Alex Gloden of Temple Baptist Christian School basketball
Despite 37 points from Cody Swayze, the Temple Baptist Christian School could not earn the season sweep over Victory Baptist on Tuesday night. Trying to get their second straight win over their rivals from Shelbyville, the Eagles came up short by a 71 to 69 score. The JV Eagles were dominated by the Victory JV in a 49 to 7 decision.
Trailing by 2 in the final seconds, Temple could not get a game tying, or potential game winning, shot to fall against Victory. After Temple took an 8 point lead into halftime, the visiting Patriots double teamed Swayze throughout the 2nd half in an attempt to slow the senior down. Swayze, averaging 36 points a game, was held to 18 points in the 2nd half as Victory was able to rally for the win. Alex Gloden had 15 points for Temple while brother Mich added 10. The loss drops the Eagles record to 7 and 5 on the season. In the JV game, Alex Gloden, David Tran and John Green each had 2 points to lead the Eagle attack.
Temple will be back in action on Friday night as they play host to Franklin Road Christian out of Murfreesboro. The Varsity game will get underway at 6 PM at the E.C. Bailey Gym at Temple Baptist Christian School.
The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams will both be in action on Wednesday night in the CTC postseason tournament. The Red Raiders will tangle with South Franklin at 4 PM in a semifinal matchup. The Lady Raiders will open tournament play at 5:15 PM against Warren County. Lucky Knott will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of the girls’ game as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series. Thunder Radio’s live coverage will begin with the pregame show a little after 5.
The postseason tournament for the Coffee County Middle School boys’ basketball team got underway on Monday night at Tullahoma High School. In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Red Raiders faced off against North Franklin for the 2nd time in 8 days. The Coffee County defense held North to 3 points through 3 quarters as they rolled to a 30 to 10 win.
After North took a 2 to 0 lead in their 2nd possession of the game, Coffee County rolled off 14 unanswered points as they built a 16 to 3 halftime lead. The Raiders outscored the Gators 8 to 0 in the 3rd quarter to salt the game away. Jacob Holder and Hayden Garr each had 10 points to lead the Raiders in scoring. Garr had points in all 4 quarters to earn the Crazy Daisies player of the game award. Dayne Crosslin added 5 points and Jackson Shemwell had a 3 pointer.
The Raiders will be back in action on Wednesday at 4 PM as they take on South Franklin. That game will tip off at 4 PM. The Lady Raiders open up tournament play on Wednesday evening and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series. The Lady Raiders game with Warren County will begin at 5:15 with the pregame show set to begin around 5:05.
Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette[Photo courtesy of NHL.com]
The milestones came a mile up on Monday afternoon.
Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette earned his 600th career win as Nashville defeated the Colorado Avalanche by a 4-1 final at the Pepsi Center. The victory snaps Nashville’s two-game skid and gives the Preds bench boss a monumental achievement in the process.
Nashville centerman Nick Bonino potted his 100th career goal on the day as well as the Preds got goals from four different participants to collect their 29th victory of the season.
“It’s huge for us,” Bonino said of the win. “We wanted to respond, we had some meetings and figured it out, and we just have to keep going into the right direction.”
“It was just a really good team effort,” Laviolette said. “Pekka [Rinne] was unbelievable in the first period, and then as the game moved on, we got some traction and scored the some goals… There’s lots of things that I liked about it, and the answer from the players from the last game was terrific.”
After Rinne made 13 saves in the game’s opening period to keep things scoreless after 20 minutes, the Predators went to work.
First, moments after he was called for a stick foul that gave the Avalanche an unsuccessful penalty shot, Bonino beat Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov through the five-hole for a 1-0 advantage. Then, just over 90 seconds later, Viktor Arvidsson turned on the jets and converted on a nifty wraparound tally for his team-leading 19th of the season.
Colorado cut the lead in half with less than four minutes to play in the second stanza, but less than two minutes after that, Roman Josi completed a masterful give-and-go with Austin Watson to give the Preds a two-goal advantage once more.
From there, Rinne and the rest of his mates held the Avalanche off the scoresheet before Ryan Ellis iced it from his own end into the empty net to finish off the day – and get their head coach the monumental win.
“He’s a guy that gets the best out of everyone,” Bonino said of Laviolette. “We’re all very happy for him – 600 is a lot of wins, so that’s a great milestone.”
