Westwood Middle School has added a regular season basketball game for January 19.
The game was added after last week’s regularly scheduled home game against Liberty was cancelled because of weather.
Westwood will host the North Warriors of Grundy County on January 19. Junior varsity will play at 4 with varsity girls at 6 p.m. and boys to follow. It will be 8th grade night. Ceremonies will be held between games.
Before that, both Lady Rockets and Rockets head to Cascade this week for the DRVC Conference Tournament. The Rockets (no. 3 seed) play Liberty at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Meanwhile, the no. 1 seed Lady Rockets have a first round BYE and play at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cascade.
Preds complete perfect road trip with victory in Arizona Saturday
Four different Predators found the back of the net – and Juuse Saros was stellar again – as Nashville defeated the Arizona Coyotes by a 4-2 final on Saturday night at Gila River Arena. The result gives the Preds a perfect road trip – three victories and six points – and a four-game win streak to begin 2022.
Without their top goal-scorer Filip Forsberg, who was added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list prior to Saturday’s contest, the Predators found contributions elsewhere and got clutch goaltending once more to top their new division rivals in the desert in a penalty-filled affair.
Mattias Ekholm, Yakov Trenin, Tanner Jeannot and Roman Josi all found twine, and Saros made 37 saves – for a grand total of 124 stops through three games – to give the Preds six more points to bring home atop the Central Division.
The Preds found the scoreboard three times in the game’s opening 20 minutes, and Ekholm only waited 56 seconds to follow up a rebound and jam the puck past Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka and a 1-0 lead. Later in the first frame, Trenin scored his third goal in as many games on the trip as he wristed a shot home from above the right circle, and less than two minutes after that, Matt Duchene found Jeannot for a tap-in at the side of the cage and a 3-0 lead.
Predators hockey on Thunder Radio is listed by realtor Charlie Gonzales, Weichert Realtors Joe Orr & Associates.
THIS WEEK’S PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE: Jan. 10 – 15
JANUARY 10
6 p.m. — Coffee Middle Basketball HOSTS Warren County. (8th grade night) (Thunder Radio broadcast. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com)
JANUARY 11
4:30 p.m. – WMS boys basketball vs. Liberty AT Cascade. DRVC Tournament
6 p.m. — CHS Basketball HOSTS Franklin County. (Thunder Radio broadcast. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com)
JANUARY 12
6 p.m. – Coffee County Basketball coaches show, live from Praters BBQ on Thunder Radio (Thunder Radio broadcast. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com)
6 p.m. — Westwood Girls basketball vs. TBD AT Cascade. DRVC Tournament
(Thunder Radio broadcast. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com)
JANUARY 13
6 p.m. — Coffee Middle Basketball AT Harris Middle.
6 p.m. – CHS Wrestling at Warren county
JANUARY 14
6 p.m. – CHS Basketball AT Warren County. (Thunder Radio broadcast. 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, Manchester Go app, thunder1320.com)
JANUARY 15
CHS Wrestling at Admiral Invitational in Franklin.
New Union makes clean sweep of Elementary Hoops Championships
New Union Rebelettes 
New Union Rebels
NEW UNION REBELETTES 32, COLLEGE STREET COUGARS 8
Jenslee Nogodula led the way with 12 points, followed by Brylyn McAdams with 8 as the New Union Rebelettes took care of business in the Elementary Basketball Championships Saturday night at Coffee County High School.
Kinsley Pruitt added 7 points, including a 3 pointer in the first quarter to get New Union off to a hot start.
New Union Rebels 36, North Coffee Chargers 13
New Union’s high-powered offense took off early and put the game out of reach by the end of the first quarter as the Rebels led 18-0 after the first quarter.
Jaxon Pruitt and Cooper HInson led the way for the Rebels with 8 points apiece. Myles McIntosh and Kanon Creek each scored 6.
North Coffee was led by Ethan Arnold with 10 points.
POSTPONEMENTS: Here is a list of recent postponements and cancellations
Winter weather has wreaked havoc on winter sports schedules over this week. Below is an up to date list (as of January 6) of area teams and their plans moving forward.
Coffee Middle School
Warren County vs. Coffee Middle Basketball. POSTPONED. Makeup date Monday, January 10. 8th grade night.
