The Lady Rockets of Westwood returned to Community on Saturday for the consolation game of Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament. Westwood squared off against Moore County with a 3rd place finish in the conference on the line. Despite outscoring Moore County in the final 3 quarters, the Lady Rockets fell 44 to 34.
Westwood outscored Moore County 30 to 27 in the final 18 minutes of the game but it could not overcome a slow start. The Lady Rockets were held to 4 points in the 1st quarter which put them in a hole they could not overcome. The Lady Rockets were led in scoring by Elizabeth Brown and Alex Nelson who each had 8 points. Haidyn Campbell had 7 points for Westwood which finished the year with a record of 10 and 6.
Following the tournament, the all-conference and all-tournament teams were named for both the boys and girls. Named to the DRVC All-Conference team for the Lady Rockets were Elizabeth Brown, Alex Nelson and Kasen Holt. The Rockets were represented on the all-conference team by John Dobson, Will Partin and Trent Thompson. Haidyn Campbell and Alex Nelson were tabbed to the all-tournament team for the Lady Rockets while Trent Thompson was named to the all-tournament team for the Rockets.
The Coffee County swim teams traveled to LaVergne on Thursday night for a division meet on Thursday night. The Coffee County teams were paired up against Stewarts Creek in the duals scoring format. The Red Hawks swept Coffee County’s men and women and also captured the combined title in the head to head matchup.
The night did feature some strong individual performances for both the Lady Raiders and Red Raiders.
For the Lady Raiders
Kaylee Williams won the 200M IM with a time of 2:42.71 as she cut 1.2 seconds off her state qualifying time. She also won the 100M breaststroke in a time of 1:22.11
Anna O’Connor finished in 2nd place in the 100M butterfly and 2nd in the 100M backstroke
Lindsey Cauble came in 3rd in the 400M freestyle and 5th in the 50M freestyle
Alessandra Marlow finished 6th in the 50M freestyle and 12th in the 100M backstroke
Andie Clutter cut four seconds off her 200M freestyle time to finish in 10th place. She also finished in 11th place in the 100M freestyle
Allyson Talley finished 12th in the 200M freestyle
Lacey West finished 11th in the 50M freestyle and 15th in the 100M freestyle
E’Melilia Walker finished 14th in the 100M backstroke
For the Red Raiders
Jack Beachboard won the 200M IM with a time of 2:42.71 as he cut 1.2 seconds off his season best time. He aslo won the 100M breaststroke in a time of 1:15.67
John Michal finished in 4th place in the 400M freestyle and 13th in the 50M freestyle
Luke Irwin finished 11th in the 100M freestyle and 15th in the 50M freestyle
Ben Davis finished 12th in the 100M freestyle
Terreal Clayborne finished 14th in the 50M freestyle and 15th in the 100M freestyle
For the middle school swimmers,
William Tobitt bested the HS regional time by an amazing 10 seconds in the 200 meter freestyle time as he hit the wall at 1:04.24. He also posted a time of 2:25.35 in the 200M freestyle
Rilye Bellamy swam the 100M breaststroke in a time of 2:34.76 and the 50M freestyle in 45.38
Emily Williams posted a time of 5:49.50 in the 400M freestyle and 1:46.56 in the 100M breaststroke
Aly Hutchings swam the 100M breaststroke in a time of 2:11.25 and the 50M freestyle in a time of 38.54
Tristan Sons swam the 50M freestyle in a time of 53.44
Patience Drigger swam the 50M freestyle in a time of 52.34 and the 100M freestyle in 1:59.53
The Lady Raider middle schoolers swam the 200M freestyle in a time 2:53.40. That team was made up of Emily Williams, Patience Drigger, Aly Hutchings and Taylor Wall
In the team relays, the Lady Raiders placed
1st in the 400M freestyle relay as Anna O’Connor, Lindsey Cauble, Lacey West and Kaylee Williams swam for Coffee County.
