Category: Sports

Middle School basketball was featured on Thunder Radio on Thursday night as Westwood hosted Moore County. The Lady Rockets jumped out to a 16-3 lead after the 1st quarter and was not really tested in the game. Westwood led by as many as 20 points before picking up the conference win, 45-31.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Rockets was Bryleigh Gray who played solidly all night as she scored 14. Anna Johnson had a strong 1st half and because of the score saw limited play in the 2nd half to finish with 12. Gray was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.

The Rocket boys had a difficult time in the first half falling behind Moore County 18-6 at halftime. In the 2nd half the Rockets were able to cut the Raider lead to 5, but Moore County pulled away late for a 37-23 win.
Konor Heaton and Eli Felice led Westwood in scoring with 6 points each. Heaton earned the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.
Westwood is back at home at Joel Vinson Gym on Monday night against Fayetteville and Thunder Radio will broadcast the games as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.

Coffee County Middle School basketball teams traveled to Tullahoma West on Thursday. The Lady Raiders were leading with around 3 minutes to play and that’s when West changed its defense and fought back to grab the 32-22 win.
Alivia Reel led the scoring with 10 for Coffee Middle with Chole Gannon and Nikki Graham adding 5 each.

The Raider boys battled West in what turned out to be a very close game. Coffee County was up by a double digit lead up going into the 4th quarter, but saw West Tullahoma close the gap before the Raiders pulled out the 26-23 win.
Jacob Holder led the middle school Raiders with 9 and Ethan Hargrove and Dayne Crosslin adding 6 points each.
Both Raider teams will be in action on Monday as they travel to Cowan to take on South Franklin.

Adin Hill made 29 saves and the Nashville Predators were shut out by the Arizona Coyotes, 3-0, on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. It’s Nashville’s second loss of the season against Arizona and just the second time overall they’ve dropped back-to-back games in regulation on the campaign.
For the second-straight contest, the Preds outshot their opponent, but unlike Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Colorado – a game that could have gone either way – those in the Nashville locker room say Thursday’s effort simply wasn’t good enough.
“They wanted it more,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We didn’t have enough guys with their hands on the rope pulling it our way.”
“It’s frustrating getting held off the scoreboard in our own rink,” forward Colton Sissons said. “It’s pretty disappointing. We’re just in a little bit of a funk here. We’re not feeling ourselves and not playing a game that’s winning hockey right now. Back to the drawing board and we have to move on.”
The game’s opening period went scoreless, but in the second, Arizona tallied early and late, with goals from Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz for a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Brad Richardson added Arizona’s third of the night in the final frame as the Predators threw their final chances at Hill, who recorded his first NHL shutout.
Just as he did on Tuesday, Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne kept his club in the game, but Nashville was unable to find the back of the net for the second time this season.
“We have the right personnel in here to play great, but it starts with all of the individuals in here,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We need to get skating again and work hard for each other. Right now, it feels so-so, but the sun will go up tomorrow.”
With two games remaining on their homestand, the Predators will now regroup before hosting Chicago on Saturday night, a contest against a divisional rival that should provide plenty of motivation to get back in the win column.
“You have to stay positive,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “You never want to lose games. You always want to play well. It’s a long season and if you go through a stretch like that you have to find your way out of it as quick as possible. That’s by staying positive, not getting frustrated, and working on things that we can do a lot better. You have to take some positives out, too.”
Notes:
Thursday’s result ended Nashville seven-game home win streak against Arizona.
Nashville’s season-long, five-game homestand is now more than halfway through with games against Chicago on Saturday and Buffalo on Monday remaining.

Northeast @ Coffee County High School on 11/27/2018.

Coffee County High School (CFCHS) 53.0 Northeast (NORT) 22.0
285: Cardin Stump (CFCHS) over Christian Hagerty (NORT) (Fall 0:39) 106: DreShawn Byers (NORT) over Gabriel Westbrook (CFCHS) (Fall 2:38) 113: Double Forfeit 120: Brett Francis (CFCHS) over Ronald Ponte (NORT) (TF 17-0 0:00) 126: Brycelan Hildebrand (NORT) over Hunter Massey (CFCHS) (Fall 0:29) 132: Edre Durana (NORT) over Hunter Waring (CFCHS) (Fall 2:57) 138: Johnathan Cable (CFCHS) over (NORT) (For.) 145: Gavin Prater (CFCHS) over Malik rumble (NORT) (Fall 0:59) 152: Owen Medrano (NORT) over Jesse Smith (CFCHS) (MD 12-0) 160: Devin Judge (CFCHS) over Jovan Williams (NORT) (Fall 1:00) 170: Dakota Chalker (CFCHS) over Doniko Goulsby (NORT) (Fall 2:23) 182: Reynaldo Reyes (CFCHS) over Don (Trey) Owen (NORT) (Fall 0:35) 195: Nicholas Martinez (CFCHS) over Jaylen Jarboe (NORT) (Fall 0:28) 220: Christopher Speagle (CFCHS) over Cian Page (NORT) (Fall 2:50)

Franklin Co. @ Coffee County High School on 11/27/2018.