Notes:
Peter Laviolette is the 20th head coach in NHL history to reach the 600-win plateau and just the second U.S.-born coach to attain the feat.
Defenseman Matt Irwin got back in the Nashville lineup on Monday with Yannick Weber sitting as a healthy scratch.
Nashville’s final game before the All-Star Break and subsequent bye week comes Wednesday night (at 9 p.m. CT on NBCSN) in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights.
The Coffee County CHS freshman basketball team had their game on Monday night with Grundy County cancelled due to illness. There was no word at press time on when or if the game will be rescheduled. The Red Raiders return to the court on Thursday night when they play host to Warren County’s freshman team at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Tip-off is set for 6 PM.
The Coffee County CHS basketball teams started their 2nd rotation through the district at home on Friday night. The Raider cagers welcomed Lawrence County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym in their 2nd matchup of the season. The Raider teams each captured their 6th win in a row as the Lady Raiders defeated the Lady Cats 64 to 42 while the Red Raiders won 60 to 57.
The Lady Raiders raced out to a 16 to 0 lead in the first quarter after hitting five 1st National Bank 3 pointers in the first 8 minutes. Lawrence County battled back to cut the lead to 7 at the half, but Coffee County opened the 2nd half on a 23 to 10 run to roll to their 7th straight district win. Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 23 points as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Abby Morgan added 17 points and Jacey Vaughn and Ellie Graham each dropped in 9 points. The win is the 21st on the year for Coffee County.
Rod Brinkley of Coffee County CHS basketball
The Red Raiders struggled early as Lawrence County opened the game on a 12 to 2 run. Coffee County cut the deficit to 2 at the end of the 1st quarter and trailed by 1 entering the 2nd half. In the second half, Coffee County caught fire as they scored the first 8 points of the 3rd quarter and never trailed again. Darius Rozier led the Raiders in scoring with 17 points. Kyle Farless added 11 points and Andrew Mahaffey scored 10. Rod Brinkley came off the bench to add 7 points as Mahaffey and Brinkley were named the Crazy Daisies co-players of the game.
The Raider and Lady Raider basketball teams will be back at home on Tuesday as they host Columbia. Tip-off for the girls’ game is set for 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you live coverage beginning with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame show at 5:50.
Mary Anne Walker(far left) claimed the 125 class championship at McGavock on Saturday[Photo provided]
The Coffee County CHS wrestling team ended a busy week on Saturday with a pair of strong tournament performances. A pair of Lady Raider wrestlers competed in the Middle Tennessee Wrestling Officials Association Grand Championships at McGavock High School as Mary Anne Walker captured a first place medal. The Red Raiders competed in the Mountain Top Invitational at Sewanee and captured a pair of 1st place medals.
Mary Wolfrum and Mary Anne Walker represented the Lady Raider grapplers at the MTWOA meet as part of a field of 74 wrestlers. Wolfrum competed at 119 pounds and entered the competition as the 6th seed. After dropping her first match in a hard fought 9 to 2 decision, Wolfrum was eliminated in the elimination round by a pin. Walker entered the 125 pound bracket as the #1 seed and defending that ranking well. After a first round bye, Walker got a pair of pinfall wins to capture the tournament title. Walker won the semifinal in 30 seconds before capturing the crown in 45 seconds.
Raider wrestling coaches Roger Barlow(in red t-shirt) and Randall Jennings(kneeling with plaque) celebrate the Raiders 4th place finish at Sewanee on Saturday. [Photo provided]
Thirteen wrestlers for the Red Raiders traveled to St. Andrews-Sewanee to compete in the Mt. Top Invitational. The Raider team captured 7 medals, including a pair of championship medals and the Best Match Award. Coffee County came home with the 4th place team finish. In the 182 pound class, Rey Reyes went 3 and 0 to capture 1st place which included a pair of pins and a decision win in the championship(14 to 8) which earned him the best match trophy. At 120 pounds, Brett Francis also finished in 1st place as he got a technical fall win and a pair of pins. Jesse Smith(at 145 pounds) finished in 3rd place with a record of 3 and 1. Gavin Prater(138) finished in 4th place with a 2 and 2 record. Zack Bush(160) also finished in 4th place with a record of 1 and 1. Chris Speegle(220) grabbed a 4th place medal and finished with a record of 3 and 2 while Cardin Stump finished 4th in the heavyweight class as he compiled a record of 2 and 2.
