Category: Sports

Forcing 32 turnovers by Sale Creek and hitting 11 of their 15 free throws lifted the Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team to a 70 to 29 trouncing of Sale Creek on Thursday morning in the Whitwell Christmas Tournament.  The Lady Raiders opened up with the first 9 points of the game and never trailed.

Despite the 9 AM start, the Lady Raiders were wide awake at the opening tip as they raced out to a 19 to 2 lead in the first 6 minutes.  Sale Creek was able to cut the lead to 8 in the second period as Coach Herb Horton had emptied his bench.  The Lady Raiders responded to close out the half on a 14 to 2 run to seal the Lady Panthers’ fate.

Eight different Lady Raiders scored on the game led by Jacey Vaughn who netted 17 points.  Abby Morgan finished 15 points and Ashley Starks added 11 points.

The Lady Raiders will return to Whitwell on Friday as they will battle for 5^th place.  The Lady Raiders will take on the host Lady Tigers beginning at Noon.

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at the highlights from the prep softball teams.  The Lady Rockets of Westwood continued their rebuilding efforts in the spring as they fielded a young team with a lot of potential.  The team began showing improvement as they reached the conference tournament recording a 17 to 2 win over Huntland on April 15^th.

Two goals in the third period from the visiting Chicago Blackhawks helped them to a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. The result moves Nashville to 15-14-6 overall on the season and 8-7-1 against the Central Division.

“We have to learn from it, stick with it,” Captain Mike Fisher said. “We can’t get frustrated or down. It is frustrating, no question. But, we have to learn from it, and it’s going to start going our way. It’s going to start falling our way once we start making some better plays throughout the game, but I thought we played a pretty solid game tonight, it just didn’t fall our way.”

Filip Forsberg recorded his fourth goal in his last five games when he beat Corey Crawford in the first period and Fisher gave Nashville a 2-1 lead with a goal on the man advantage at 6:13 of the third, his team-leading fifth on the power play.

A controversial tripping call on Craig Smith in the final frame led to a power-play goal from Jonathan Toews to make it 2-2, and Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks their final lead of the night with less than six minutes to play.

“I won’t get into calls, but we just have to find a way to kill that [penalty],” Fisher said. “Then, they get a break and odd-man rushes. I thought we battled pretty hard; it was a hard game. We had chances, we just have to execute better.”

Nashville outshot Chicago 38-23 on the night, with Head Coach Peter Laviolette believing his team played well enough to win, but the group also knows victories are necessary to stay in the thick of things as the 2016 calendar year nears its end.

“The victories always matter,” Laviolette said. “We have to get two points and put them in the column. With that, I think, comes a process and [we] want the process to be right. I think our guys did a lot of good things out there tonight and didn’t get rewarded for that. We’re going to move on to tomorrow night.”

“In our division, it feels like everyone is winning,” Forsberg said. “Especially now when we lose division games, other teams are going to get ahead of us. We have to realize the moment; we still have half of the season left, but at the same time, you can’t just push the reset button after the New Year… it’s not going to happen like that. You have to get more urgent and string some wins together.”

The Predators have another shot at two points tomorrow night when they face the Blues in St. Louis, an opportunity they’re anxious to have.

“Sometimes, you go through ups and downs and it’s how you learn from it, how you come out of it,” Fisher said. “It’s making us really come together and we need to find ways and just stay up, that’s all you can do.”

Notes:

P.K. Subban (day-to-day, upper-body) missed Thursday’s game against Chicago and has also been ruled out of Friday’s contest.

James Neal left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury and did not return.

With two assists tonight, Ryan Johansen has 17 points (6g-11a) and six multi-point games in his last 17 contests.

The Predators head to St. Louis to face the Blues on Friday at Scottrade Center to finish the second half of their current back-to-back set.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Nashville Predators Radio Network beginning at 7 PM.

Pete Weber’s Post Game Report

The Coffee County Red Raider and Lady Raider basketball teams were back on the court on Wednesday playing games at nearly the same time separated by 170 miles.  The Red Raiders claimed a 75 to 42 win over Grace Christian of Franklin in the King of the Smokies Tournament in Pigeon Forge.  The Lady Raiders dropped a heartbreaking 57 to 53 decision to Lenoir City in the Whitwell Christmas Tournament.