Coffee County High School (CFCHS) 57.0 Franklin Co. (FRCO) 18.0
106: Danny Martinez (FRCO) over Gabriel Westbrook (CFCHS) (Fall 1:20) 113: Double Forfeit 120: Brett Francis (CFCHS) over Mathew Morris (FRCO) (Fall 0:21) 126: Hunter Massey (CFCHS) over Sam Saylor (FRCO) (Fall 0:54) 132: Hunter Waring (CFCHS) over (FRCO) (For.) 138: Johnathan Cable (CFCHS) over (FRCO) (For.) 145: Gavin Prater (CFCHS) over Jordan Martin (FRCO) (Fall 2:28) 152: Jesse Smith (CFCHS) over Elijah Cowan (FRCO) (Fall 1:49) 160: Chaz Shields (FRCO) over Devin Judge (CFCHS) (Fall 1:14) 170: Dakota Chalker (CFCHS) over Chris Moreland (FRCO) (Dec 11-4) 182: Reynaldo Reyes (CFCHS) over (FRCO) (For.) 195: Nicholas Martinez (CFCHS) over (FRCO) (For.) 220: Drake Sizemore (FRCO) over Christopher Speagle (CFCHS) (Fall 0:00) 285: Cardin Stump (CFCHS) over (FRCO) (For.)

Northeast (Girls) @ Coffee County High School (Girls) on 11/27/2018.

Coffee County High School (Girls) ( CHS) 6.0 Northeast (Girls) ( NGI) 6.0
125: MaryAnne Walker ( CHS) over Essence White ( NGI) (Fall 3:23) 140: Terrilyn McCowan ( NGI) over Lyra Leftwich ( CHS) (Fall 0:26)

Coffee County High School (Girls) @ Smyrna (Girls) on 11/27/2018.

Smyrna (Girls) ( SGI) 6.0 Coffee County High School (Girls) ( CHS) 0.0
119: Katie Sandberg ( SGI) over Andrea Hickman ( CHS) (Fall 0:44)

The Coffee County High School basketball teams hosted Nashville Central Christian on Tuesday night.
Head Coach Joe Pat Cope said the Lady Raiders played a little sloppy in the first half, but still held a 39-20 lead at the break.
The defensive pressure and many scoring opportunities for Coffee County helped the ladies outscore the Lady Warriors 19-0 in the 3rd quarter. The Lady Raiders went on to win their seventh game against no defeats, 64-25.
Bella Vinson and Abby Morgan were high scorers with 14 each. Jacey Vaughn came off the bench to score 10 and was named the Crazy Daises Player of the Game.

In the boy’s action Coffee County held a comfortable 39-23 lead at halftime, but Nashville Central Christian cut the down to as little as 10 points in the 3rd quarter.
Led by Senior Darius Rozier’s 34 points the Raiders were finally able to pull away for a 75-58 victory. Coffee County now at 3-0 on the season also got 9 points from Jaxson Vaughn, 8 from Chase Simpkins and 7 from Andrew Mahaffey. Rozier was named the Crazy Daises Player of the Game.
Coffee County will travel to Lawrence County on Friday for the first district action of the year. Airtime 5:50pm live on Thunder Radio.

Westwood basketball teams traveled to Liberty on Tuesday night for middle school round ball.
The Lady Rockets controlled the game from start to finish. After grabbing a 10-1 lead after the 1st quarter, Westwood dominated the game for a 36-12 win.
Anna Johnson led the balanced scoring with 10, followed by Joely Sain with 9 and Bryleigh Gray finished with 8.

The Westwood boys also defeated Liberty by a final score of 25-19.
6th grader Jayden Carter led the scoring for Coach Will Pannell’s Rockets with 9 points. Brayden Dixon chipped with 8. Coach Pennell said he was very pleased with his team’s effort against a difficult zone defense. Pannell added that Konor Heaton might have only scored 2 points, but those were 2 big free-throws late in the 4th quarter to seal the Westwood win.
The Rockets will be back in action on Thursday as they host Moore County. Those games will be heard live on Thunder Radio.

