Category: Sports

The Coffee County CHS freshmen basketball teams welcomed Shelbyville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Thursday night for a doubleheader.  The freshman Lady Raiders fell 25 to 13 to the Eaglettes.  The freshman Red Raiders kept their winning streak alive with a 47 to 33 win.

The Lady Raiders had trouble converting baskets in the paint as they fell behind 15 to 8 in the first half.  After a short flurry cut the deficit to 4 in the 4^th quarter, Shelbyville closed out strong to capture the 11 point win.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Baylee Haithcock who had 8 points including a pair of 3 pointers.  Jade Arnold finished with 7.

The Red Raiders jumped out to leads of 11 to 0 and 22 to 2 in the first quarter as they coasted to the win over the Eagles.  The Raiders led by 25 at the half in the blowout win.  Coffee County was led in scoring by C.J. Anthony and Kyle Farless who each scored 10 points.  Alex Esquivel added 9 points for the Red Raiders.

The freshmen boys will take the court on Monday at home when host Tullahoma.  The game will tip off at 6 PM.

 The Coffee County Claybusters had a great day on Saturday in the ATA/AIM Shoot at Big Springs.  Twenty seven Coffee County shooters took part in the event as Coffee County brought home the lion’s share of top awards.  A pair of Claybuster teams won their classifications while all 5 teams placed in the top 3.  Individually, 4 Coffee County shooters captured the top score in their class.

In team competition, the Claybusters Team #1 captured a top finish in the Junior Division, Class A&B with a score of 471.  The team consisted of: Hayden Jacobs(who shot a 96 out of 100), Lindsey Dickson(85), Colter Smith(96), Victoria Majors(97) and Austin Schaller(97) .  They outdistanced 2^nd place Central Magnet by 11 targets as they had the Highest Overall Average in the high school(junior) division.

The Claybusters Team #2 won the Sub-Junior(middle school age) Class A to C with a score of 454 for the Highest Overall Average.  They outdistanced the Claybusters Team #3 by 22 clays.  Team #2 consisted of: Tucker Carlton(96), Emma Mathews(89), Landon Meadows(93), Blane Schreck(86) and Logan Meadows(90).  Team #3 was: Alexus Stacey(87), Jonah Wyatt(96), Elizabeth Moore(86), Aubrey Payne(74) and Brason Fletcher(89).

Individually, Colter Smith won the Class A individual championship.  Victoria Majors was the Lady Champion.  Jonah Wyatt captured the Sub-Junior championship over 2^nd place Tucker Carlton.  Landon Meadows won the Handicap competition and Austin Schaller was 2^nd with Hayden Jacobs 3^rd in the Junior division individual standings.

The Claybusters will take off the rest of the month of December from competition.  The Claybusters will practice most Saturday’s the rest of the month and resume competition in January.

The Coffee County CHS wrestling team welcomed Riverdale and Cascade to their home mat at the Raider Academy on Tuesday night.  The teams competed in a 3 way duals matchup at “The Dojo.”  Coffee County defeated Cascade 53 to 12 and lost to Riverdale 60 to 24.

Against Cascade, the Raiders captured 5 pinfall wins.  Capturing pins for the Raiders were Dakota Chalker(160 pound class), Noah O’Shields(170), Andrew Lawson(182), Christopher Speegle(220) and Ethan Pike(285).  Evan Jaynes(145) captured a technical fall as out outscored his opponent 15 to 0.  Mary Wolfrum(120) and Hunter Massey(106) won via forfeit.

Against Riverdale, Coffee County won 2 matches with pins and one match via a forfeit.  Hunter Massey was uncontested at 106 pounds for the forfeit win for the Raiders.  Dakota Chalker(160) and Evan Jaynes(145) each captured victories after pinning their opponents.

The Raider grapplers return to the mat on Thursday as they head to Murfreesboro for a 3 team duals match.  Coffee County will face off against Siegel and Franklin County at Siegel High School.  First match is set to begin at 6 PM.

