Category: Sports

Coffee County Basketball Gets Sweep over Columbia in District Home Opener on Monday

Marley Perry of CHS basketball

The Coffee County CHS basketball teams hosted their first district home games of the season on Monday night as they welcomed Columbia to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County fought to an exciting sweep over the visiting Lions.  The Lady Raiders raced to a 69 to 34 win while the Red Raiders held off a talented Columbia team 48 to 45. 

In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders jumped out to a 13 to 1 advantage in the 1st quarter and the Lady Lions could never get the lead back under 10 points the rest of the night.  Coffee County forced 17 turnovers, including 7 in the 3rd period to grab their 11th win on the season.  Marley Perry came off the bench to lead the Lady Raiders in scoring with 13 points as she was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Bella Vinson added 12 points and Jalie Ruehling finished with 10 points.

Hayden Hullett of CHS basketball

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders led at the end of each quarter and only trailed for 27 seconds of the 2nd quarter to earn the huge district win.  Coffee County built a 9 point lead in the 3rd quarter only to see cut it  to 4 points with 40 seconds to go.  Hayden Hullett fed Roderic Brinkley on a lob to give the senior an ally-opp dunk which cooled the Columbia momentum.  Hullett also forced a Columbia turnover in the final minute of the game as he was named the Stone Fort Mortgage player of the game.  Kyle Farless led Coffee County in scoring with 12 points, including a big three-pointer in the 4th quarter.  Jaylen Wooten added 9 points and Jaxon Vaughn finished with 7 on the night.  The win raises Coffee County’s record to 8 and 4. 

The Lady Raiders will be off until after Christmas when they will play 3 games in 3 days beginning on December 26th at Riverdale.  The Red Raiders will hit the court again on Thursday night as they will host Knowledge Academy of Nashville on the opening night of the Red Raider Christmas Tournament.  Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The 3 day tournament concludes on Saturday. 

Download the broadcast at: www.ThunderRadio.com/Downloads

CCMS Basketball Sweeps Harris on Monday Night

Ava McIntosh of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School basketball team welcomed Harris to the CCMS gym on Monday night.  The girls’ grabbed a revenge win by a final score of 25 to 19.  The boys’ completed the season sweep of the Eagles with a 60 to 27 win.

In the girls’ game, Addi Sartain hit a big basket in the 4th quarter to stall a Harris rally and lead the Lady Raiders to the win.  Taylor Anthony led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 11 points.  Ava McIntosh added 6 points for Coffee Middle.

Evan Kirby of CCMS basketball

In the boys’ game, the Red Raiders raced out to a 31 to 9 lead at halftime as they cruised to the easy conference win.  Cooper Reed led the Raiders in scoring with 19 points.  Evan Kirby and Ethan Hargrove each finished with 12 points. 

The Raiders return to the court on Thursday night when they welcome White County to the CCMS Gym.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.   

Westwood Basketball Gets Home Sweep on Monday Night

Leonor Moreno of Westwood basketball

The Westwood basketball teams welcomed Eastside to the Joel Vinson Gym on Monday night.  The Lady Rockets rolled past the visitors from Rock Island 50 to 14.  The Rockets made it a sweep with a 33 to 24 victory.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Rockets jumped out to a 16 to 3 lead in the 1st quarter and pushed the margin to 20 points entering the 2nd half.  Princess Penaloza was the leading scorer for Westwood as she tallied 16 points.  Remi Benjamin and Leonor Moreno each added 7. 

Cayden Trail of Westwood basketball

In the boys’ game, the Rockets trailed entering the 2nd half, but held Eastside scoreless in the 3rd period to seize control of the game.  Cayden Trail played well on both ends of the floor as he led the team in steals and got a team high 12 points.  Jayden Carter added 9 points for the Rockets. 

The Rockets return to the court on Thursday night when they host Irving College at the Joel Vinson Gym.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  The girls’ game tips off at 6 PM; our pregame coverage begins at 5:50. 

Saros makes 39 saves, Predators defeat Rangers

Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators

Roman Josi had three points, Juuse Saros made 39 saves and the Nashville Predators defeated the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Josi had two goals and an assist, giving the Predators captain 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his past 19 games.