Manchester’s Temple Baptist School boys’ basketball team traveled to Calhoun Ga. On Tuesday and picked up a 53-39 win over Philadelphia Christian School.
Coach Jeff Stewart got a combined 43 points from Cody Swayze (26) and Alex Golden (17) in the road victory.

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and the Nashville Predators fell to the Colorado Avalanche by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result ends Nashville’s 11-game, regular-season win streak against the Avalanche and also sees their six-game home win streak come to a close.
On a night that saw both teams trade chances – including 38 shots for the Preds – it was Colorado who simply got the extra shots to fall and earn two points in the divisional matchup.
“There was looks both ways and they took one more,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought it was a game that went back and forth. There was lots of chances and special teams was the difference.”
Ryan Hartman got the scoring started when he threw a puck at the net and got a member’s bounce off a Colorado defender for a 1-0 lead. However, Nathan MacKinnon scored the game’s next two goals – one in the first and another in the second – to give Colorado a 2-1 advantage.
Before the middle frame was out, Kevin Fiala redirected a Filip Forsberg feed top shelf for his third tally of the season and first in eight games to even the score at two all after 40 minutes.
“I thought Kevin was really strong,” Laviolette said of Fiala. “He was probably our most noticeable guy out there tonight – just with his speed. The puck was on his stick all the time. He generated scoring chances and turned in a really solid game.”
In the third, Tyson Jost capitalized on the man advantage to give the Avalanche the last lead they’d need, and although the Predators continued to press until the final horn, Semyon Varlamov turned aside 36 Nashville shots to earn the win.
“I thought that we had enough chances to win the game, but I have to give them credit,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “Their power play was very effective tonight. It’s a good team. Obviously, it’s disappointing when it’s a division game and you come up short and it’s played at home, but we battled until the end and just couldn’t get the tying goal.”
Nashville’s homestand continues on Thursday and flows right into next week with three games left in the set, three more opportunities for the Preds to find success at Bridgestone Arena once more.
“Tonight, we came a little short which is disappointing,” Rinne said. “It’s just nice to know we have a few games at home here.”
Roman Josi now has points (4g-11a) in 11 straight regular-season games vs. Colorado, including four multi-point contests. He has 28 points in 30 career meetings with the Avs.
Filip Forsberg now has 25 points (13g-12a) in 22 games against Colorado, including four game-winning goals.
Nashville’s homestand continues on Thursday night when the Arizona Coyotes come to town before Chicago visits on Saturday, followed by Buffalo on Monday.

Jim Wyatt
SENIOR WRITER/EDITOR
HOUSTON, Texas – Quarterback Marcus Mariota was nearly perfect on Monday night.

Unfortunately, the Titans were not.

And because of it, the Titans lost to the Texans 34-17 here at NRG Stadium. The Titans (5-6) are now three games behind the Texans (8-3) in the AFC South.

Mariota started the game completing his first 19 passes, and he was 19-of-19 for 271 yards and two touchdowns at one point before throwing his first incompletion late in the game. Mariota finished the game 22-of-23 for 304 yards with a 147.7 passer rating.

But Mariota was also sacked six times, and the Titans sputtered on offense after a fast start. On defense, the Titans gave up too many big plays, both in the running game and passing game.

It all added up to another frustration night.

The Titans jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead over the Texans, but things changed quickly.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead on their first possession on a 31-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Succop. On their next series, Mariota connected with tight end Jonnu Smith for a 61-yard touchdown. On the play, Smith caught a short pass in the middle of the field, and then outraced everyone to the end zone to make it 10-0.

But the Texans quickly answered back with 27 straight points, starting with quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 12-yard touchdown pass to receiver Demaryius Thomas, which made it 10-7. At the start of the second quarter, the Texans surged ahead 14-10 on a 15-yard touchdown run by Watson.

The Titans were on the verge of reclaiming the lead, inside the Houston five early in the second quarter. But tight end Luke Stocker, lined up in the backfield as a fullback, was stuffed for no gain on a 4th and 1 at the three-yard line.

On the next play, the Texans jumped out to a 21-10 lead on a 97-yard touchdown run by running back Lamar Miller. The Texans made it 24-10 at the half on a 43-yard field goal by kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn. Another Fairbairn kick, this one from 47 yards, made it 27-10 with 8:53 left in the third quarter.

The Titans cut the lead to 27-17 on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to receiver Corey Davis. It was Mariota’s 16th completion in a row to start the game.

The Titans couldn’t get a stop when they needed it after that, and the Texans surged back ahead 34-17 on another Watson-to-Thomas touchdown pass with 8:15 left.

The Titans face the Jets on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

www.titansonline.com