Category: Sports

As 2019 has come to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the swim teams at Coffee County CHS, Coffee County Middle and Westwood Middle schools.

Becky Behrendorff took over the reins of the prep swim programs for the 2018 and 2019 season and immediately saw an increase in numbers, especially in the middle school division.  For the first time ever, Westwood and Coffee County Middle fielded separate teams after competing together in recent years. 

Twelve different middle school swimmers competed at the regional swim meet in January.  Thunder Radio reported on the region meet with a story we published on January 28^th. 

On Saturday, the Westwood Middle and Coffee County Middle swim teams competed in the MTHSSA Middle School Region Meet in Nashville.

For Coffee County, the girls’ 200 freestyle relay team captured an 11^th place finish with a time of 2:08.48.  The girls’ 200 medley relay team finished in 13^th place in a time of 2:23.24, bettering their seeding time by 0.78 seconds.   The 200 freestyle relay team came in 25^th place with a time of 2:25.17.  In individual races,

• Emily Williams captured 6^th place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:11.32 which was more than 2 seconds better than her season best time she recorded in the preliminaries.  Emily also touched the wall in 1:21.66 in the finals of the 100 breaststroke to claim 13^th
• Clancy Sand finished 12^th in the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 28.41 and 26^th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:23.35.
• Elli Masters swam the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 33.25 and swam the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:25.98.
• Patrice Driggers swam the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 36.51.
• Michael Floyd swam the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 33.19.
• Riley Bellamy swam the 50 freestyle in a season best time of 33.87 and the 100 freestyle in a season best time of 1:15.08.
• Emily Snider swam the 100 freestyle in a season best time of 1:16.46.
• Taylor Wall swam the 500 freestyle in a season best time of 7:03.35 to finish in 23^rd place and finished the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:37.32

For Westwood, the girls’ 200 medley relay team finished in a time of 2:42.50.   In individual races,

• Nick Bogle grabbed a 3^rd place finish in the 100 butterfly as he posted a race time of 56.27. Bogle also finished 5^th in the 200 IM as he bettered his preliminary time by 5 seconds to cover the distance in 2:08.88.
• Abby Gilday cut more than 5 seconds off her 200 freestyle time as she finished in 2:30.20 and she swam the 50 freestyle in 32.63
• Elsie Lazalier trimmed her season best time in the 200 freestyle as she swam the distance in 2:35.20. Lazalier also posted a season best time in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:34.94 which was over a 4 second improvement from her previous best.
• Cale Hays swam the 50 freestyle in 37.81

The regional meet ends the prep season for the middle school swimmers.

The high school team sent 4 members to the state meet in Nashville in February.  Thunder Radio reported on the state meet in a story we brought to you on February 11^th. 

Four members of the Coffee County CHS swim team competed on Friday and Saturday in the Tennessee Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association state meet.  The Raider swimmers got a pair of Top 20 finishes and 2 new personal bests in the 2 day event in Nashville.

Jack Beachboard had the highest Raider finish as he captured a 13th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke with a new personal best time of 59.44.  Beachboard also grabbed a 26th place finish in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.11.

Kaylee Williams swam a personal best time of 1:08.75 in a swim-off for the 100 yard breaststroke.  Williams finished the event with a 13th place finish.  Williams also finished in 44th place in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:20.95.

Jase Rice had a 42nd place finish in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.02.  Anna O’Connor swam a time of 1:08.48 in the 100 yard butterfly to finish in 72nd place.

Four unanswered goals for the Stars erased a 2-0 lead for the Nashville Predators and bestowed a 4-2 victory to Dallas in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl.

The loss on New Year’s Day was difficult to stomach for the Predators. They appreciated the experience and significance of playing in the NHL’s premier regular-season event, but to fall in game with such pomp and circumstance – and one in which they held a multi-goal lead – left the group deeply disappointed in the final result.

“This game, it didn’t feel like just a regular-season game, it felt like something bigger,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “I feel like it just makes it a little bit worse, makes it sting a little bit more than any other game.”

“It was a playoff type of game,” Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “[In the third period], it’s not good enough letting three goals in a big game, and it’s disappointing.”

The outdoor game began with a scary start, as defenseman Ryan Ellis left the game following an elbow to the head from Stars forward Corey Perry. Nashville received a 5-minute power play from the hit, and the Stars took a delay of game penalty to give the Predators a 5-on-3. Matt Duchene tallied on the two-man advantage to give the Preds a 1-0 lead, and just moments later, Dante Fabbro made it 2-0 with another power-play goal.

