Category: Sports

Cold shooting and turnovers spoiled a solid defensive effort by Coffee County on Saturday night as the Lady Raiders fell 48 to 33 in the District 8AAA semifinals.  The loss drops Coffee County into the consolation game on Monday night as the Lady Raiders will attempt to knock off Franklin County to earn a 3^rd place finish in the district.

Lawrence County jumped out to a 7 to 0 lead to open the game as they held Coffee County at bay with a zone defense in the first half.  The Lady Raiders trailed by 8 at the half and held the heavily favored Lady Cats to 5 points in the 3^rd quarter.  Unfortunately, the Lady Raiders were held to a single 3 point basket by Jacey Vaughn.  In the 4^th quarter, Lawrence County found their scoring stroke as they poured in 19 points, including a pair of 3 pointers and a 7 of 9 performance at the free throw line.

The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Alliyah Williams who finished with 13 points.  Holli Smithson added 6 points while Jacey Vaughn and Bailey Morgan each added 4 points.  For her solid play, Alliyah was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  The loss dropped the Lady Raiders record to 20 and 7 on the season.

Coffee County will take on Franklin County in the tournament consolation game on Monday evening.  That game is scheduled to tip off at 6 PM at Franklin County High School.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  We will begin with the Char-El Apartments & Home Rental pregame show at 5:50 PM.

DOWNLOAD THE BROADCAST AT:  http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

A three point barrage by Lincoln County and a cold shooting 2^nd half combined to end the basketball season for the Coffee County Red Raiders on Friday night in the opening round of the District 8AAA basketball tournament at Franklin County.  Coffee County, which led by 1 at the half, fell behind by 6 points in the 3^rd quarter before losing 54 to 51.  Coffee County cut the deficit to 1 point with 61 seconds remaining but a pair of turnovers in the final minute prevented the come from behind win.

The Red Raiders opened the game strong as they roared out to a an early 11 to 2 lead, only to see Lincoln County tie it at the end of the first quarter.  Coffee County trailed by 7 in the second quarter before closing the half on an 8 to 0 run to lead at intermission 25 to 24.  Lincoln County captured the lead with 4:09 left in the 3^rd quarter and never trailed again in the win.

Grant Sadler led Coffee County in scoring as he finished with 12 points.  Tyrese McGee added 11 points and Steven Sullivan finished with 10.  Sadler notched his points on four 3 point baskets, one in each quarter, to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  The loss leaves Coffee County’s final record at 21 and 8 which is the best record for a Red Raider basketball team in roughly 50 years.

DOWNLOAD THE BROADCAST AT:  http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

 

The Predators defeated the Blue Jackets 4-3 on Sunday. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm scored the game-winning goal with 10:51 left in regulation, breaking a 3-3 tie.

Scoring first and early: After allowing an early goal in their Saturday loss to the Wild, the Predators quickly struck Sunday. Defenseman Ryan Ellis’ goal, his ninth this season, at 2:24 was Nashville’s third-fastest to start a game this season, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The Predators needed it, because the Blue Jackets were the aggressors through most of the game, digging out of a 2-0 hole and tying the score at 3 in the opening minutes of the third period.

Saros strong: The reason why the Predators were able to maintain their lead through most of the game was because of the play of goaltender Juuse Saros in his 12th start this season. He stopped all 19 Columbus shots in the first period.

Fiala’s turn: Nashville has been looking for a left wing to play on captain Mike Fisher’s line. Kevin Fiala, recalled from the minors Saturday, had his turn against Columbus and made an impression in his first NHL game since Jan. 12, scoring on a heads-up play in the second period. With five more games before the NHL trade deadline, that position is one worth monitoring.

Johansen’s return: Nashville and Columbus met Sunday for the third time since the teams swapped center Ryan Johansen and defenseman Seth Jones in a January 2016 trade, but it was the first time Johansen returned to Nationwide Arena. The reception he received waffled between unfriendly and indifferent. Johansen, held scoreless Sunday, played his 100th game with the Predators. He has 74 points with Nashville, tied with forward Filip Forsberg for the team lead since Johansen arrived.

Up next: The Predators play their next four games at Bridgestone Arena, starting with a pivotal matchup against the Flames on Tuesday.  Calgary trails Nashville by two points in the Western Conference wild-card race.

A 9 to nothing run to end the first quarter propelled the Lady Raider basketball team to their 20^th year on the season on Friday afternoon as Coffee County defeated Tullahoma 57 to 32.  The win advances Coffee County to the District 8AAA tournament semifinals on Saturday and also assures Coffee County a berth in the Region 4AAA tournament next week.

After a rash of turnovers and missed shots, Coffee County and Tullahoma were tied at 8 with 2:24 left in the first period.  The Lady Raiders closed out the quarter on a 9 to 0 run and opened the 2^nd quarter with the first 4 points to build a 13 point lead.  From that point, Tullahoma was never able to cut the lead before 9 points as Coffee County got their 5^th win in a row against their cross county rivals.