Sophomore Rashawn Fredericks recorded three double-doubles, giving him six in his team’s previous seven games, to lead the Motlow Bucks to victory in three consecutive home games last week at Copperweld Arena. Motlow will play its final game before the holiday break when it travels to Boaz, Ala., to face Snead State on Monday, Dec. 11. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Motlow opened the week by beating Georgia Highlands 97-71 Wednesday. The Bucks followed that with a pair of Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) wins, beating Cleveland State 84-66 Friday night and Chattanooga State 96-66 Saturday afternoon. Motlow stands alone on top of the TCCAA men’s basketball standings as the only team without a conference defeat.

The Bucks (9-1, 5-0) were ranked No. 9 in the nation in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) preseason poll. The first regular season poll is scheduled to be released this week, and all indications point to Motlow at least holding its preseason ranking if not moving up a couple of spots. Fredericks will also be a strong candidate for national player of the week honors.

It was the second win of the season over Georgia Highlands, the nation’s No. 18-ranked team in the preseason poll, with the Bucks beating the Chargers 79-60 in Rome to open the season Nov. 1.

Fredericks was spectacular Wednesday night, scoring the first 11 points of the game and finishing with 33 points and 13 rebounds along with three steals and a blocked shot. Motlow blistered the nets, shooting 56 percent from the field, including 8-21 three pointers, and hit 23 of its 28 free throw attempts. The Bucks led 41-31 at halftime and were never really threatened in any of the three home court wins.

Isaiah Hart scored 19 points, hitting 3-5 three pointers, and dished out four assists with two steals. Kevonte Corley barely missed a double-double with nine points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. David Fraser scored eight points with seven rebounds and three assists, and Dillon Smith had four points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Motlow also got excellent bench contributions from Anthony Yarbrough, who scored seven points with six rebounds; Kin Webster with six points, three rebounds and three assists; and Hayden Edmondson who hit a three pointer and dished out three assists.

The most competitive of the three home games was Friday night against Cleveland State. Although the Bucks led the entire game, including 42-32 at halftime, the Cougars kept the margin around 10 points until the final minutes. Motlow hit 11-26 three pointers, 42.3 percent, and held the Cougars to 35 percent shooting from the field. Motlow dominated the battle of the boards, outrebounding the visitors 57-41.

Hart hit a big basket whenever Cleveland State would begin to make a run, and he led all scorers with 30 points including nailing 11-12 free throws. Hart, who leads the team averaging 19 points and five assists per game, dished out eight dimes against the Chargers and added four rebounds and three steals.

Fredericks scored 22 with 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Smith added 17 points and had four rebounds and three steals. Corley was a beast on the boards, leading the Bucks with 16 rebounds while scoring eight points and blocking three shots.

The ‘Fantastic Four’ of Hart, Fredericks, Corley and Smith fought through the fatigue of playing three games in four days and once again led the Bucks to their dominating win over Chattanooga State Saturday. Motlow was never challenged, leading 44-26 at halftime and connecting on 12-27 three-point shots for the game.

Smith took the scoring honors against the Tigers, hitting 4-6 three-point shots and scoring 24 points. Fredericks scored 16 with 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals; Hart scored 14 with five assists and two steals; and Corley had eight points and 11 rebounds. Zaire Swaby added seven points and a pair of rebounds, Leo Castillo had five points and three rebounds, and Chad Emmons scored four points with four boards.

Following Monday’s contest against Snead State, the Bucks will break for the holidays. Their next contest will be Jan. 5, 2018, when they travel to West Plains, Missouri, for a pair of games. The next home game is Friday, Jan. 19, with Dyersburg State visiting for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

Playing at Warren County is never an easy task for any basketball team as the Coffee County Central High School basketball teams once again proved on Tuesday night.  Both Coffee County teams saw their perfect season records take a blemish in a pair of hard fought losses.  The Lady Raiders lost 62 to 54 while the Red Raiders lost 67 to 63.

After trailing at the half for the first time this season 25 to 24, the Lady Raiders got a huge 3 pointer to open the second half by Ashley Starks to take a 27 to 25 lead.  That lead was the only lead in the second half for Coffee County as Warren County went on a 17 to 8 run to close out the period.  The Lady Pioneers were aided by 13 offensive rebounds in the game as they led by as many as 12 points in the second half.  Bella Vinson led Coffee County in scoring with 12 points.  Ashley Starks had 11 as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.   Abby Morgan finished with 10.