Rinne denied the Stars on a penalty shot midway through the first to keep it at 2-0, and that score held through nearly two-thirds of the game. But late in the second, the Stars finally solved Rinne with a power-play goal of their own. In the final frame, Dallas scored three times in the opening 6:35, and although the Preds had a surge in the second half of the frame, they couldn’t find a way to put another puck in the net.

“The second period, I think, is when the game changed and we stopped going after it,” Duchene said. “We got two goals, and we sat back a little bit maybe trying to just prevent more than attack. What made us good in the first is we attacked… I thought the third [period] was 50-50 [in chances], but we didn’t start doing it until it was 4-2, so it’s disappointing.”

Despite the result, the spectacle of the day wasn’t lost on the participants. More than 20,000 of the 85,630 fans in attendance – the second-highest total in NHL Winter Classic history – came from Nashville, and the support was felt from start to finish.

Unfortunately, that’s what makes the final tally even tougher to handle.

“It was such an experience playing out there, and it was so cool having all these people here from Nashville,” Rinne said. “You could hear them, and it was a blast. It was awesome, and it’s an experience you’ll remember. I feel like that’s why it hurts a little bit more. You want to make this a special game, and it was nonetheless. Even though we lost, it was special.”

“The National Hockey League did an unbelievable job putting on this event,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re very fortunate to be a part of it. Hockey down in Texas, a couple of Southern teams going the way we did, it was an incredible day. You want the score to go in a different direction, but overall the atmosphere was excellent.”

The first game of the decade is part of a larger road trip for the Predators, and now that the vintage attire has been packed away, they’ll head west to California in search of wins in Los Angeles and Anaheim this week.

The outcome outdoors leaves an empty feeling, but Nashville has no choice but to embrace what’s ahead as the year 2020 arrives.

“At the end of the day, whether we lost at home or we lost here at American Airlines Center, it’s the same thing in the standings,” Duchene said. “We can’t we can’t bury ourselves here. We have to stay positive and keep pushing. We have games in hand on a lot of teams, and we have some ground to make up, but we’ve got over half a season to do it.

“We’re going to shake this one off. We’ve got a couple days and get ready for L.A. and then Anaheim back-to-back, and those have to be wins for us.”

Notes:

Ryan Ellis left Wednesday’s game and did not return with an upper-body injury.

Preds Captain Roman Josi assisted on both of Nashville’s power-play goals in the first period to extend his career-high point streak to eight games. He also became the first defenseman in Preds history to reach the 40-point mark in fewer than 40 games.

The temperature at puck drop was 55 degrees fahrenheit, making this the warmest Winter Classic in NHL history.

The Winter Classic now complete, the Predators will head out to California for a weekend set against the Kings and Ducks on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before returning home for a single game against the Bruins on Tuesday.

As 2019 has come to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the volleyball teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle, Westwood Middle and Trinity Baptist Christian schools. 

The Coffee County CHS Lady Raider volleyball team won their 2^nd district title in the last 3 years in October making yet another appearance in the region tournament.  The Lady Raiders accomplished the feat with a doubleheader sweep of the semifinals and finals at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Thunder Radio was on hand to bring you the broadcast and reported on the wins in a story we brought to you on October 11^th. 

Hosting the District 8AAA volleyball tournament on Thursday, the Coffee County Lady Raiders were looking for their 8th consecutive trip to the region tournament and their 2nd district title in the last 3 years.  A straight set win in the semifinals over Franklin County accomplished the first goal.  The Lady Raiders captured the second goal with a straight set win over Lincoln County.

In the finals, Coffee County dominated the play at the net and overcame 16 service errors to capture the win by set scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-21.  Coffee County had a 38% hitting success rate as they hammered home 43 kills in the match.  Coffee County also finished with 9 ½ blocks.  Keri Munn and Kiya Ferrell each finished with 11 kills to lead the Lady Raiders.  Kellie Hillis and Lexi Bryan each added 8 kills.  Munn finished with 5 blocks and Hillis added 4.  Amanda Mukai led the team in aces with 2 and assists with 25.   Ferrell and Sarah West led the team in digs as each had 9.

In the semifinals, the Lady Raiders cruised to easy wins in their first 2 sets by set scores of 25-13 and 25-7.  In the 3rd set, the Rebelettes rallied to lead most of the match.  Coffee County fought off 4 set points to grab the set and the match by a set score of 28 to 26.  The Lady Raiders finished with a remarkable 40 kills in the match led by Kiya Ferrell who had 11.  Keri Munn added 10 kills.  Ferrell and Munn both served up 2 aces.  Lexi Bryan and Amanda Mukai led in aces as they each served up 3.  Mukai led in assists with 16 while Bryan finished with 8 kills and a block.  Keelie Hillis had a block and 10 assists for the Lady Raiders.  Sarah West led Coffee County in digs with 7.