2nd in the 200M freestyle relay
6th in the 200M Medley relay
The Red Raiders in the team relays placed
3rd in the 400M freestyle relay
5th in the 200M freestyle relay
The Raiders return to the water on January 11th when they square off in a division meet with Siegel. That meet will be held at the LaVergne High School natatorium. First race is set for 6 PM.
The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team will be hosting their 4th Annual Christmas Tournament beginning next week. Eight teams, from as far away as Jamestown and Jackson, will compete in the 3 day event to crown a champion. The tournament begins on Monday, December 18th and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.
Competing in the tournament will be Shelbyville, York Institute, Franklin County, Lebanon, Glencliff, University School of Jackson, Smyrna and Coffee County. Games will begin at 3 PM each afternoon and will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at CHS. The championship game will be held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, December 20th.
Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of Monday night’s game against Smyrna. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 PM and Thunder Radio will begin live coverage at 7:20 with the Powers Storage Pregame Show.
Pekka Rinne stopped all 32 shots he faced and the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames by a 2-0 final on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s the second consecutive shutout for the Preds, after a 4-0 victory in Edmonton on Thursday. The win gives the Preds points in seven consecutive outings, as well as a three-game sweep through Western Canada.
The Predators haven’t lost a game in regulation in the month of December and the club now has 16 victories in their last 20 tries, and after completing this three-game excursion, Nashville is six points richer.
“A full-team effort again,” Nashville center Ryan Johansen said of the win. “The trip hasn’t been perfect by any means, but we played a lot of good hockey. We started off right in Vancouver and found ways to win the last couple games, so a lot of credit to every guy in here. Every guy was contributing throughout this trip, so it was a fun three games for us.”
After a scoreless opening frame, Nashville continued their second-period dominance with two tallies in the stanza, courtesy of Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala. The latter marker, assisted by Kyle Turris, extended a pair of point streaks to seven games each for Fiala and Turris. As a line, Turris, Fiala and Craig Smith have now combined for 49 points across 17 games since Turris arrived in Nashville.
Not to be lost in the scoring was a solid effort from the Nashville penalty kill in the middle frame, with the Preds fending off a five-minute major penalty taken by Austin Watson, which included a full, two-minute 5-on-3 advantage embedded within.
Another successful third period followed, and the Preds closed it out with sound defense and clutch saves from Rinne to finish the trip with just one goal allowed.
“Somehow, we find a way to win, and I think that’s the biggest thing, just win,” Preds forward Filip Forsberg said. “That’s what you try to do in this League.”
How Sweep It Is:
Vancouver? Win. Edmonton? Same deal. Calgary? You can probably guess.
Three stops in Western Canada brought about the same result each time as the Predators collected victories over the Canucks, Oilers and Flames within a four-day span. And while Ryan Johansen admitted the trip wasn’t perfect, the six additional points in the standings are all the Predators need to see to confirm the success they’ve had over the past four days.
“[That’s] three teams that are fighting for their lives, and to be able to have two shutouts and one goal against – one goal in three games – I guess that says a lot about our group right now and the direction we’re going,” Johansen said.
“To go into this trip on the road you, want to be above .500 and this kind of trip is really a confidence booster,” Rinne said.
Pesky Preds:
Sure, the Predators tallied a total of 13 goals in three games to finish out their road trip, but it was the stinginess at the other end of the ice – just one goal allowed, including back-to-back shutouts – that will end up being the story of the journey.
Juuse Saros and Pekka Rinne combined for consecutive blankings of their opponents, just the second time in franchise history two different goaltenders have posted back-to-back shutouts.
Whether it was the men in the blue paint or the players in front of them, the Predators hardly gave the opposition anything, just another reason why Nashville continues to sit atop the Central Division.
“That’s pretty amazing that as a team we gave up one goal [in] three games,” Rinne said. “But it speaks volumes about this team and the way we’re playing right now.”
“Our goaltending was outstanding on the trip,” Laviolette said. “You think about it, it’s a really difficult trip with the flights, the time zones and getting in at whatever time in the morning, the goalies were sharp. That’s just flatout what happened. They just played lights out for three games.