Coffee Middle at Harris Middle (from December cancellation). Makeup date Thursday, Jan. 13.
CTC Tournament pushed back one week. Begins January 17 at South Franklin. Bracket not yet available.
Westwood Middle School
Liberty vs. Westwood Basketball. CANCELLED. No plans for makeup.
DRVC Conference Tournament – begins January 10
January 7
CHS basketball at Shelbyville. POSTPONED. Makeup date Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.
CHS Wrestling
CHS hosting Blackman and Dickson County Thursday, Jan. 6. CANCELLED.
WRESTLING – Coffee County gets clean sweep over La Vergne, Stewarts Creek
Coffee County wrestling got a clean sweep over visiting La Vergne and Stewarts Creek on Tuesday, Jan. 4, with both boys and girls teams dropping both schools. Results below.
Coffee County (COFF) 48.0 Lavergne (LAVE) 24.0
195: Ian Walker (COFF) over (LAVE) (For.) 220: Kolby McCormick (COFF) over (LAVE) (For.) 285: Blayne Myers (COFF) over (LAVE) (For.) 106: Double Forfeit 113: Ty Young (LAVE) over (COFF) (For.) 120: Senoor Najeeb (LAVE) over (COFF) (For.) 126: Jeremiah Wardell (COFF) over (LAVE) (For.) 132: gael barranco (LAVE) over Gabriel Westbrook (COFF) (Fall 1:22) 138: Jamie Norris (COFF) over Jonathan Obando (LAVE) (Fall 3:16) 145: amerion davis (LAVE) over Joshua Bowland (COFF) (Dec 6-4) 152: Ever Balladares (LAVE) over Tommy Miller (COFF) (Dec 4-1) 160: Gavin Prater (COFF) over Mauricio Jimenez (LAVE) (Fall 4:45) 170: Nazario Flores (COFF) over Diego Medncillo (LAVE) (Fall 0:59) 182: Devin Judge (COFF) over Neyzer Perez (LAVE) (Fall 3:26)
Coffee County (COFF) 39.0 Stewarts Creek (STCR) 34.0
285: Blayne Myers (COFF) over Caleb Taylor (STCR) (Fall 2:14) 106: Justin Rezkalla (STCR) over (COFF) (For.) 113: Double Forfeit 120: Patrick Richardson (STCR) over (COFF) (For.) 126: Jeremiah Wardell (COFF) over Jeremiah Monk (STCR) (Fall 1:33) 132: Gabriel Westbrook (COFF) over Logan Potts (STCR) (Fall 1:34) 138: Justin Harless (STCR) over Ryan James (COFF) (Fall 0:34) 145: Jack Hines (STCR) over Jamie Norris (COFF) (MD 14-1) 152: Aron Tenpenny (STCR) over Tommy Miller (COFF) (Fall 1:10) 160: Gavin Prater (COFF) over Colton Hammonds (STCR) (Fall 1:05) 170: Erik Foster (COFF) over Loyd Tembit (STCR) (Fall 1:09) 182: Nick Mendicino (STCR) over Chris Hollis (COFF) (Fall 0:54) 195: Ian Walker (COFF) over William Wilson (STCR) (Dec 6-4) 220: Kolby McCormick (COFF) over (STCR) (For.)
Coffee County High School (Girls) (COFG) 6.0 Stewarts Creek (Girls) (STCG) 0.0
152: Lyra Leftwich (COFG) over Madison Newbern (STCG) (Fall 0:00)
Coffee County High School (Girls) (COFG) 18.0 Lavergne (Girls) (LAVG) 6.0
126: Elizabeth Garner (COFG) over Catalina Ortiz (LAVG) (Fall 0:00) 138: Jade Lenhart (COFG) over Rhian Hodge (LAVG) (Fall 0:00) 152: Lyra Leftwich (COFG) over Nilagro Velasquez (LAVG) (Fall 0:00) 152: Abigail Rodriguez (LAVG) over Sara Crosslin (COFG) (Fall 0:00)
Lady Rockets keep unbeaten conference record
It took a few minutes to shake the rust from the long holiday layoff, but the Westwood Lady Rockets eventually go rolling and took care of Forrest 35-13 Wednesday night in Chapel Hill.