After the match, 4 members of the Lady Raiders were named to the All-District team.  Keri Munn, Lexi Bryan and Kiya Ferrell were all named to the All-District team and Keelie Hillis was named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player.

The Lady Raiders will travel to Murfreesboro on Tuesday for the Region 4AAA tournament at Siegel.  Coffee County will match up against the District 7AAA runner-up Blackman.  Opening serve is set for 5:30 PM.

Coach Andrew Taylor will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively here on Thunder Radio.

Download the broadcast of the semifinals over Franklin County at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/franklin-county-at-coffee-county-volleyball_149631

Download the broadcast of the finals over Lincoln County at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/coffee-co-vs-lincoln-co-2019-dist-8aaa-volleyball-finals_149637

The Temple Baptist Christian School volleyball team expected to have a rebuilding effort in front of them in 2019.  But the Lady Eagles finished the season with more than 20 wins and several strong performances.  The highlight of the year came in early October as they grabbed a 2^nd place finish in the always strong Madison Baptist Academy tournament.  Thunder Radio reported on the tournament performance in a story we brought to you on October 7^th. 

The Temple Baptist Christian School volleyball team spent Friday and Saturday in Alabama competing in the Madison Baptist Academy tournament.  The Lady Eagles fought their way to the championship game against Clays Mill out of Kentucky.  But playing their 5th match of the day, Temple fell to Clays Mill to come home with the runner up trophy.

The Lady Eagles opened up tournament play on Friday with 3 pool play games.  The Lady Eagles got wins over Cornerstone Baptist and Anchored Christian and lost their match to Victory Baptist of Shelbyville.  On Saturday in tournament play, Temple got a pair of wins to open the day before advancing to the winner’s bracket finals.  The Lady Eagles defeated Mountain View, AL and Victory Baptist in a rematch to set up a battle with Clays Mill.  The Clays Mill team of Lexington, KY stopped Temple sending them to the elimination bracket.  The Lady Eagles got a win over Anchored by a single point to earn a rematch in the finals against Clays Mill.  After their 2nd place finish, junior Lauren Davis of Temple was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Lady Eagles have the last regular season matches in a tri-match format Tuesday in Cleveland where they will play Shenandoah Baptist and Fairview Christian. The season will concludes this weekend with another tournament in Louisville, KY hosted by Landmark Christian Academy.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team saw improvement in 2019 under first year head coach Tori Taylor.  One of the big wins for the Lady Raiders was a come-from-behind road win over Tullahoma.   Thunder Radio was on hand to bring you the broadcast and reported on the win in a story we brought to you on August 16^th.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team visited Tullahoma on Thursday for a good old-fashioned rivalry game.  In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders rallied to capture a 3 set win.  Coffee Middle won by set scores of 12-25, 25-20 and 15-6 to improve to 2 and 0 on the season.

Coffee County got off to a rocky start as Tullahoma rolled off 9 straight points to break open a close first set.  The Lady Raiders went from trailing 9 to 7 to falling behind 18 to 7 giving Tullahoma a stranglehold on the first set.  In the 2nd set, Coffee Middle rallied from a 19 to 17 deficit to score 8 of the last 9 points and force a decisive 3rd set.  Tullahoma took an early 3 to 0 lead in the 3rd set before Coffee County got 6 straight points to take the lead.  After Tullahoma tied the score at 6, Coffee County scored 9 straight points to capture the rivalry win.   The Lady Raiders got strong service games in their 2 set wins.  Savannah Cooper ripped a pair of aces in the final points of the 2nd set and Katie Lawrence served 3 aces in the final 4 points of the 3rd set to claim the match win.

Lawrence led the Lady Raiders in kills with 5 to go with 3 aces. Cooper led the team in aces with 5 and added 3 kills.  Cooper and Kurry Neel tied for the team lead in digs with 5.  Gracie Campbell led the Lady Raiders in assists with 11.

The Lady Raiders are back in action on Monday when they host conference foe Harris.  Monday’s match will be the home opener for the Lady Raiders.  First serve is scheduled for 5 PM.

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

The Westwood Lady Rockets returned very little experience in 2019 and a new head coach in Kendra Baxter.  The highlight of the season came with a doubleheader sweep of North Franklin.  Thunder Radio reported on the win in a story we published on September 6^th. 

