A win Friday puts CHS back in the TSSAA BlueCross Spring Fling. Remember, it was last spring when the Lady Raiders got hot and reached the state championship game, finishing runner-up to Farragut.
TENNIS: Lady Raider doubles team of Perry, McNamara advance to state
Coffee County Central tennis doubles team of Lauren Perry and Rylea McNamara is headed to the state tennis tournament.
Perry and McNamara on Monday beat Central Magnet 6-2 and 6 -2 in Murfreesboro to advance out of the region tournament on onto the state.
The doubles team will play again in the state tournament at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 26 in Murfreesboro.