A trio of Lady Raiders scored in double figures as Abby Morgan led the way with 14 points.  Aerial Williams added 13 points and Holli Smithson finished with 12.  Morgan had 10 points in the 2nd  quarter to help Coffee County build a 12 point lead at the half.  Williams had 5 points in the 4^th quarter and 9 points in the second half to keep the Lady Cats at bay.  For their efforts, Williams and Morgan were named the Crazy Daisies co-players of the game.

The win gives Coffee County 20 wins which is the most for the Lady Raiders since 2001 when the Lady Raiders finished with a record of 21 and 10.  2001 was also the last year that Coffee County won the District 8AAA tournament.  The win assures the Lady Raiders a region berth for the first time since 2013.

Coffee County will take on Lawrence County in the tournament semifinals on Saturday evening.  That game is scheduled to tip off at 5 PM at Franklin County High School.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  We will begin with the Char-El Apartments & Home Rental pregame show 10 minutes before tip-off.

DOWNLOAD THE BROADCAST AT:  http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Colin Wilson and P.K. Subban gave their club a chance, but the Nashville Predators ultimately fell, 5-2, to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. The loss in their first game back after the five-day break keeps Nashville at 62 points on the season and gives teams coming out of the break a 3-12-4 record overall.

It would’ve been easy for the Preds to make an excuse for the loss after being off the ice for five days, but that was hardly the case. Nashville outshot and out chanced the Wild and used two goals in the third period to give Minnesota a scare before the night was over.

“I don’t think the five-day break played into it,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “If we were flat or sluggish; that’s not how I saw the game. I thought we were competitive, we got on the wrong side of the scoreboard early in the game, tough bounces, their goalie played well. But I think chances will be in our favor at the end of the night, shots are in our favor at the end of the night; we did a lot of good things.”

Mikael Granlund gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead on an early power-play opportunity, when he jammed home a loose puck past Pekka Rinne for the opening period’s only goal.

The teams traded chances in the second, and before the period was out, Jason Zucker finished a 2-on-1 opportunity to put the Wild up by two. Mikko Koivu made it 3-0 less than a minute into the third, but then the Preds made things interesting.

At the 8:16 mark of the period, Wilson followed up a Yannick Weber chance to deposit his eighth of the season to cut the lead to two. Then, two minutes later, Subban fired a shot from the point that was originally waved off due to goaltender interference, but after review, Subban was credited with his eighth of the campaign and his first tally since Dec. 6 to pull Nashville to within one.

“Whenever you’re down a couple goals, you need guys to step up and two big players for our hockey club made some plays, so it was good to see,” center Ryan Johansen said. “We felt like we had a chance there.”

As the game wound down, however, Zucker got his second of the night and Eric Staal added an empty-netter to seal the victory for Minnesota.

“It’s that time of the year where these points are important,” forward Vernon Fiddler said. “If you get the two points, you have to put it in the bank and move on to the next one and get those two points. With the loss, you’ve got to do the same thing. You can’t lose two in a row, and we lost this one, but we’ve got to get back on the horse and get back at it tomorrow.”

Nashville will now jet off to Columbus to prepare to face the Blue Jackets on Sunday evening, Ryan Johansen’s first return to Nationwide Arena as a member of the Preds.

“We’ll look at some stuff tomorrow morning. I’m sure and things we can do better but our guys, we competed hard,” Johansen said. “That’s the main thing, so as long as we lace them up again tomorrow and have the same work ethic, hopefully a couple bounces will go our way and stay out of the box a little more, and we’ll be successful.”

Notes:

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Preds recalled forward Kevin Fiala from Milwaukee. Fiala did not dress against the Wild.

Nashville will fly to Columbus and prepare to face the Blue Jackets on Sunday evening from Nationwide Arena, a 5 p.m. CT puck drop, before returning to Nashville to begin a four-game home stand on Tuesday night against Calgary.

Former Stewarts Creek High School soccer standout Marianna Ford recently signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her career as a student athlete at Motlow State Community College.

Ford is currently a freshman student at Motlow and will have two years of soccer eligibility on the community college level. Motlow will field its initial women’s soccer team in the fall of 2017, with practice scheduled to begin August 1.

“Marianna is an excellent addition to the soccer program here at Motlow,” said Andy Lyon, head soccer coach. “Her first touch is excellent and I’m really excited about bringing another creative player to the team. She fits in well with the players we are putting together and I look forward to her combining with our attacking players. She is versatile and has a great understanding of the game, not to mention an engaging personality as well.”

Ford was a three-year starter while at Stewarts Creek as a striker and an attacking midfielder. As a junior and senior she was named first-team All-District 7-AAA.

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.

With the spring sports season just around the corner for middle school teams, Thunder Radio sports checked in with the coaches and teams at Coffee County Middle School this week to get an update on their 2 plus weeks of preseason workouts.

The CCMS baseball team has a new head coach in Brock Freeze as he takes over the helm of a Red Raider team that lost several key contributors to graduation.  The Red Raiders have 27 players taking part in preseason workouts between varsity and JV,  including a good nucleus that was able to work out with Coach Freeze last summer.  Coach Freeze has been pleased with the leadership shown by his 8^th graders.  The Red Raiders have a scrimmage scheduled with Grundy County on Saturday beginning at noon.  The Raiders open the regular season on February 27^th at Sparta when they take on White County.