The Westwood volleyball team welcomed North Franklin to the Joel Vinson Gym on Thursday.  Hosting the visiting Lady Gators in a doubleheader, Westwood looked to continue to show improvement.  The Lady Rockets did exactly that and gave head coach Kinda Baxter her 1st(and 2nd) career wins in the process as they swept North Franklin.

Zowee Dilliard led the team in kills.  Mattalyn Goney, Lilee Scott, Allie Sullivan, Rylee Clark and Joely Sain all had great service games for the Lady Rockets.  Kadience Medley was the team leader in digs.

In the JV match, Maggie Brei and Soraida Barrera led the team in aces with 3 apiece.  Barrera, Haley Brown and Ziya Dillard all finished with kills and Maddy Carter was the team leader in assists.

The Lady Rockets will be back at home on Monday night as they play host to South Franklin.  Opening serve is set for 4:30 PM.

As 2019 has come to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams at Coffee County CHS.

Mary Anne Walker qualified for the state meet in February as she highlighted a contingent of 3 Lady Raider wrestlers for the 2018-2019 season.  Thunder Radio brought you the story of her success in a story we published on February 18^th. 

The Coffee County wrestling team closed out their most successful season ever on Saturday at the TSSAA state meet in Franklin.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker became the second medalist in program history as she claimed a 5th place finish in the 125 pound class of the girls’ tournament on Saturday.  Walker, a sophomore, finished the tournament with a record of 2 and 2 as she won the 5th place match in a first round pinfall.

Rey Reyes(at 182 pounds) was the highest finisher for the Red Raiders as he was eliminated in the round of 16.  Reyes was 2 and 2 on the tournament as grabbed a pair of pinfall wins on Thursday.  Reyes was eliminated just short of the medal stand by a pin on Friday morning.

Coffee County’s Brett Francis(120 pounds), Chris Seagle(220) and Jesse Hay-Smith(145) both lost their only 2 matches on Thursday night.

You can see the official results online at: http://www.tssaasports.com/wrestling

The Red Raider wrestlers enjoyed the best season in program history as 4 Red Raiders qualified for the state meet in the Region 5 Tournament in February.  Thunder Radio brought you the news in a story we published on February 11^th.

The Coffee County Red Raider wrestling team continued to enjoy their best season ever after a superb region tournament performance on Saturday.  Four Red Raiders punched their ticket to this week’s state tournament as they join Lady Raider Mary Anne Walker to compose the largest ever Coffee County contingent.  Chris Speagle, Jesse Hay-Smith, Rey Reyes and Brett Francis all tallied Top 4 finishes on Saturday in the Region 5 Tournament at Warren County.

At 120 pounds, junior Brett Francis had to fight through the consolation bracket to capture 3rd place in the weight class.  After a getting a pin on Friday night in the first round, Francis suffered a 2nd round loss on Saturday to Samuel Hadlock of Cookeville.  Francis came back on Saturday to get a pair of decision wins heading into the consolation finals and a rematch with Hadlock.  Francis, a junior, fought his way to a 5 to 4 decision to upset the higher seeded senior and capture the 3rd place medal.

At 145 pounds, senior Jesse Hay-Smith used 3 decision wins to grab a 3rd place finish in the tough weight class.  After a first round bye, Hay-Smith got a 7 to 2 decision win over Blackman wrestler Aaron Fisher in the 2nd round.  On Saturday morning, Hay-Smith was pinned by 2nd seeded Michael Williams of Shelbyville to fall into the consolation bracket.  Hay-Smith fought his way to 2 straight 4 to 3 decision wins to capture the 3rd place medal.

At 182 pounds, senior Reynaldo Reyes entered the tournament as the 6th seeded wrestler and fought his way to a 4th place finish.  Reyes opened tournament action on Friday with a pinfall win before falling in and pinfall loss in the 2nd round to Nolan Cook of Oakland.  Coming back on Saturday, Reyes got a pair of pinfall wins, including an upset win over Brian Nelms, to advance to the consolation finals.  In the finals, Reyes fell once again to Cook to end the tournament with a 4th place finish.

At 220 pounds, junior Chris Speagle entered the tournament as the 9th seeded wrestler before rolling to a 4th place finish.  Speagle got a quick pinfall win in the opening round before falling to top seeded Bowdy Boyce in a 3rd round pin in his second match.  On Saturday, Speagle got a bye, a decision win and a pin to advance to the consolation finals.  In the 3rd place match, Speagle fought to a decision loss to Jimmy Pearson of Tullahoma.

