Category: Sports

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and the Nashville Predators defeated the Ottawa Senators by a 5-2 final on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result ends Nashville’s two-game losing streak, marking the 13th time this season they’ve scored at least five goals in one contest.

Ottawa hung around for portions of the game, but Nashville was always one step ahead, and after Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said his team “simply needed to find the back of the net,” the group responded loud and clear.

“We took a step in the right direction,” Laviolette said. “I thought last game (a 3-1 loss), Detroit played really hard and therefore it’s difficult to dictate the entire game. I’ll say the same thing tonight. I thought Ottawa played an aggressive game. They’re fast off the attack, you have to be sure of what you’re doing defensively, but for the most part, I thought our guys were pretty competitive and pretty fast. We were on our toes tonight.”

“I think we played great,” Arvidsson said. “I think we played an attack-mentality hockey. Our D was up in the play and we shot the puck a lot. [I] felt like it was a great 60 minutes.”

A Roman Josi blast on a first-period power play gave the Preds a 1-0 lead, and shortly thereafter, Filip Forsberg found Ryan Johansen in front of the net, and the centerman made a slick, behind-the-back dish to Arvidsson, who tapped in his 19th of the season to give Nashville a 2-0 mark.

Ottawa got on the scoreboard before the opening frame was out, but Ryan Ellis tallied on the man advantage in the second stanza, the first time Nashville has scored multiple power-play goals in the same game since Feb. 1. The Senators got one back just moments later, but less than two minutes after that, Forsberg found Arvidsson for his second of the contest and 20th of the season – the first Predators player to hit the mark this season – for a two-goal lead after 40 minutes.

Craig Smith gave the Preds an insurance marker when he buried a feed from Kevin Fiala midway through the third, and Pekka Rinne shut the door the rest of the way to collect his 299th career victory and get his club back in the win column – accented by a pair of power-play strikes.

“We just kept it simple and tried to shoot a lot of pucks,” Nashville Captain Roman Josi said. “Sometimes with the power play that’s just how it goes. Sometimes you play really well and you have a lot of chances, but they don’t go in. Sometimes you don’t do anything different, but you get two power-play goals. That’s just how it goes. You have to make sure you don’t get frustrated and keep it simple.”

‘A’ For Effort:

It was only a matter of time.

The Predators knew their on-ice efforts were back on the upswing, and even though Saturday night yielded a 3-1 loss to Detroit, the signs were there.

So, with one outing left on a four-game home stand, the Predators put forth a 5-2 result on Monday night to avoid dropping three consecutive games in regulation for the first time since last season.

“We played a pretty good game Saturday, but we still thought we could play a lot better,” Josi said. “I thought it was better tonight. We had a lot of chances. All our lines were going and made a lot of shots. It’s a big win for us.”

Arvidsson led the way, and although the hat trick wasn’t meant to be – the Swede finished with nine shots on goal to lead the team – his 19th and 20th goals of the season were still more than enough to give Nashville a considerable boost in the first half of a back-to-back situation that concludes Tuesday in Detroit.

“He was really good,” Laviolette said of Arvidsson. “I mean he was working; constantly in motion, constantly working toward the puck or working to generate, working in the battles. He fired the puck close to 15 times tonight. He just played a really strong game.”

Notes:

Roman Josi is now one assist from 200 in his NHL career.

The Preds have now won four in a row over the Senators on home ice, outscoring Ottawa 18-10 in the process.

The Predators are right back at it tomorrow night for a date with the Red Wings in Detroit at 6:30 p.m. CT. Nashville will then head home to host San Jose on Thursday before an 11 a.m. CT matinee on Sunday when the St. Louis Blues come to town.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

 

Freshman Janna Lewis hit a three pointer with seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime, and the Motlow Lady Bucks won the final five minutes 11-5 to secure a 77-71 win over Southwest Tennessee in Memphis Saturday afternoon. The win came on the heels of a 61-55 loss to Dyersburg State last week in Dyersburg.

The Lady Bucks (5-17, 2-12) will now prepare for their final two home games of the season. Motlow will host Jackson State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, then welcome Columbia State to Copperweld Arena for Sophomore Recognition Day at 4 p.m. Saturday. Motlow still has another road trip before finishing the regular season, traveling to Roane State and Walters State Monday and Tuesday to make up games that were snowed out in early January.