Jules Ferrell scored 8 of her team-leading 10 points in the fourth quarter to help Westwood pull away. The Lady Rockets led 21-12 entering the final period before outscoring Forrest 14-1 in the final 6 minutes. Westwood’s Audri Patton pitched in 8 points on the night for WMS.
The Lady Rockets improve to 18-1 overall with the win and remain a perfect 12-0 in Duck River Valley Conference play.
Westwood was set to host Liberty for 8th grade night Thursday, but that game has been postponed due to weather.
Coffee Middle sweeps West in return from holiday break
There was very little rust apparent for the Coffee Middle School basketball teams in their return from the long holiday break – as both teams took care of business in a home conference sweep over West Wednesday night in Manchester.
Lady Raiders 59, West Tullahoma 18
The Lady Raiders completed the season sweep of the Lady Bobcats behind explosive offensive performances from eighth graders Ella Arnold and Natalie Barnes.
Arnold lit up Tullahoma for 26 points, followed closely by Barnes with 21 in a 59-18 win.
The win improves CMS to 15-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play.
Red Raiders 30, West Tullahoma 20
A three-game losing skid came to a halt Wednesday night as the CMS Raiders found some offense in a 30-20 win over visiting West Tullahoma.
Defensively, CMS held West to just 3 points in the third quarter to help the Raiders pull away. Red Raider Levi Rollman led the way with 9 points, followed closely by Luke Campbell with 7. Campbell started red hot – with 7 points in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer.
The Raiders move to 4-11 on the season with the win.
Both Raiders and Lady Raiders were scheduled to host Warren County Thursday and play at Harris Friday. Both games have been postponed due to weather.
CMS will now host Warren County Monday for 8th grade night, and travel to Harris next Thursday, Jan. 13. The CTC tournament has been pushed back a week.
Olivia Evans signs to play softball at Tennessee Tech
Throughout her softball career, Coffee County’s Olivia Evans has known two things: she wanted to play college softball and she wanted to play it at Tennessee Tech.
Mission accomplished.
In front of friends, family, coaches and teammates on Wednesday (January 5, 2022), the CHS Lady Raider senior signed on the dotted line to play college softball in Cookeville for Tennessee Tech.
“I’ve been going to camps up there with my sister because she was a couple of years ahead of me,” explained Evans. “And since then, really since I was like 12-years old probably, I wanted to play at Tennessee Tech.”
Tennessee Tech will be getting a highlight reel of a player when Evans arrives on campus next fall. As a junior for the Lady Raiders last spring Evans was an integral part of the Lady Raider State Runner Up team, hitting at a .523 clip – the highest average on the team. She had 38 singles, 3 doubles, 4 triples and 1 home run – which was arguably her biggest moment of the season when she hit a go-ahead inside-the-park home run in the final inning of the state sectional at Soddy Daisy.
Evans had 22 RBIs and 38 runs scored. She only struck out 8 times in 109 plate appearances. Evans was also solid defensively, with only 2 errors all season in centerfield.
“It is a relief to have this done and complete before my senior season starts this spring,” explained Evans. “Now I feel like I’ll play so much more relaxed and have a better season with this out of the way.
“I really want to thank my grandparents, my parents, my sister, coaches, friends and teammates that I’ve had a long the way. I’ve had an amazing support system and I’m very thankful for all of the people who have helped me get to this point.”
Evans will be on the field for the Lady Raiders this spring when the season begins in March. You can hear Coffee County Lady Raider softball all spring long on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go smartphone app and thunder1320.com.
Red Raider Shemwell earns all-state football honors
Coffee County Central Red Raider quarterback Connor Shemwell picked up another postseason honor earlier this week – the senior signal caller was named to the Tennessee Football Coaches Association 6A All-State Team.
As a four-year starter, Shemwell returned from ACL surgery in March to lead the Raiders to a 5-5 regular season record and a spot in the TSSAA Playoffs. Shemwell’s play down the stretch helped to lead the Raiders to a 4-1 finish over their last 5 regular season games.
He was 145-of-246 for the season (59%) for 1,775 yards, 15 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He carred the ball 55 times for 87 yards and had 3 rushing TDs. He also caught a pass for 18 yards.