At 138 pounds, freshman Gavin Prater finished the day with a record of 2 and 2 with a pair of pinfall wins.  At 132 pounds, freshman Hunter Waring finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 160 pounds, freshman Zack Bush finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 170 pounds, sophomore Jacob Phillips finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 195 pounds, sophomore Zach Galy finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 285 pounds, sophomore Cardin Stump finished with a record of 2 and 2.

The state tournament will begin on Thursday at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.  The boys weigh-in will take place at 1 PM on Thursday with wrestling getting underway at 3 PM in the first 2 rounds. Wrestling continues on Friday at 10 AM with the championships on Saturday.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker will weigh-in at 8:30 on Friday and her first round match will be at 10 AM on Friday morning.  The girls’ championship will also be held on Saturday beginning at 10 AM.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

As 2019 has come to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the bass teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle School. 

Fielding a junior team full time for a full season in 2018-2019, the Coffee County Youth Bass Club saw the boat of Kylan Mantooth and Lance Marcrom qualify for the Tennessee BASS Nation Junior State Championship.  We brought you the story of their state tournament experience in a story we published on May 20^th.

Many people say that fishing requires a lot of luck.  While good fishermen might have good luck on a good fishing day, bad luck can always ruin the day for every fisherman.  A damaged propeller on Saturday hindered the Coffee County Youth Bass Club team of Kylan Mantooth and Lance Marcrom as they fished Tims Ford in the Tennessee BASS Nation Junior State Championship.

The M&M squad lost an ear off their propeller early Saturday morning hindering their mobility on a lake in which they have had success this season.  Nevertheless, the duo and their boat captain fought through adversity to land a fish and make the scoreboard in their first ever state tournament appearance.  The team landed 1 fish weighing in at a respectable 2.24 pounds to capture 26th place. Congratulations to Lance and Kylan.

For the high school age anglers, 3 boats from Coffee County qualified and competed in the state tournament in East Tennessee.  Thunder Radio brought you the story of their performance in a story we brought to you on May 6^th. 

Three boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club traveled to Dandridge, Tennessee this weekend to take part in the Tennessee Bass Nation High School State Championship.  After a solid first day where each team caught the maximum 3 fish limit, all 3 teams were in range for the title on Saturday.  The State Championship was held on Douglas Lake.

After starting Saturday in 43rd place, the Raider team of Isaiah Owens and Garrett Davis again netted 5 keepers weighing 14.94 pounds.  This gave the duo a 2 day total of 25.17 pounds which was good enough to lift them to 10th place overall.

The brother tandem of Dawson and Branson Wells started the day in 43rd place as they caught 5 fish on Friday weighing in at 12.34 pounds.  On Saturday, Team Wells also landed 5 keepers which tipped the scales at 9.54 pounds.  This gave the Wells gang a 2 day total on 20.38 pounds and a 37th place finish against teams from all over the state.

Adam Petty and Jayden Yates were the Coffee County leaders after Day #1 as they began Saturday in 29th place with a 5 fish stringer weighing 11.36 pounds.  Petty and Yates got shut out on the day as they came home with an empty live well.  They finished the tournament in 105th place out of 150 boats.

For the season, Owens and Davis were the top Coffee County team in the standings as they finished in 41st place.  The Wells brothers finished 52nd place while Colby Thurmond and Jacob Garms came home in 56th place.  The team of Petty/Yates finished in 167th place, Briley Sain and Kaden Freeze were 237th and Chris Tudor and Sawyer Banks fished 1 state trail event to come in 262nd place as more than 400 teams took part in the season long trail series.

Next up for the Coffee County Youth Bass Club will be the Junior State Championship on Tims Ford on May 18th for the team of Kylan Mantooth and Lance Marcom.  Select members of the high school anglers now prepare for the Bassmaster High School National Championship in August to be held on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.

As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the girl’s soccer teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle and Westwood Middle schools. 

CHS first year head coach Lee Xixis mixed a balance of youth and experience to take his Coffee County Lady Raider to a regular season district championship and a region tournament berth.  The Lady Raiders beat Shelbyville in a dramatic 2 to 1 decision on September 24^th to capture the regular season district crown.  Thunder Radio had the broadcast of the win as part of the Hometown Sports Series and brought you the news of the win in the following story:

The Coffee County CHS soccer team welcomed Shelbyville to the Raider Soccer Field on Tuesday.  The contest was the final district match of the year and you heard here on Thunder Radio.  In another physical contest, the Lady Raiders played tremendous defense and got a great performance in goal from Alanna Coker as they gutted out a 2 to 1 win.