“Our guys did a really good job right in front of the goalie. I thought the same thing tonight as well. The first period was a little bit loose, but I thought we did a really good job in that zone just wanting to clean things up.”
Notes:
With an assist on Ryan Johansen’s goal, Viktor Arvidsson recorded his 100th career point.
Preds Assistant Equipment Manager Jeff Camelio worked his 1,500th professional hockey game when he stepped behind the bench on Saturday night in Calgary.
With the Western Canada trip now complete, the Predators will head home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before a trip to Dallas on Dec. 23 to round out the schedule leading up to the Christmas holiday.
A 45-yard field goal by 49ers kicker Robbie Gould on the final play of the game was the difference in a 25-23 loss to the 49ers.
The Titans had taken the lead 23-22 on kicker Ryan Succop’s 50-yard field goal with 1:07 left.
With the loss, the Titans dropped to 8-6 on the season, two games behind in the Jaguars (10-4) in the AFC South.
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 23-of-33 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns, with a 110.8 rating. But the Titans couldn’t stop 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who completed 31-of-43 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns.
Titans fell behind 16-3 before rallying, only to come up short.
The Titans cut the lead to 16-10 just before halftime on a four-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to tight end Delanie Walker, which capped a 6-play, 79-yard drive. Mariota completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive, including the scoring strike to Walker with just 29 seconds left before halftime. Until then it had been a tough half for Walker, who let a catchable ball go off his hands in the end zone, and later lost a fumble.
The Titans cut the lead to 16-13 early in the third quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Succop, which capped off a 14-play, 62-yard drive.
Then came the Mariota and the Titans offense again.
Working primarily out of the no huddle, the Titans put together another long drive, and capped it off with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Mariota to receiver Rishard Matthews. The third-down play came at the end of a 12-play, 84-yard drive for the Titans, and it made it 20-16.
The 49ers cut the lead to 20-19 with on a 50-yard field goal by Gould, his fourth field goal of the day. Gould’s fifth field goal of the game gave the 49ers a 22-20 lead over the Titans with 3:08 left.
The Titans took over at their own 25, down 22-20 with 3:08 left. The team drove to take the lead, but let it slip away late.
It was a tough loss at the end of an 0-2 road trip.
The 49ers took a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal by kicker Gould, which capped a 12-play, 64-yard drive. Titans linebacker Avery Williamson’s sack of Garoppolo backed the 49ers up, and helped the team get a stop.
The 49ers made it 6-0 on Gould’s second kick of the game, this one from 48 yards.
After the Titans cut the lead to 6-3 on a 40-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Succop, the 49ers answered back with a long drive of their own.
Garoppolo’s five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Garrett Celek capped a 17-play, 85-yard drive that took 8:36 off the clock, and made the score 13-3. Gould’s third field goal of the half made it 16-3 with 1:37 left before halftime.
The Titans face the Rams next Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
Facing a Cascade team that ran up the score on the Lady Rockets in October, Westwood returned to Community on Thursday night for a semifinal matchup in the Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament. This time, Westwood was able to keep it closer, but not able to pull the upset. Cascade dropped the Lady Rockets 42 to 29.
After falling behind by 5 in the first quarter, Westwood was able to stay close to the Lady Champions heading into the 4th quarter. Cascade was able to pull away late to advance to the championship game. Westwood once again showed their offensive balance as they were led in scoring by Haidyn Campbell, Kennedy Young, Kasen Holt and Elizabeth Brown who all had 6 points. Alex Nelson finished with 5.
Westwood will return to Community on Saturday morning for the tournament consolation game. Westwood will square off against Moore County in the consolation game beginning at 10 AM.
Coffee County Middle School traveled to Shelbyville on Thursday night for their first meeting of the year with Harris. The Lady Raiders scrapped their way to a 32 to 21 win. The Red Raiders fell by a final score of 39 to 16.