The Red Raiders saw Warren County go on an 18 to 0 run in the first quarter to seize control of the boys game early.  After trailing by 17 at the end of the first quarter, Coffee County trimmed the deficit to 11 at the half and 7 entering the 4^th quarter.  Coffee County tied the game twice in the 4^th quarter at 57 and 59 but Warren County was 16 of 17 at the free throw line to seal the win.  Darius Rozier led the Raiders in scoring with 19 points.  Garrett Booth had 16 points, including 10 in the second half to key the Raider comeback and earn the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor.   Grey Riddle finished with 8 p0ints.

Coffee County returns home on Friday night for a district doubleheader with Columbia .  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, Thunder Radio begins live coverage with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50

Download a copy of the game broadcasts at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Westwood Middle School basketball teams traveled to Fayetteville on Tuesday for their final regular season road game.  The Lady Rockets claimed a season sweep over the Lady Tigers 33 to 13.  The Rockets missed out on the sweep falling 32 to 29.

The Lady Rockets outscored the Lady Tigers 23 to 4 in the 2^nd half of the girls’ contest.  Westwood held Fayetteville to 2 points in the 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th quarters to gallop to the win.   Kasen Holt led Westwood in scoring with 8 points.  Elizabeth Brown added 7 points and Alex Nelson finished with 6 as Westwood improved to 8 and 4 on the year.

The Rockets gave up too many second chance points to Fayetteville in the boys’ game.  The Rockets were also held to 3 points in the 3^rd quarter as their record falls to 7 and 5 on the season.  Trent Thompson had 9 points to lead Westwood in scoring.  Will Partin and John Dobson each added 8.

Westwood will host their final home game of the season on Thursday night when they welcome Huntland to the Joel Vinson Gym.  The girls’ game will get underway at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of all the action.  Lucky Knott will be on the call as the pregame show will get underway at 5:50 PM.

The Temple Baptist Christian School varsity and junior varsity teams hit the road to Shelbyville on Tuesday night for a boys’ basketball doubleheader.  The Eagles took on their 2^nd rival in 2 days as they tangled with Victory Baptist.  The JV team won their first game of the year in dramatic fashion  27 to 25 while the varsity team battled to the wire before falling  83 to 64.

Victory broke a tie with 10 seconds remaining on a made bucket to take a 25 to 24 lead in the JV game.  After an Eagles’ timeout with 5 seconds to go, Temple needed to go the length of the floor to tie or win the game.  Colton Summers nailed a shot from 50 feet away as the horn sounded to give Temple their first JV win in 2 seasons.  Alex Gloden finished with 15 points leading Temple in scoring.  Summers added 8 points with all of those coming in the 4^th quarter.

Despite a school record 48 point performance from Cody Swayze, Temple could not dig out of a first quarter hole in the varsity game.    Temple trailed 27 to 12 after 1 period but cut the deficit to 5 at the half and entered the 4^th quarter trailing by 6.  The depth of the Patriots from Shelbyville was too much in the final period as Victory pulled away for the win.  Swayze was 14 of 18 from the free throw line and had 16 field goals, including a pair of 3 pointers in the record breaking performance.

The Eagles will hit the road again next Tuesday night when they travel to Tunnel Hill, Georgia to take on Dogwood Christian Academy.  The JV game will tip off at 5:30 PM EST with the varsity game to follow.

Juuse Saros made a career-high 43 saves and his Nashville teammates scored four times in the second period as the Predators cooled off the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Nashville has won three in a row and is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. The Stars had won five straight and seven of eight.

Saros has won both his career starts against Dallas, totaling 73 saves. He has played 28 NHL games over three seasons.

Stars goalie Ben Bishop allowed three goals on 15 shots before Kari Lehtonen replaced him 4:26 into the second period. Lehtonen finished with 15 saves and gave up two goals.

Kevin Fiala scored on a first-period power play for the Predators. Cody McLeod, Pontus Aberg, Kyle Turris and Calle Jarnkrok added the second-period goals.