Shelbyville got on the board first in the 25th minute when they converted a goal in the 25th minute off a long through pass.  Coffee County answered back 2 minutes later as Katie Cotton dribbled into the left side of box and drilled a shot past the Eaglette keeper to level the match at 1 heading into the half.

In a contentious 2nd half that saw 3 yellow cards on the teams and a red card on Shelbyville, Coffee County got the game winner on a pair of great individual efforts.  Reagan Ellison pushed up from her defensive position and lobbed a pass over the Shelbyville defense to Jenna Garretson in the 56th minute.  Garretson calmly lifted a shot over the charging Eaglette keeper for the match winner.  Coker finished with 4 saves, including a spectacular save on a breakaway in the 2nd half.  In addition to her point, Ellison marked both explosive Shelbyville forwards throughout the game.

The win gives the Lady Raiders the regular season district title as they improved to 6-0-2 in district play and 10-1-2 overall.  The Lady Raiders will be the top seed in the District 8AAA tournament and have guaranteed themselves a bid in the Region 4AAA Tournament.

The Lady Raiders are back at home on Thursday night as they celebrate Senior Night.  The Lady Raiders will take on Central Magnet beginning at 6 PM.  Senior Night activities will take place after the match at the Raider Soccer Field.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/shelbyville-at-at-coffee-county-soccer_149144

A young and inexperienced Westwood soccer team struggled through growing pains in 2019.  The Lady Rockets played their best defensive game of the year in September when they traveled to Shelbyville to take on Liberty.  Thunder Radio brought you the recap of their tie with the Lady Patriots in a story we published on September 11^th. 

Hitting the road for the first time this season, the Westwood soccer traveled to Shelbyville on Tuesday to visit Liberty.  Showing improvement in each successive match, the Lady Rockets settled for a draw in a match shortened due to severe weather.

Both Liberty and Westwood scored 1st half goals before the game was ended early due to weather in the area.  Leonor Rivera had Westwood’s goal.

Westwood will return to Bedford County on Thursday as they visit Unionville to take on Community.  That match will kick off at 4 PM.

Coffee County Middle School also saw a new head coach take over the reins of the program as Tiffany McCormick was elevated to the head coach position.  Still lacking in experience, the Lady Raiders showed improvement throughout the year.   The Lady Raiders beat White County in a dominating 5 to 0 decision on August 29^th to grab their first home win of the season.  Thunder Radio had the broadcast of the win as part of the Hometown Sports Series and brought you the news of the win in the following story:

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team welcomed White County to their home pitch on Thursday.  In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series, the Lady Raiders dominated every aspect of the game.  Four goals in the 1st half helped Coffee Middle roll to the 5 to 0 win.

Coffee County outshot White County 21 to 1 and had 11 corner kicks to none for the Warriorettes.  Coffee County got on the board in the 7th minute on a goal from Lindsey Grimes off a pass from Andrea Lopez.  4 minutes later, Grimes found Lopez with a pass to make the score 2 nil.  Emily Pickell added a goal in the 14th minute and Tia Buchanan scored in the 21st minute as Jasmine Norris had assists on both goals.  Lopez redirected a deflection of her first shot in the 36th minute for the unassisted goal to close out the scoring early in the 2nd half. Sydney Gilley and Lola George combined in goal for the clean sheet.

The Lady Raiders are back in action on Thursday when they welcome Tullahoma to the CCMS field.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that broadcast as well as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Opening kick is set for 5 PM, we will begin our live coverage at 4:50 PM.

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

As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the golf teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle and Westwood Middle schools. 

The Coffee County Middle School golf team featured many new faces in 2019.  The young Raiders got their biggest win of the year in April with a home match victory over North Franklin.  Thunder Radio reported on the win in a story we brought to you on April 16^th.

The Coffee County Middle School golf team welcomed North Franklin to Willowbrook on Monday.  Competing using the Junior PGA Flag scoring system, the Raiders rolled to a big win over the visitors from Decherd.  Coffee Middle won by a final score of 10 ½ to 1 ½ .

The team of Zach Tidwell and Avery Hill captured all 3 flags in their matchup.  Madison Winn and Liza Freeze also won 3 flags for the Raiders.  The trio of Cadie Prater, Kira Jarrell and Maggie Crouch won 2 ½ flags while the team of Kolby McCormick and Austin Dockery won a pair of flags.