Rocco Grimaldi, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis also scored for the Predators (15-12-5), who were outshot 41-24 but won for the first time in three games and are 6-3-2 in 11 games since Nov. 23.

Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin scored, Mika Zibanejad had two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves for the Rangers (16-13-4), who were 0-for-4 on the power play. Panarin has scored in five straight games.

New York has lost its past two games, including a 4-3 shootout loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

Grimaldi gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 10:36 of the first period, scoring off the rush with a shot from the left circle that hit off Brady Skjei’s ankle.

Kreider scored 34 seconds later on a 2-on-0 with Mika Zibanejad to tie it at 1-1.

The Rangers thought they took the lead at 2:20 of the second period, but the puck off Panarin’s shot went off Ekholm, the left post and the back of Saros’ left leg before stopping on the goal line. The play was reviewed, determining the puck didn’t cross the line.

Nashville regained the lead 2-1 on Josi’s wrist shot from the right circle at 11:16 of the second.

Ekholm made it 3-1 with a breakaway goal at 15:23 of the second, 12 seconds after he exited the penalty box.

Panarin scored his 20th goal of the season to make it 3-2 with 2:42 remaining in the third period, but Josi scored a length-of-the-ice empty net goal with 1:49 left to make it 4-2. Ellis scored another empty-net goal with 4.9 seconds left for the 5-2 final.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Coffee County Basketball Splits District Opener on Friday Night

Ellie Graham of CHS basketball

The Coffee County CHS basketball teams opened up district play on Friday in Winchester.  Taking on their old rival Franklin County, the Lady Raiders raced out to a huge lead and coasted to a 73 to 34 win.  The Red Raiders had a last-second shot come up short as they fell 73 to 70 to the Rebels. 

The Lady Raiders got off to a red-hot start hitting seven 1st National Bank 3-point baskets in the first half to lead 38 to 17 at intermission.  Coffee County went on a 16 to nothing run in the middle of the 3rd quarter to take a 30 point lead into the fourth quarter as Coach Joe Pat Cope emptied his bench.   Ten different Lady Raiders scored on the night led by Ellie Graham who had 16 points and she was named the Stonefort Mortgage player of the game.   Bella Vinson added 14 points as Coffee County improved to 9 and 2 on the year and 1 and 0 in district play.

Kyle Farless of CHS basketball

The Red Raiders got off to a slow start trailing 11 to 3 in the first quarter. Coffee County battled back and tied the game at 35 going to the half.  In the second half Franklin County used 2nd chance points to pull out to an 11 point lead midway through the 4th quarter.  Coffee County cut the deficit to 3 with 14 seconds to play but missed a pair of last-second three-point shots in the loss.   Coffee County’s regular season record now stands at 7 and 4.   Kyle Farless led Coffee County in scoring with 20 points as he was named the Stonefort Mortgage player of the game.  Jaylon Wooten had 18 points while Jackson Vaughn added 10. 

The Lady Raiders will travel to Chattanooga on Saturday night to take on Baylor.  That game will take place at 4 PM(EST) at Baylor.(see that story HERE)  Both the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders will return home on Monday for a make-up game with Columbia.  Thunder Radio will be on hand on Monday night to bring you the district matchup with Columbia.  The Powers Storage Pregame Show tips off our live coverage at 5:50.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. 

Download the broadcast at: www.ThunderRadio.com/Downloads

Coffee County Wrestlers Have Impressive Team Finishes at Tullahoma Meet

Chris Speagle of CHS Wrestling

The Coffee County CHS wrestling teams traveled to Tullahoma on Saturday to compete in the Garner-Dyer Individual Invitational.  The Red Raiders got a 9th place team finish and 3 medalists.  The Lady Raiders finished in 6th place with 2 medalists having only 4 wrestlers competing.

The Red Raiders got 3rd place finishes from Gavin Prater(at 145 pounds) and Christopher Speagle(220).  Jeremiah Wardell captured a 4th place finish for the Red Raiders who finished ahead of region rivals Tullahoma, Shelbyville, LaVergne and Rockvale.  Prater finished the day with 2 wins via byes, a pair of pinfall wins and a decision win.  Speagle grabbed 2 byes and 2 pinfall wins.  Wardell got a bye, 3 pinfall wins and a major decision win.  In the heavyweight class, Cardin Stump got a bye and 2 pins before falling short of the medal round. 