Southwest entered the contest as the No. 2 team in the TCCAA standings, but the Lady Bucks, who have now won two of their previous four conference games after dropping the first 10, were not intimidated. Motlow led 19-18 after one quarter before the Lady Saluqis surged ahead 33-28 at the half. The home team increased its lead to 52-45 after three quarters.

But Motlow used great balance to fight its way back and force the extra period. The Lady Bucks had five players in double figures, won the rebounding battle 54-51, and dished out 23 assists on 31 made baskets. Motlow shot 41 percent from the field, but hit 7-17 three pointers and held Southwest to only 34 percent shooting, including 6-26 from behind the three-point line.

Lewis notched another double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while adding four assists. Tajah Clark also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists, along with five rebounds and three steals.

Jasmine Williams scored 12 with seven rebounds and three blocked shots, Jewel Ledbetter had 11 points with nine rebounds and two steals, and Briana Jones scored 10 with five rebounds. Lynshawn Ebron added eight points and five assists, Joy Porter scored two with seven rebounds, and Miranda Boutwell added a point.

The Lady Bucks fell to Jackson State 54-46 back in November in Jackson in the first TCCAA game of the regular season. Motlow is trying to climb out of the cellar in the TCCAA standings and a win over the Lady Generals would go a long way in accomplishing that as teams battle for seeding position for the upcoming TCCAA/Region VII Tournament, which begins March 2 at Chattanooga State in Chattanooga.

The Lady Bucks, despite playing much of the season with only nine players on the roster, have been close to having a much better year than their record would indicate. Motlow has lost nine games by 10 points or less and six of them by six points or less. With the tournament just two weeks away, the Lady Bucks appear to playing their best basketball at the best time.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at MotlowSports.com for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics on social media at MotlowSports.

A physical and tough matchup awaited Coffee County as the girls’ District 8AAA basketball district tournament got underway on Saturday in Columbia.  The Lady Raiders squared off against Tullahoma in the opening game of the day in the semifinal round of the tournament.  After a struggle in the first quarter, Coffee County controlled the final 3 periods to get a 57 to 37 win.

Tied at 17 with just under 5 minutes to play in the half, Coffee County closed out the period on a 12 to 3 run to seize a 9 point lead at the half.  After opening the 3^rd period on a 6 to 0 run, Coffee County opened up a 15 point lead.  Tullahoma could not get the deficit below 10 in the 2^nd half.

The Lady Raiders finished with 4 players in double digits.  Bella Vinson led Coffee County with 14 points.  Alliyah Williams and Ellie Graham each tallied 12 points and Jacey Vaughn finished with 10 points.  Williams had the first points of each half and was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.

Coffee County will advance to Monday’s District finals with the opportunity to win their first district title since 2009. Coffee County will square off against Shelbyville beginning at 7:30 PM at Columbia.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast beginning with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 7:20.

It also guarantees a Region 4AAA Tournament home game for Coffee County this weekend. The 1^st round region tournament games will take place on Friday, February 23^rd at 7 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Coffee County will host Oakland or Blackman on Friday night.

Download Saturday’s broadcast at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/tullahoma-vs-coffee-county-girls-basketball-district-semifinal_123168

A three point basket from the corner with 18 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding score on Saturday night as the Red Raider basketball team fell in the District 8AAA semifinals.  A frantic final period made for an exciting and dramatic finish that saw Darius Rozier’s probable game winning shot rim out as time expired.  Coffee County fell to Lawrence County by a final score of 42 to 41.

Coffee County got off to a strong start as they built a 12 point lead in the 2^nd quarter.  But Lawrence County answered with back to back 3 pointers shaving the lead to 8 at the half.  The Wildcats tied the game on a 3 pointer in the final minute of the 3^rd quarter to set up an intense final period.

Lawrence County’s Hunter Hagen, who had been held quiet by the Coffee County defense, buried a fadeaway jumper with a hand in his face for the 9^th lead change of the 4^th quarter.  That gave Lawrence County the lead with 18 seconds left in the game.   Coffee County got a pair of looks at the basket in the waning seconds, but Darius Rozier’s probable game winner just ahead of the final buzzer, rattled out of the cylinder to end the hard fought game.

Darius finished with 17 points leading Coffee County as he earned the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor.  De’Aaron Rozier added 12 and Garrett Booth chipped in 6 as Coffee County saw their record drop to 16 and 9 on the season.