Coffee County will return to action on Monday when they travel to Tims Ford to take on South Franklin at Bear Trace.  The shotgun start will go off at 3:30 PM.

Westwood also featured a few new faces in their lineup in 2019.  The Rockets made it a local sweep on April 15^th at Willowbrook when they dumped South Franklin.  Thunder Radio reported on the win in a story we brought to you on April 16^th.

The Westwood Middle School golf welcomed the South Franklin Middle School team to Willowbrook on Monday for a 9 hole battle. Using the Junior PGA Flag scoring system, the Rockets fought their way to close win over the Trojans. The Rockets won by a final score of 6 ½ to 5 ½ .

The team of Lyndsey Paschall and Leah Kate Sullivan led the way for Westwood as they won their match 2 to 1. The Rocket duo of Evan Edison and Danny Hawkins also nabbed a pair of flags. The team of Araya Hughes and Marli Miller also grabbed a flag for Westwood.

The Rocket golfers will return to action on Monday when they travel to Tims Ford to take on North Franklin at Bear Trace. The shotgun start will go off at 3:30 PM.

The biggest rebuilding effort of the year came at Coffee County CHS as the Raider linksters looked to replace the most decorated boy’s quartet in the history of the program.  Additionally, Coffee County was able to field a girl’s team for the first time since 2016.  Both Raider golf teams traveled to Sewanee in early August.  Thunder Radio reported on the match in a story we ran on August 9^th.  

The Coffee County CHS golf team traveled to Sewanee on Thursday for a 9 hole match against Grundy County and Chattanooga School of Arts and Sciences.  The Red Raiders picked up a pair of match wins.  The Lady Raider golfers came in 2nd place out of the 3 teams.

For the Red Raiders, Logan Hale had the low round for Coffee County.  Hale shot a 1 over par score of 37.  Chase Hancock was right behind him as he posted a score of 42.  Coffee County finished with a final score of 178 which was 12 strokes ahead of CSAS.  Grundy County finished in 3rd place with a score of 213.

The Lady Raiders were 10 strokes better than Grundy County as they finished with a score of 111 to the Lady Jackets 121.  CSAS had the low team score as they finished at 106.  Maggie Crouch led the Lady Raiders with a score of 52.  Cadie Prater carded a round of 59.

The Raider linksters will be back in action on Thursday when they host their first home match of the year at Willowbrook.  Coffee County will host Warren County and Grundy County.  That 9 hole match will tee off at 1 PM.

As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the cross country teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle and Westwood Middle schools. 

In an interesting twist of fate, all 3 prep cross country teams featured new coaches thanks to opportunities for advancement from the coaches of 2018.  At Westwood, Katrina Verge brought her experience and expertise to a Rocket program that has seen a lot of success in the previous years highlighted by Kailee Rossman’s state qualifying time. Coach Verge continued that dominance as evidenced by a pair of wins at Sewanee in late September.  Thunder Radio brought you the news of the wins in a story we published on September 30^th. 

The Westwood Middle School cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee.  Both the Rockets and Lady Rockets dominated in the 4 team meet.  Westwood got 3 of the top 6 finishers in both the boys and girls races as they easily won both team titles.

Rylea McNamara led the Lady Rockets as she won the girls’ race with a time of 16:06 for the 2 mile course.  Jennifer Sanchez came in 4th place as she crossed the line in 18:17.  Raygan Dubler finished 5th with a time of 18:28 to earn a 5th place finish.  Kimberly Garcia was 9th at 20:19, Melisa Garcia came in 10th at 21:36 and Alexandra Rivas Garcia was 13th in a time of 27:09.

For the Rockets, Nico Sanfilippo won the boys’ race with a time of 14:27.  Caleb Cargile came in 4th with a time of 15:47 and Jaime Barrera grabbed 6th place with a time of 16:01.  Lane Fann came in 7th place with a time of 16:07, Hunter Crosslin was 14th with a time of 17:17, Neyland Grant came in 15th with a time of 17:42 and Eduardo Rojas Chavez finished in 16th place with a time of 18:01.  Thompson Lowe(with a time of 19:53) came in 18th place, Joel Baker(also at 19:53) came in 19th place and Tavion King(30:12) was 21st.

The Rockets return to racing on Tuesday when they travel to Unionville to compete at Community.  That meet is scheduled to get underway at 4 PM.