The Lady Raiders held Harris scoreless in the 3rd quarter to add to their 1 point halftime lead and take control of the game. The win gives the Lady Raiders their 12th win of the year. Marley Perry led Coffee Middle in scoring with 24 points. Kiya Ferrell added 6.
In the boys’ game, Harris stormed out to an 18 to 2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Red Raiders committed 27 turnovers on the night which throttled any possible comeback attempt. Coffee Middle was led in scoring by Connor Shemwell who had 7 points. Hayden Garr added 3.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will now be off for the Christmas holidays. They will return to the court on Thursday, January 4th when they travel to McMinnville to take on Warren County. The girls’ game will begin at 6 PM.
As 2017 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 40 prep teams we follow and report on. Today we look back at the year for the WMS tennis teams. A lot of new faces hit the court for Westwood in 2017. Coach Justin Winton saw his young team improve all season long as they posted several strong performances at the end of the season.
Thunder Radio reported on Westwood’s sweep of St. Andrews-Sewanee with the following story we published on May 2nd
Braeden Massicotte of WMS tennis
The Westwood tennis team traveled to Sewanee on Tuesday for a rematch with St. Andrews. The match was the final match of the year for Westwood. The Rockets and Lady Rockets captured a pair of wins on May 1st at home. On Tuesday, with several players missing, the Rockets and Lady Rockets fell in their matches with the Mountain Lions.
The Lady Rockets fell 3 to 2 in their match. Westwood got a win in singles from Lauren Perry. The doubles team of Perry and Callie Roper won their doubles’ match. The Rockets lost 4 to 1. Braeden Massicotte and Caelan Ducker won in doubles play.
Juuse Saros made 46 saves for his second career shutout and Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators kept up their torrid pace of late with a 4-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Pontus Aberg, Kevin Fiala and Roman Josi also scored for the Predators (20-7-4), who are 10-1-2 in their last 13 games and have won 10 straight against Edmonton.
Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 shots but the Oilers (13-17-2) lost for the second time in three games.
There was no scoring in the first period, but it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort on the Oilers’ part, as they outshot Nashville 22-4.
Nashville’s fifth shot ended up going in as a high shot by Mattias Ekholm was tipped by Aberg past Brossoit three minutes into the second period. The goal was upheld following a video review for a high stick on the deflection.
Nashville added to its lead with a power-play goal five minutes later as a shot hit an Oilers defender and landed on the doorstep before being tapped in by Fiala.
The Predators made it 3-0 with five minutes left in the second when Turris rifled a shot to the top corner for his seventh of the season. A couple of minutes later, Josi scored from the side of the net on a two-man advantage.
The shots after 40 minutes were 33-13 in favor of Edmonton, and 46-23 following the scoreless third period.
NOTES: It was the first meeting of the season between the teams, who will face each other twice more. … The Predators have scored three or more goals in 18 of their last 19 games. … Edmonton starting goalie Cam Talbot practiced and could return as soon as Saturday against the Wild.
UP NEXT
Predators wrap up their three-game road trip Saturday in Calgary
The Westwood Rockets saw their season come to an end on Wednesday night at the Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament. The Rockets took on Cascade in the quarterfinal round at Community Middle School. Missed shots at the rim halted one of the best Rocket seasons in years as they fell 50 to 35.
The Rockets came out to a sluggish start as Cascade outscored Westwood 15 to 7 in the first period and trailed by 10 at the half. In the second half, Westwood began to find their shooting touch but Cascade was able to keep pace and hold off the Rocket charge.
Westwood was led in scoring by Trent Thompson who had 16 points. Will Partin added 9 points and John Dobson scored 7 for Westwood who finished the year with a record of 8 and 6.
The Lady Rockets will be in action tonight beginning at 5:30 PM as they take on Cascade in the semifinals. That game will be held at Community Middle School.
The Lady Rockets of Westwood returned to Community on Saturday for the consolation game of Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament. Westwood squared off against Moore County with a 3rd place finish in the conference on the line. Despite outscoring Moore County in the final 3 quarters, the Lady Rockets fell 44 to 34.