The cold shooting which plagued the Red Raiders in Tuesday’s loss was quickly forgotten as Coffee County raced out to a 25 to 12 lead after 1 quarter and never looked back in the resounding win.  Ten different Red Raiders scored on the game and 4 Coffee County players finished in double figures.  Grant Sadler led Coffee County in scoring as he had 18 points.  Darius Rozier added 13 points while Garrett Eldridge added 11 and Tyrese McGee chipped in 10 points.  The win improves the Raiders record to 11 and 3 on the season.

Missed opportunities, missed shots and foul trouble combined to cost the Lady Raiders an opening round win on Wednesday in Whitwell.  Coffee County missed at least 10 shots from inside 5 feet on the game, including one on the last 10 seconds to fall to Lenoir City.  The Lady Raiders trailed from the opening minutes until catching Lenoir City with 5 minutes to play on a jumper from Jenna Garretson.  A brief flurry at the end of the 4^th quarter saw Coffee County miss a heavily contested shot just before the buzzer to erase a chance to tie the game.  The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Abby Morgan who finished with 15 points.  Jacey Vaughn added 11 and Bailey Morgan and Aerial Williams each chipped in 7.

Both teams are back in action in losers’ bracket games on Thursday.  The Lady Raiders will take on Sale Creek at 9 AM at Whitwell High School.  The Whitwell tournament concludes on Friday.  The Red Raiders will be in action against Cullman, AL at 12:30 ET in Pigeon Forge as they play for 5^th place.

Rarely do you find a 12 year old young man that understands patience, honesty and the Beatles.  Rarely at 12 years old does a young man have an idea what they want to do with their life.  Rarely at 12 years old does a young man have the maturity to plot a course to achieve that goal.  Rarely will you get the opportunity to meet a young man like Darryn Strickland.

Darryn, the son of Danny and Janine Strickland, is a quiet, self-assured and modest young man with a bright future in front of him.  Darryn gave up Manchester Youth Football this fall to join the Westwood football team as a 6^th grader to better prepare himself for a future in middle school football.  That “free time” allowed Darryn the opportunity to fill a need for the youth football league as their public address announcer.  People took notice as Darryn combined his strong work ethic and unique personality to develop a following.

When the Tennessee Titans announced a contest to recognize young broadcasters, Danny made a short video and sent it in to Titans Radio.  Earlier this month, Darryn was selected as the Titans Junior Broadcaster of the Year.  Darryn even got the opportunity to meet the Titans broadcast team of Mike Keith  and Frank Wychek on December 11th.  Darryn called his time with the two as the highlight of his day at Nisan Stadium.  “(Keith) was super nice and spent about 20 minutes just talking with me and sharing ideas about doing the PA.” When asked about Wychek, Darryn remarked “he looks like my uncle and Ben Roethlisberger.”

Darryn was also interviewed by Titans radio executive producer Rhett Bryan.  You can see that interview at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THwhcJb7MzI&list=PLPrX5S2GZj8BSpWjV5M2wbujIh2_igLJc

Darryn plans to continue as the public address announcer for Manchester Youth Football next season and beyond.  He also hopes to explore some more opportunities to learn about broadcasting including some opportunities with us at Thunder Radio.  The first of those opportunities will come up on Saturday as Darryn will be a guest on the Coffee Coaches Show here on Thunder Radio.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each and every Saturday morning at 10 AM from the showroom at Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show can also be heard exclusively here on Thunder Radio.

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at the highlights from the prep baseball teams.  The Westwood Rockets opened the season with a new coach and the hope of breaking a winless streak that was nearing 2 years.  The Rockets did exactly that with a 6 to 2 win at Huntland on March 7th

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on March 8^th

The Westwood baseball team got their first win of the year, and their first win since April 12, 2014, with a 6 to 2 come from behind victory over Huntland on Monday night in Huntland. Falling behind 2 to 0 in the bottom of the first inning, the Rockets used a 3 run 4th inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. Zach Milan came on in relief to get the victory and Skylar Bratcher relieved him for the save. Westwood was led in hitting by Jacob Garms who had 2 hits and 3 RBI on the night. Brady Nugent reached base 4 times for the Rockets. Westwood improves their record to 1 and 1 on the year and 1 and 0 in conference play. The Rockets are back in action on Tuesday when they play host to Huntland at Fred Deadman Park. First pitch is set for 5 PM.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Coffee County Middle School baseball team put together a lineup this spring that featured quite a bit of power.  The biggest explosion came in the CTC Tournament when the Raider crushed 3 home runs in an 8 to 3 win over South Franklin on April 18^th.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on April 19^th.