Mary Anne Walker of CHS Wrestling

The Lady Raiders high medalist was Mary Anne Walker who finished in 2nd place in the 132 division.  Walker grabbed a pair of pinfall wins and a bye on the day.  Mary Wolfrum got 2 pins and a decision win to grab 4th place in the 125 division.  Alanna Coker grabbed a pinfall and decision win to go along with a bye at 112 as she just missed the medal round.  Lyra Leftwich got a pain of pinfall wins in a crowded 140 division bracket as she was eliminated just short of the medal round. 

The Raider grapplers will be back in action at home twice this week as they host home matches at the Raiders Academy on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday, Coffee County will host region foes Shelbyville and Lawrence County in an important tri-match.  On Thursday night, the Raiders will co-host a match with the Coffee County Youth Wrestlers as they welcome Cascade and the Cascade Youth program.  Matches both nights begin at 6 PM. 

Coffee County Elementary Basketball League Crowns Westwood and College Street as Season Champs

2019 Coffee County Youth Basketball League champion Westwood Lady Eagles

The Coffee County Youth Basketball League crowned their 2019 champions in Saturday’s finals at CHS.  In the girls’ games, North Coffee beat East Coffee in the consolation game while Westwood edged New Union.  In the boys’ games, Westwood squeaked by New Union in the consolation game and College Street dropped North Coffee in the championship game. 

In the girls’ consolation, North Coffee bested East Coffee 21 to 15.  Sierra Star led the Lady Chargers in points with 13 while Danni Hillis added 8 points.  For the Lady Warriors, Rylee Fuller was the leading scorer as she had 13 points and  Taylor McBride added 2 points.

In the boys’ consolation, Westwood came back from a halftime deficit to grab a 23 to 22 win over New Union.  Caleb Hill was the leading scorer for the victorious Eagles as he finished with 8 points.  Aiden Walker added 5 points for Westwood.   New Union was led in scoring by Audie Nicoll who had 11 points while Jacob Mullen added 4 points for the Rebels.

In the girls’ championship, Westwood had to hold off a furious New Union rally to get a 17 to 14 win.   After holding the Lady Rebels scoreless in the 1st half, Westwood saw New Union fight their way back to cut the deficit to 1 point in the waning minutes of the game.  Westwood finished the season with a perfect 10 and 0 record to gain their 2nd straight league title and 4th league title in the last 6 years.  Jules Ferrell led Westwood in scoring with 8 points.  Reese Finch added 3 points for the Lady Eagles.  Jaydee Nogodula led the New Union comeback as she scored a team high 7 points with 4 of them coming in the 4th quarter. Kaysen Morgan added 4 points for the Lady Rebels.

2019 Coffee County Youth Basketball League champion College Street Cougars

In the boys’ championship, College Street opened up an early 5 point lead in the 1st quarter against North Coffee as they rolled to a 35 to 14 win.   The Cougars never trailed in the game as they claimed their 7th straight title.  Gabriel Hambly led College Street in scoring with 10 points while Carter Bell chipped in 8 points.  Brady Sizemore led the Chargers in scoring with 4 points. 

Members of the Westwood girls’ and College Street boys’ teams will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to review their seasons.  The Coffee Coaches Show airs at 10 AM each Saturday and is broadcast live from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.   The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

Coffee County CHS Swim Teams Celebrates Senior Night on Friday

Coffee County swim coach Becky Behrendorff(left) with CHS senior swimmers(left to right) Lindsey Cauble, Laura Fletcher and Kalyee Williams[Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Gilday]

Hosting Senior Night on Friday night, the Coffee County CHS swim team welcomed five middle school and nine high school teams to the Manchester Recreation Center for their final home meet of the season.   Honoring seniors Lindsey Cauble, Laura Fletcher and Kaylee Williams, the CHS team went 6 and 1 overall as the girls were 7 and 0 and the boys went 4 and 4.  The Coffee County Middle School team went 3 and 1 on the night as the boys were 3 and 1 and the girls were 1 and 3.  The Westwood team got 1 win, 1 loss and 1 tie.  The Lady Rockets were 3 and 1 for the meet while the boys lost all 4 of their matchups. 