Jeremy Woods took over the cross country program at Coffee County Middle School as Nathan Wanuch spent the fall semester deployed with the National Guard.  The Raider harriers also enjoyed success highlighted by Sophie McInturff’s Top 15 finish in the TMSAA State Meet.  The team’s brightest hour came August in McMinnville as both the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders each got team wins at a meet at Warren County.  Thunder Radio reported on the wins in a story we brought to you on August 30^th.

The Coffee County Middle School cross country team opened their season in McMinnville on Thursday.  Taking part in the Pioneer Invitational at Warren County Middle School against 5 teams the Raiders got a pair of team wins.

For the first time in school history, the Raiders were able to field a girls’ team. All 5 Coffee County Lady Raider runners finished in the top 15 in the convincing win.  Sophie McInturff finished in 1st place.  Greenlee Woods came in 2nd place and Bailey Kitts finished in 5th place to lead the Lady Raiders.

For the Red Raiders, Lucas Beaty was the top finisher for Coffee County as he came in 3rd place.  Bradley Escue crossed the tape in 7th place while Manuel Gonzalez came home in 8th place.

The Raider cross country team will be back in action next Thursday when they travel to Bell Buckle to compete in a meet at Webb.  The starting gun will go off at 4 PM.

Paul Wright stepped in to lead the Coffee County CHS cross country team in Wanuch’s absence.  The Raider harriers advanced to the region meet before having their season come to a close.  The team highlight of the year came in late September as the Raiders captured both team titles in a meet at Sewanee.   Thunder Radio brought you the news of the wins in a story we published on September 30^th. 

The Coffee County CHS cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee.  Competing against 11 teams, the Red Raiders captured individual and team titles in the meet.  The Lady Raiders sent only 3 runners but still finished with a top 6 finish.

Jacob Rutledge led Red Raiders has he won the boys’ race with a time of 18:43.  The top 5 Raider runners finished in the top 11 as Garrett Masters came in 4th place with a time of 20:41.  Ethan Welch came in 8th with a time of 21:10.  Bodey Todd finished in 10th place with a time of 21:30 just an eyelash ahead of Jacob Slabaugh who was 11th with a time of 21:31.  Also running for the Red Raiders were Christian Alvarez(with a time of 23:02), Ethan Beaty(23:24), Aiden Dubler(24:07) and Holden Snow(25:15).

The Lady Raiders were led by Patricia Barrera who came in 6th place with a time of 25:00 for the 5K race.  Nayeli Cano came in 14th place with a time of 27:09.  Zoe Mills broke the tape in 18th place with a time of 29:07.

The Raider thinclads will be back in action on October 12th when they compete in the MSCCA Midstate Chapionships Dickson.  Racing is set to begin at 10 AM at the Buckner City Park.

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team closed out their 2 day trip to west Tennessee in grand fashion on Saturday.  Taking on First Assembly Christian School out of Cordova, the Lady Raiders held the Crusaders to a pair of field goals in a 66 to 8 win. 

The Lady Raiders scored in double digits in all 4 quarters to grab their 13^th win of the year.  The Lady Raiders rolled out to a 17 to 2 lead after 1 quarter and a 35 to 5 lead at the half as they held FACS to 3 free throws in the 2^nd period.  In the 2^nd half, Coffee County held the Memphis ladies to a single 3 point basket as Coach Joe Pat Cope emptied his bench. 

Ellie Graham led Coffee County in scoring with 16 points.  Bella Vinson added 10 points in limited minutes.  Marley Perry added 8 points off the bench as 12 different Coffee County players scored in the game. 

The Lady Raiders return home on Friday when they will play host to Warren County in the first game of the non-district doubleheader with the boys.  The girls’ game is set to tip off at 6 PM.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast.  We begin our live coverage with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 5:50. 

The Westwood Lady Eagles basketball team fought and clawed their way to the tournament title of the Motlow Shootout on Sunday.  The Lady Eagles capped off a 3 and 0 weekeend with a win over Decherd in the finals.  Westwood captured the title with a 21 to 10 victory.

The Lady Eagles were cold early in the title game getting a pair of free throws to take a 2 to 0 lead after 3 minutes.  After the Lady Allstars of Decherd tied the game, Jules Ferrell hit a running jumper on the baseline and was fouled.  After sinking the ensuing foul shot, Westwood dominated the remainder of the half taking a 10 to 2 lead into intermission.  Westwood held Decherd to a pair of free throws for the first 16 minutes of the 2^nd half to build a 17 to 4 lead and put the game away. 

Ferrell led Westwood in scoring as she had 15 points.  Reece Finch and Paisley Dyer each added 3 points for the Lady Eagles.  Westwood finishes the season with a record of 13 and 0.