Stephen Johns and Jamie Oleksiak scored for Dallas in the third.

Fiala put Nashville on the board at 15:49 of the first. He took a pass from Turris low in the left faceoff circle and sent the puck into the upper right corner of the net.

Fiala has a goal in three straight games after scoring only twice in his first 24 games this season.

A flurry of activity early in the second period increased Nashville’s lead to 3-0.

Two fights within 13 seconds resulted in four major penalties. Five seconds after the Predators’ Austin Watson and Dallas’ Jamie Oleksiak settled into the penalty box, McLeod caught Bishop out of position for his first goal of the season at 2:48.

Aberg took a pass from Jarnkrok at the inside edge of the right circle and beat Bishop, chasing him from the game. It was Aberg’s first goal this season and the second of his career.

Nashville’s second power play led to another goal on Turris’ drive from the top of the left circle past Lehtonen.

The Predators even scored on a Dallas power play. Jarnkrok’s short-handed goal followed a pass at an open right side of the net as Watson skated from behind the net on the opposite side.

Dallas has scored on only two of its last 37 power plays, including two chances on Tuesday.

NOTES: Stars LW Antoine Roussel missed his third straight game because of illness. . Nashville C Ryan Johansen (upper-body injury) has missed the last two games. . The three-goal margin of victory tied the largest this season for the Predators. Dallas lost 6-1 at Tampa Bay on Nov. 16.

UP NEXT

Predators: Return home to host Vegas on Friday.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Looking to keep their perfect seasons alive on Monday night, the Coffee County Central High School basketball teams welcomed Huntland to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The Lady Raiders used their tenacious defense to key a 62 to 31 win.  The Red Raiders got a buzzer beating shot to complete the sweep 54 to 52.

Holding Huntland to 10 points in the second half and 3 points in the 4^th quarter, the Lady Raiders rolled to their 7^th straight win.  Coffee County opened up hot by racing out to a 24 to 11 lead after 1 but needed a basket at the buzzer to end the half from Morgan Jones to recapture the momentum lost to the Lady Hornets in the 2^nd period.  Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 19 points as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.   Abby Morgan added 12 points and Alliyah Williams chipped in 11 as 9 different Lady Raiders scored on the night.

Grey Riddle hauled in a weak side rebound and scored the game winning basket as time expired to give the Red Raiders their 6^th straight win.  Cold shooting by the Red Raiders, and a strong effort from Huntland, made the boys’ game a nail-biter from start to finish.   Tied at 52 with 43 seconds remaining, Coffee County patiently worked the clock down to give A.J. Rollman a shot with 3 seconds left.  Riddle collected the rebound and banked in the game winner just ahead of the horn to earn the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor.   Darius Rozier had 14 points to lead the Raiders and Garrett Booth collected 12.  Riddle shut down the Hornets leading scorer in the 4^th quarter and finished with 8 points himself.  DeAaron Rozier also had 8 points.

Coffee County hits the road on Tuesday night for a non-district contest at Warren County.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, Thunder Radio begins live coverage with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show at 5:50

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams grabbed a conference sweep on Monday night as they took down the visiting Trojans from South.  The Lady Raiders won 54 to 26.  The Red Raiders captured a 33 to 29 victory.

Jumping out to an 18 point halftime lead, the Lady Raiders crushed the Lady Trojans to improve to 9 and 2 on the season.  Coffee County held South to single digits in 3 of the 4 quarters in the win.   Kiya Ferrell led all scorers with 18 points.  Marley Perry and Alivia Reel each dropped in 11 points and Chloe Gannon came off the bench to score 5 points in the 4^th quarter.

A tremendous defensive effort from the Red Raiders held South to 5 points in the first half as carried a 12 point lead into the locker room at intermission.  Coffee County held off a second half rally from the Trojans to salvage a split of the season series with South.  Jacob Holder led Coffee County on scoring with 10 points.  Connor Shemwell added 9 and Phinehas Rollman added 6.

The middle school Raiders and Lady Raiders will travel to Woodbury on Thursday night to take on Cannon County.  The girls’ game will get underway at 6 PM at Cannon County High School.