The Coffee County CHS girls’ team got a 1st place team relay finish in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.  Team members were Elli Masters, Kaylee Williams, Emily Williams and Kennedy Norman-Young for both teams. 

CHS swimmers with top 3 performances in the heats were:
Nick Bogle – 1st place – 200 freestyle(1:58.59); 1st place – 50 freestyle(24.01);
Kaylee Williams – 1st place – 200 IM(2:22.33); 1st place – 100 breaststroke(1:10.95);
Kennedy Norman-Young – 1st place – 100 butterfly(1:09.64); 2nd place – 100 breaststroke(1:21.85);
Emily Williams – 2nd place – 100 butterfly(1:09.69); 2nd place – 100 backstroke(1:12.25)
Lindsey Cauble – 2nd place – 50 freestyle(30.58);

The Westwood Middle School girls’ team grabbed a 2nd place finish, among middle schools, in the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle with team members Cale Hays, Elsie Lazalier, Abby Gilday and Ansley Beachboard swimming both races.  

Westwood swimmers with top 3 performances in the heats were:
Abby Gilday – 1st place – 200 freestyle(2:23.39);
Elsie Lazalier – 3rd place – 200 freestyle(2:28.21);

The Coffee County Middle School girls’ team grabbed a 4th place finish, among middle schools, in the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle with team members Patience Driggers, Katelyn Hale, Constance Eldridge and Emily Snider swimming the freestyle.     Swimming the medley were: Patience Driggers, Katelyn Hale, Eva Rigney and Emily Snider.  The high individual heat performance for Coffee Middle was captured by Brayden Kesling who finished in 5th place in the 100 backstroke.

The swimmers will now be off until January.  The swimmers will travel to Winchester on January 9th for a meet with Franklin County. 

Lady Raider Basketball Gets Road Win at Baylor on Saturday

Ellie Chumley of CHS basketball

The Coffee County CHS Lady Raider basketball team traveled to Chattanooga on Saturday night for a non-district matchup at Baylor.  After falling behind in the 1st quarter, the Lady Raiders rallied to get the road win.  Coffee County came home with a 45 to 35 win over Baylor.

The Lady Raiders got off to a slow start as they were held to 7 points in the 1st quarter to trail by 4 going into the 2nd period.  In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Raiders outscored Baylor 14 to 3 to seize control of the contest and grab a season sweep over Baylor.   Ellie Chumley led Coffee County in scoring as she had 11 points.  Ellie Graham finished with 10 points while Jenna Garretson, Jalie Ruehling and Bella Vinson each scored 8.

The Red Raiders and Lady Raiders will return home on Monday for a make-up game with Columbia.  Thunder Radio will be on hand on Monday night to bring you the district match-up with Columbia.  The Powers Storage Pregame Show tips off our live coverage at 5:50.  Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. 

Temple Baptist Basketball Splits Friday Doubleheader in Cleveland

Alex Gloden of Temple basketball

The Temple Baptist Christian School basketball hit the road on Friday traveling to Cleveland, TN to take on Shenandoah Baptist Academy.   The JV Eagles 2nd half rally came up short as they fell 15 to 13.  The varsity Eagles leveled their season record with a 29 to 18 win. 

In the JV game, the Eagles were held to 2 points in the 1st half before rallying and outscoring Shenandoah 11 to 5 in the 2nd half.  Sam Floyd led Temple in scoring with 8 points.  David Tran added 5. 

In the varsity game, the Eagles got their offense going in the 2nd half matching the great defense played all game long.  Leading by 2 at intermission, the Eagles outscored Shenandoah 20 to 11 in the 2nd half to grab the win and raise their season record to 5 and 5.  Alex Gloden was the leading scorer for Temple as he had 13 points to go with 6 rebounds and 8 steals.  Mich Gloden added 6 while Sam Floyd and John Green each netted 4.

The Eagles return home on Tuesday when they welcome Shelbyville’s Victory Baptist Academy.  That JV/Varsity doubleheader gets underway at 5 PM at the E.C. Bailey Gym.