The Raider wrestlers now await the final district standings to be completed to see if they have qualified for Thursday’s Region 5 Duals Tournament at Siegel. Thunder Radio will keep you updated on the Raiders schedule.
The postseason tournament schedule for the Central Tennessee Conference basketball tournament was released on Saturday evening. As expected, the Coffee County Middle School teams will each enter the tournament as the 4th seed in both the boys’ and girls’ brackets. The Red Raiders will open tournament play on Monday night at 7:30 PM against North Franklin. The Lady Raiders will open tournament play on Wednesday at 5:15 PM. Both games, and all CTC tournament games, will take place at Tullahoma High School.
Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of each game as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series. Monday’s game will tip off around 7:30, the pregame show will get underway at 7:20. Wednesday’s game will begin at 5:15 with the pregame show set to begin around 5:05.
The Nashville Predators rallied in the third period, but they were unable to overcome a slow start as they fell to the Florida Panthers by a 4-2 final on Saturday night. It’s the second straight loss for the Preds as they conclude their only homestand in the month of January.
A record hockey crowd of 17,716 at Bridgestone Arena saw the Predators surrender a 3-0 lead before scoring twice in the first 3:23 of the third period, but the Panthers had the jump from the opening puck drop, and that ultimately made the difference.
“It wasn’t good enough, and a lot of our problems stem from our starts,” Preds center Nick Bonino said. “We feel games out, don’t compete enough right away, and then we have to play catch up. When we turn it on, we’re really hard to play with, but in this League it’s too little to late sometimes.”
“It’s a loss against a team that played last night and traveled and came into our building and took it to us for the first part of the game,” Preds forward Austin Watson said. “We pushed at the end, but that start and the way we’re dipping our toe in the water in back-to-back home games, it’s not good enough.”
Aaron Ekblad gave the visitors the lead less than five minutes into the contest when he blasted home his ninth of the season on the power play, and Frank Vatrano made it 2-0 after one period.
Early in the second stanza, Vincent Trocheck took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover a beat Juuse Saros on the breakaway to put the Panthers ahead by three, but the Predators began to get quality chances before the period was out, a sign there was a push coming.
Indeed, Bonino beat James Reimer at 2:45 of the third, and Watson scored less than a minute later, but that was as close as the Preds got before the Panthers got their fourth and final tally of the night to seal it.
“It was more the start for me more than anything,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think there were a lot of chances in the second. In the third, we came out and pushed, but fell short going through the third period when they scored the fourth one. For me, it was the start, the first period that led to the loss.”
From here, the Predators visit Colorado and Vegas for two more contests before they’ll go eight days without a game thanks to the NHL All-Star Weekend and the NHL-mandated bye week. It will be a chance for Nashville to not only correct what did them in on Saturday, but also an opportunity to get back on track before the hiatus.
“I think it’s important to fix these problems right away, no matter what we have coming up,” Watson said. “It’s not fun for us to play this way, especially at home. We had an opportunity to win a couple big games and unfortunately, we didn’t. The good thing though is that we do play 82 games and we have a chance to bounce back before we take that time off.”
“That’s all in the attitude,” Laviolette said of the slow start. “That’s what you bring to the rink and bring to the game. It has to be better.”
Notes:
Predators forward Colin Blackwell made his NHL debut on Saturday night after being recalled earlier in the day. The 25-year-old registered two hits and won three faceoffs in 11:29 of ice time.
Nashville centerman Ryan Johansen served the first of his two-game suspension for high-sticking.
With the January home schedule now complete, the Predators will head on the road for two, beginning on Monday afternoon in Colorado before a stop in Vegas on Wednesday.
Coffee County CHS wrestling team traveled to Wartrace on Friday night for a non-region duals match with Cascade. The Red Raiders swept the 6 highest weight classifications to capture the 67 to 18 win.
Coffee County got pinfall wins from Cardin Stump(at 285), Christopher Speagle(220), Rey Reyes(182), Jacob Phillips(170), Dakota Chalker(160), Jesse Smith(145), Gavin Prater(138) and Brett Francis(120). The Raiders also got forfeit wins by Hunter Massey(113), Hunter Waring(132) and Zachary Galy(195). Nick Martinez also won a pair of exhibition matches by pinfall fighting at 220 pounds
The Raider grapplers return to action on Saturday as they travel to Sewanee for the Mountain Top Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee. Weigh-in is set at 9 AM.