The Lady Raider softball team looks to be strong in the circle this year with the addition of Keri Munn to an experienced pitching staff returning.  Head coach Lana Creek has missed most of the preseason workouts as assistant coach Linda Cooper has been working to get the Lady Raiders ready for a preseason play-day this weekend in Fayetteville.  “We feel the impact of Coach Creek’s absence but the girls are working hard so when she can be here they are ready” said Cooper.  The Lady Raiders are set to play in a scrimmage play day at Lincoln County on Saturday.  The Lady Raiders will play games at 10:15, 11:30 and 12:45 against Lincoln County, South Giles and the Lincoln County JV respectively.  Coffee County opens the regular season on February 27^th at Sparta when they take on White County.

The CCMS soccer team finds themselves in the familiar role of rebuilding as less than half the projected starting lineup this spring will have previous varsity experience.  Coach Kenny Lockhart’s team has been hampered a bit this week by the flu bug that appears to be working its way through local schools.  The Raiders will participate in a scrimmage play day on Saturday, February 25^th at North Franklin.  They will have games at 10:20 AM(JV), 12:20 PM, 1 PM(JV) & 2:20 PM.  The Raiders open the regular season on February 28^th at White County.

The tennis team has a new coach in Tiffany McCormick.  Coach McCormick inherits a pretty veteran boys’ team with several returning players with experience.  Experience is also found on the girls’ team but they will enter the season having several younger players.  Currently 18 “hardworking, very respectful kids” have been enthusiastically working toward the upcoming season.   The tennis team opens their season on March 14^th at home against Lewisburg.

The CCMS track program concluded tryouts on Wednesday.  The number of student athletes has been encouraging for Coach Travis O’Kelley as he looks to have each of his teams back on top of the CTC conference.   Several runners have posted improved times from last year in the running disciplines.  Coach O’Kelley remarked that he was not sure how his team will be in their traditionally strong field events yet.  The track teams open their season at home on March 15th when they host Warren County and Harris at the newly remodeled track at Carden-Jarrell Field.

The CCMS golf team will begin preseason workouts on February 27^th and 28^th with team tryouts.  Coach Holly Rodriquez is looking forward to several returning players back this spring after graduation losses gave her a very young team last season.  The Raider linksters open their season on April 3^rd at Willowbrook against Westwood and Fayetteville.

With the spring sports season just around the corner for middle school teams, Thunder Radio sports checked in with the coaches and teams at Westwood Middle School this week to get an update on their 2 plus weeks of preseason workouts.

The two-time defending conference champion Rocket soccer team faces their biggest rebuilding effort in recent memory.  Coach Jonathan Graf is excited about his young talent.  “Most of the team are 7th graders, but I have a few 8th graders in their 3rd year with me that provide some stability on the pitch” said Graf.  The Rockets will take part in a scrimmage play day at St Andrews-Sewanee on Saturday.  The Rockets have games scheduled against South Franklin(9 AM), Fayetteville(9:40 AM) and North Franklin(11 AM).   The Rockets open the regular season on February 28^th when they host Cascade at Dyer-Bouldin Field.

The Westwood softball team has a new head coach as Amanda Stout Sullivan takes over the helm of the Rocket program.  Pitching appears to be the early bright spot for the Lady Rockets as last year’s returning starter Haidyn Campbell returns bolstered by a young crop of 6^th grade arms.  Coach Sullivan has not scheduled any scrimmages this spring as her team works toward opening day of March 2^nd.  The Lady Rockets will open the 2017 season on the road at Fayetteville.

The Westwood baseball team returns a pair of coaches this season with Dusty Hereford and Herb Nugent taking over as co-head coaches this season after serving as assistant coaches last year.  Wet field conditions and cold weather have curtailed some of the work they have been able to accomplish on the field thus far this spring.  The Rockets have a pair of scrimmage games set up for Saturday in Tullahoma at Waggoner Park.  Westwood will take on Tullahoma at 1 PM and Cascade at 5 in a JV game.  Westwood opens the regular season on March 6^th at home against Cornersville.

The Westwood tennis team is seeing outstanding numbers in their 3^rd year of the program.  Coach Justin Winton has several players returning for their 2^nd and 3^rd seasons.  “We have a solid starting lineup, and we have several 6th graders learning to play that will help us in the next year or two” said Coach Winton.  This year’s Rocket tennis teams will be forced to play their home matches at the Coffee County Raider Academy this spring with repairs underway at the city courts at Fred Deadman Park.   The Westwood tennis team opens their season on March 10^th when they play host to Tullahoma

The Westwood golf team is still a few days away from getting preseason practice underway as Coach Doug Roorda will return several key contributors from last spring.  The Westwood golf season will get underway on April 3^rd at Willowbrook as Westwood will square off against Coffee County and Fayetteville.