The bats of Coffee County Middle School woke up in a big way on Monday as the Red Raiders hit 3 home runs in route to an 8 to 3 win over South Franklin in the opening round of the CTC Tournament at Warren County. Hayden Skipper was 3 for 3 on the night with a homer and 3 RBI while Brandon Jernigan was 2 for 3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Garrett Davis and Trey Rogers each added singles for the Raiders. Jernigan, Skipper and Davis combined to pitch a 1 hitter as each stayed under 50 pitches on the night with Jernigan getting the win. Coffee County will now take on the top seeded Pioneers of Warren County on Tuesday at 4:45 PM at Warren County Middle School.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Coffee County Central High School baseball team also featured a new head coach and a new scrappy attitude.  A perfect example of that was a come from behind 5 to 4 win over Central Magnet on Senior Night on April 28^th.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on April 29^th.

A dramatic 2 out walk off single from Davis Green lifted the Red Raider baseball team to a 5 to 4 defeat of Central Magnet on Thursday night at Powers Field. Green’s single capped the second comeback of the game for Coffee County as they scratched out the non-district win on Senior Night.
Trailing by 1 run entering the 6th inning, Noah Anderson smacked his first home run of the year to tie the game entering the 7th. In the 7th, Nathaniel Tate reached base on a fielder’s choice and moved to 3rd on Jacob Langham’s single before being driven in by Green with the winning run.
Tate, who came on as a relief pitcher in the 7th inning picked up the win. Anderson finished the night going 2 for 3 while senior Alan Rob was also 2 for 3 with a pair of singles and 2 RBI. Zach Wise added a double for the Red Raiders.
Coffee County will be off until next week’s District 8AAA baseball tournament. The Raiders match-up and game time will be announced later and Thunder Radio will keep you up to date on the Red Raider’s schedule. Coach David Martin will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show as he will talk about the upcoming post season. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live every Saturday morning from 10 to 11 at Al White Ford/Lincoln in Manchester.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We continue our year in review on Friday when we look at prep softball

A shot from half court as time expired in the first half, helped give Grainger the momentum to drop the Red Raider basketball team on Tuesday 62 to 44 to open up the King of the Smokies basketball tournament in Pigeon Forge.  The Grizzlies, who led by 7 before the shot, took that momentum into the second half as they opened the 3^rd quarter on a 7 to 2 run.  The Red Raiders rallied to get the deficit to single digits, but back to back three point baskets stretched the lead back to 13 points effectively snapping Coffee County’s 4 game winning streak.

The Red Raiders could not match Grainger’s outside shooting success and foul trouble in the second half stunted all comeback attempts.  Stephen Sullivan continued his hot play as he led Coffee County in scoring with 21 points.  Tyrese McGee added 6 points and DeAaron Rozier added 5 points.  The loss drops Coffee County’s record to 10 and 3 on the year.

Coffee County will also drop into the loser’s bracket.  The Red Raiders are back in action on Wednesday when they take on Grace Christian of Franklin at Pigeon Forge Middle School.  That game is set to tip off at 12:30 PM EST.

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at a highlight from each of the middle school and high school soccer teams.

In the fall, all 3 girls’ prep teams enjoyed incredible success as each team advanced as far as the semifinal round of their postseason tournament.  The Lady Rockets fell to St. Andrews-Sewanee in the DRVC semifinals on September 30^th.

Thunder Radio reported on that matchup with a story we published on October 2^nd

The Lady Rockets soccer team of Westwood saw their season come to a close on Friday as they fell to St. Andrew’s-Sewanee in the semifinal round of the CTSC conference tournament. Westwood was eliminated last season in the tournament semifinals as they end the season with a record of 5 wins, 4 losses and a draw.
Against St. Andrews, neither team could get a goal in regulation or the extra period. Westwood keeper Alanna Coker finished the game with 10 saves during regulation and extra time, but the Lady Lions out shot Westwood 3 to 0 in penalty kicks to claim the 1 to 0 win and advance to the finals.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider soccer team battled from behind in Saturday’s CTC Tournament final, but could not get the winning goal in regulation or extra time against Warren County. That forced a round of penalty kicks that saw the Lady Pioneers out shoot Coffee County in PK’s to claim the CTC tournament title. The runner-up finish means that Coffee County will finish the season with a record of 9 wins, 2 losses and a draw.
Coffee Middle advanced to the final with a 3 to 0 win over Harris in Saturday morning’s semifinal. The Lady Raiders jumped on the Eaglettes early when Reagan Ellison scored off a feed from Maddy Jones in the 3rd minute. Jones made it 2 to 0 in the 28th minute with an unassisted goal. In the second half, Jones was ridden down in the 18 yard box in the 48th minute. Katie Cotton converted on the penalty kick to advance the Lady Raiders to the final.
Against Warren County, the Lady Pioneers got a goal in the 10th minute and carried that 1 to 0 lead into the half. Marley Perry banged home a deflection in the 42nd minute to send the game into the extra period. After the scoreless extra period, Warren County converted their penalty kicks to claim the title. After the match, Coach Travis O’Kelley had this to say about his team and their season: “It was a hard way to end a fantastic season. I’m proud of the effort put forth by our girls all season; going undefeated in conference play is no small achievement.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The CHS Lady Raiders advanced to the region tournament with a shutout win over Franklin County on October 11^th.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on October 12^th