The loss will send the Raiders to Tuesday’s consolation game where they will square off against Tullahoma.  The Wildcats lost Saturday’s other semifinal matchup to set up the 3^rd meeting of the year between these rivals.  That semifinal will get underway at 6 PM at Columbia Central High School on Tuesday.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.

Coffee County has already assured itself a berth in the Region 4AAA Tournament.  The 1^st round region tournament games will take place on Saturday, February 24^th at 7 PM at the home site of the District 7 champion and runner-up.  Coffee County will travel to either Blackman or Riverdale on Saturday night and Thunder Radio will be on hand to begin you that region quarterfinal.

Download Saturday’s broadcast at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/lawrence-county-vs-coffee-county-boys-basketball-district-semifinal_123180

 

Coffee County senior wrestler Alicean Stottlemyer became the first Lady Raider wrestler to earn a medal on Saturday at the TSSAA State Wrestling Championships in Franklin.  Stottlemyer is also the first Lady Raider wrestler to qualify for the state meet.  Stottlemyer advanced to the medal round with a win in the first round of the consolation bracket on Friday.  Stottlemyer finished the tournament twith a record of 2 and 2 to capture a 4th place finish.

Opening up on Friday against the top ranked wrestler in the state, Stottlemyer was pinned in the 1^st round.  Alicean rebounded to capture a 2^nd round pin on Friday afternoon to advance to Saturday’s medal round.  Stottlemyer captured her second straight pin on Saturday morning in the first round setting up a battle for 3^rd place on Saturday afternoon.

In the consolation bracket finals, Alicean squared off against Abigail Vance of West Creek.  Stottlemyer controlled much of the match and nearly scored a pin against Vance.  Stottlemyer ended up losing a heart-breaking 3 to 2 decision to settle for 4^th place.  The medal finish is the highest finish for any Coffee County wrestler at the state championship.

Members of the Coffee County Youth Bass Club hit the water on Saturday to open up the spring portion of the 2017-2018 season.  The CHS anglers headed to Tims Ford to battle the elements in a South Central Tennessee Region meet.  At the end of the day, the Team of Joe White and Adam Petty had the top finish notching 13^th place out of 98 boats.

White and Petty were the top boat for Coffee County as the Raider anglers posted 3 boats in the top 40.  White and Petty finished with a stringer of 5 fish totaling 8.85 pounds.  Their big fish came in weighing 3.2 pounds.  The team of Isaac Turner and Cameron Rutledge landed 2 fish weighing 3.7 pounds for 34^th place.  Garret Davis and Isaiah Owens finished in 40^th place with a 2.4 pound stringer of 2 fish.

The Coffee County anglers are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Smithville to compete in the Tennessee Bass Nation Trail tournament on Center Hill Lake.  This is the 4^th state qualifying meet on the state BASS trail and will feature anglers from across the state.  The boats will begin launching around first light at the Ragland Bottom Recreation Area.

For more information about the Coffee County Youth Bass Club, visit their Face book page at: https://www.facebook.com/coffeecountyfishing/

A young Temple Baptist Christian School basketball team closed out their season on Saturday with a 5^th place finish in the own Eagle Invitational Tournament.  The Eagles finished the tournament with a 2 and 2 record culminating in an overtime win in the 5^th place game.  Temple finished the year with no seniors and a core of young JV players that will move up to the varsity level next season.

The Eagles opened tournament play with a pair of pool games on Friday.  Temple opened up with a loss in their opening game to Shenandoah Christian Academy of Cleveland, TN 73 to 51.  Cody Swayze scored 40 points to highlight the win.  The Eagles bounced back to capture a win over Faith Christian Academy of Jamestown in Friday’s nightcap.  Temple won 55 to 29 as 4^th grader Brennan Davis and 6^th grader Issac Stewart each scored baskets in the win for the Eagles.

On Saturday, foul trouble plagued Temple as they fell by 4 points in the opening round game of the double elimination tournament.  The Eagles bounced back on Saturday afternoon to take the 5^th place game in overtime over Faith.  Victory Baptist of Shelbyville won the tournament with a championship win over Shenandoah.  Dogwood Christian of Tunnel Hill, Georgia beat Georgia rival Philadelphia Christian of Calhoun in the 3^rd place game.

Another try at a comeback came up short as the Nashville Predators fell by a 3-1 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. It’s the second consecutive regulation loss for the Preds, the first time they’ve done so since Dec. 19-21, 2017, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the locker room following the contest.

Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette and Nashville players say Saturday’s effort was a step in the right direction when it comes to playing the way they want to be successful. The Preds could’ve easily had the game tied, as they hit the post at least twice – maybe more – on the night, but the bounces didn’t fall.

And even though they feel they may have played well enough to win, as Laviolette said, it doesn’t matter how many chances the Preds had – it ultimately wasn’t enough.

“I thought we did a lot of good things out there tonight, but at the end of the day it’s not enough,” Laviolette said. “I give Detroit credit, they played hard, they checked hard, they defended hard, they blocked a lot of shots and were able to walk out with the two points.”

“I thought we played well,” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We had a lot of shots, we had a lot of good chances and we were competing hard. That’s a fast team over there. They worked just as hard, and they earned that win. I thought we did a lot of good things, but there are obviously still areas to improve. I think from Juuse [Saros] out, we had a solid effort, it just wasn’t there.”

Detroit took a 1-0 lead when Luke Witkowski scored his first NHL goal by beating Saros on a breakaway, and Gustav Nyquist gave his club a 2-0 advantage before the period was out.

After a scoreless second period, Craig Smith gave the Predators life when he scored on the power-play to snap an 0-for-21 streak and get Nashville on the board. But with a minor penalty taken late for either side, Detroit iced it with an empty-net tally to give them the last goal of the night.

“I think we worked hard tonight, and we had a lot of energy,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said. “Everybody cares in this room, and everybody is trying, but we have to get back to 100 percent playing our way. When we are at our best, we get pucks deep. With our forechecking, it’s so hard for other teams to break out – we have zone time, we have a lot of pressure – but we’re doing that a little inconsistently right now. We have to make sure we do that for 60 minutes, and that’s how we win games.”

The Predators will host Ottawa on Monday night before traveling to Detroit to face these same Red Wings on Tuesday – two more chances to get back into the win column and play to the level those in the Nashville room know they’re capable of.

“For me, it was a step in the right direction,” Laviolette said. “A power-play goal [means] we’re doing the right thing out there. At the end of the day, though, like I said you have to score goals. If you score one goal a game you’re going to lose a lot of games. So, we have to find a way to put that puck in the back of the net.”

Notes:

Saturday’s attendance of 17,561 at Bridgestone Arena set a building record for a hockey game.

Kyle Turris returned to the Nashville lineup after missing Thursday’s game due to illness.

Defensemen Alexei Emelin and Yannick Weber were both healthy scratches on Saturday; blueliners Matt Irwin and Anthony Bitetto took their places in the lineup.

Nashville concludes their four-game home stand on Monday night when the Ottawa Senators come to town before jetting off to Detroit to play the Red Wings once more on Tuesday.

The District 8AAA basketball district tournament resumes tonight in Columbia.  Quarterfinal action will take place beginning at 4 PM.   The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at Columbia Central High School.  The girls’ championship and consolation games will be held on Monday night at Columbia with the boys to follow on Tuesday night.

The Lady Raiders will open up tournament play on Saturday at 2:00 PM against the winner of tonight’s matchup between Lawrence County and Tullahoma.  The Red Raiders will take the court at 6:30 PM on Saturday against the winner of tonight’s quarterfinal between Lawrence County and Franklin County.  Saturday’s Coffee County games will take place at Columbia Central High School and Thunder Radio will be on hand broadcast the action for you.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcomes, both Raider cage teams will advance to next week’s consolation or championship games. It also guarantees a Region 4AAA Tournament berth for each team.  The 1^st round region tournament games will take place on Friday, February 23^rd and Saturday, February 24^th.  Teams that advance to the district championship games will host the first round region tournament games.  The region tournament semifinals and finals will take place at Columbia.

Coffee County senior wrestler Alicean Stottlemyer begins her quest for a state title on Friday as the TSSAA State Wrestling Championships get underway in Franklin.  Stottlemyer is the first Lady Raider wrestler to qualify for the state meet.  Stottlemyer advanced to the girls’ state tournament on Saturday, January 27th with a 4th place finish in the TSSAA West Region Individual Tournament at Nolensville.

Weigh-in will take place at 9 AM on Friday with 1st round action set to begin at 11 AM.  The championship match is scheduled for 9 AM on Saturday morning.   The state wrestling tournament is held at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin.   Alicean will open up against top-seeded Haley Brown of Elizabethton in the first round of the double elimination tournament.

You can keep track of live results at: http://tssaasports.com/sports/wrestling-girls/