The Coffee County Lady Raider soccer team punched their ticket to the Region 4AAA Tournament on Tuesday night with a 1 to 0 win over Franklin County. The district tournament semifinal win sends Coffee County to Fayetteville on Thursday night as the Lady Raiders seek a District 8AAA title when they take on Lincoln County.
Despite the low score, Coffee County controlled the time of possession and shots as they out shot the Rebelettes 22 to 5 in the match. Coffee County keeper Holli Smithson was only forced to make 3 saves as her defense kept her clean on the night. The Lady Raiders forced 6 shots on the Franklin County keeper in the middle of the 1st half culminating in a goal by MaKenzie Anderson in the 22nd minute. Samantha Ellison laid off a pass to Anderson from the center of the box and Anderson converted on a diving, sliding kick to give the Lady Raiders the only goal they would need.
Coffee County will travel to Lincoln County on Thursday to play for the District 8AAA title. Game time is set for 7 PM at Lincoln County High School. The winner of that match-up will host a region semifinal against the District 7AAA runner-up on Tuesday while the loser will travel to the District 7AAA champion

To download the 1st National Bank Hometown Sports broadcast, visit : http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We continue our year in review on Thursday when we look back at the year in prep baseball.

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at a highlight from each of the middle school and high school soccer teams.  We began the year in the spring with boys’ soccer.  The highlight of the soccer season came on April 23^rd as Westwood defeated Webb to win the CTSC conference tournament title.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on April 25^th

For the 2nd year in a row, the Westwood Rockets soccer team earned the title of the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference champions with a 4 to 0 win on Saturday over Webb at Dyer-Bouldin Field. Felix Salinas scored a pair of first half goals and added his 3rd in the second half to secure his 2nd straight hat trick in the tournament. Salinas finished the season with 35 goals as he averaged more than 2 goals per game for the Rockets. Elliot Sain added a goal in the 59th minute to add the final notch on the Rockets’ championship belt. Leo Basurto added a pair of assists for Westwood.
The Webb defense made it a priority to use 4 defenders in the match to try to frustrate a Rocket attack that scored 12 goals on Friday night. Westwood, which was held to 3 shots in the first half, made the necessary adjustments at the half to get 7 shots on frame in the second half.
The Rockets dominated the play in the midfield as Leo Suarez and Basurto neutralized nearly every Webb counterattack. On the outside, Andres Cavalie, Renato Ayala, Samuel Workman and Eric Randolph were effective in making the Webb defense move and get out of position to open up shots in the 2nd half. Reserves Angel Gonzalez, Jalen Shelton and Sain provided much needed energy and momentum off the bench for Westwood.
The Westwood defense was spectacular on the game as defenders Aiden Stowe, Corey Walker and Nicholas Johnson continued to frustrate the talented strikers from Webb and hold the Feet to 2 shots on frame. Keeper Cailan McLean stopped both of those shots to give the Rockets their 12th win of the season.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team had trouble scoring goals at times but the highlight of the year came on March 15^th when the Raiders blanked White County 4 to 0.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on March 16th 

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team earned their first win of the year on Tuesday night with a 4 to 0 defeat of White County in Sparta. The game, which was a make-up from March 3rd, saw the Raiders take a 1 to 0 halftime lead thanks to a White County Own goal in the 15th minute. In the second half, Tucker Anderson, Hayden Hargrove and Isaiah Escamilla all netted goals for Coffee County as Anderson also added an assist. To complete the sweep, the JV team dropped White County 2 to 1. With the win, the Raiders evened their record at 1 and 1 on the young season. Coffee County travels to Shelbyville to take on Harris on Thursday night. The varsity game is set to kick off at 5:30 PM.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The CHS Red Raiders saw their season come to an end in double overtime in the district tournament.  The highlight of the year took place on April 15^th when Coffee County beat Tullahoma to hold on to the Coffee Cup.

Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on April 18^h

Breyer Taylor scored twice, Paco Barrera had a spectacular goal and David Fernandez netted the game winner as the Coffee County soccer team defeated Tullahoma 4 to 3 on Friday night in Tullahoma to retain the Coffee Cup. The win, which is the first for a Coffee County men’s team on the Tullahoma pitch, marks a milestone in that the Class of 2016 soccer players will have never lost to their cross county rivals. Friday’s win is the 2nd in a row over Tullahoma after a pair of draws in 2013 and 2014. A large contingent of Red Raider fans showed up to cheer on Coffee County and actually outnumbered the Tullahoma fans in attendance. They were treated to an outstanding match whose outcome was not decided until Breyer Taylor pushed a pass forward in the final 10 seconds to allow the clock to run out.

Taylor got the lone goal for Coffee County in the 1st half off a direct kick just outside the 18 yard box in the 13th minute. Cason Conner of Tullahoma knotted the score in the 25th minute to send the game to the half even at 1. In the 2nd half, Tullahoma was awarded a penalty kick in the 43rd minute, only to see Paco Barrera take the ensuring kick-off up the middle of the field to tie the score at 2 a mere 6 seconds later. Taylor notched his second goal at the 47 minute mark only to see Tullahoma’s Conner tie it again in the 59th minute. That goal seemed to awaken some urgency in Coffee County as they turned on the offensive pressure only to see David Fernandez slide across the goal mouth and flick a rebound past the keeper in the 63rd minute. John Parigger was solid in goal as he turned away 6 of 9 Tullahoma shots on frame, but he also displayed great decision making in the box to thwart a handful of Wildcat scoring opportunities. After the game, Taylor was named the most outstanding player for Coffee County and Conner was tabbed for the Wildcats in an awards ceremony presented by First Vision Bank. The win moves the Raiders into a first place tie in the district with Shelbyville. Coffee County will take on Shelbyville on Tuesday at 7 PM in a match to be held at Shelbyville.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We continue our year in review on Thursday when we look back at the year in prep baseball.

Jared Spurgeon scored in overtime and the Minnesota Wild collected their 11th consecutive win as they topped the Nashville Predators by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The result gives Nashville a point in the standings, as well as points in four of their last five games, but that fact didn’t provide much consolation for a team trying to stay in the thick of the Central Division race coming out of the holiday break.

“We need to find a way to be ready to play,” forward Filip Forsberg said. “We have to be ready right away. [We didn’t score on an early power play] and they scored right after. That’s not the way we want to start the game, and we’d rather play with the lead.”

“It was difficult with the amount of penalties we had to kill in the first period; it was hard to get in a rhythm and a flow,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought in the second period we did a good job of coming out and tying up the game… I thought the pushback in the second period to get it tied 2-2 was good.”

After Minnesota took a 1-0 lead into the locker room following the conclusion of the first period, Forsberg collected his third goal in his last four games to even the score. The Wild struck back less than 90 seconds later courtesy of Chris Stewart, but Nashville found the equalizer once more off the stick of Reid Boucher, his first as a member of the Preds.

The teams traded chances throughout the third period and Nashville had some looks in overtime before Spurgeon finished off a 2-on-1 to end it.

“We had a lot of chances; this game was kind of back and forth,” Forsberg said. “[James Neal] had two good looks and almost scored there [in overtime], then they just go the other way and score.”

The divisional foes keep coming for the Preds as they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, before traveling to St. Louis on Friday with crucial points on the line as the calendar year winds down.

“It’s a big week, definitely,” Josi said. “We are playing two teams that are ahead of us in our division. It’s a huge week, and we just have to get some wins.”

Notes:

Filip Forsberg now has three goals in his last four games and has a point in five of his last six home games against the Wild (4g-1a).

Defenseman P.K. Subban did not play on Tuesday, missing his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

After being recalled Dec. 23 from a conditioning assignment in Milwaukee (AHL), forward Reid Boucher skated 9:56 and recorded his first Nashville goal in his second career game with the Preds.

The Predators finish off the week with a back-to-back set, beginning on Thursday when they host the Chicago Blackhawks before flying to St. Louis to face the Blues on Friday.

Pete Weber’s post game report