Category: Sports

Tullahoma’s C. Scott Shasteen has been named Athletic Director at Motlow State Community College effective Feb. 1, according to Dr. Anthony Kinkel, Motlow president.
Shasteen replaces Laura Monks, Motlow’s dean of students who took on the AD position Nov. 1, 2015.
“Laura has done a fantastic job of stabilizing our athletic department,” said Kinkel. “She has been instrumental in a number of important projects, including hiring a new softball coach (Janice Morey), beginning an expansion of our weight training facility, overseeing significant upgrades to our baseball and softball facilities, and helping to secure resources to hire assistant coaches for Motlow’s athletic teams. Her willingness to take on the AD duties during this transition time has been invaluable.”
Shasteen has been at Motlow since 1995, holding multiple positions including webmaster, IT technician, videographer, and most recently communications supervisor and sports information contact. He earned his bachelor’s degree from MTSU in 2002 and an associate degree from Motlow in 1996. He served as an alderman in Tullahoma from 2005-2008 and has been the radio voice of Tullahoma High School sports since 1984.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me and I am excited about the challenge,” said Shasteen. “I have spent the last 20 years working to promote Motlow’s athletic teams, so this seems like a natural evolution for me professionally. I’m grateful to Dr. Kinkel for the confidence he has shown in me and to Laura for her strong leadership that has provided a solid foundation.
“We believe we can build the best community college athletic program in the state and that our teams can consistently compete for state and national championships,” he continued. “Graduating our student-athletes, providing top-level facilities, hiring winning coaches with integrity and providing quality sports entertainment for Motlow’s 11-county service area are our priorities. And of course, we expect to win on the court and on the field.”
“Scott is going to be an asset to our athletic department,” said Kinkel. “He is passionate in his love of sports and of Motlow. He is well known in this area for producing information promoting Motlow’s athletic teams and for his involvement in sports broadcasting. The contacts he has with area high school coaches and administrators are significant. I’m excited to see him get this opportunity and confident he will succeed.”
Motlow’s basketball teams will conclude their regular season on Feb. 20, with the TCCAA/Region VII Tournament scheduled to begin Mar. 1 at Volunteer State in Gallatin. The baseball team will open its season Feb. 5 against Wallace State in Hanceville, Ala., and the softball team begins play Feb. 9 at home against Calhoun.

New Union Lady Rebels – 2016 Girls Elementary champions

The Coffee County Youth Basketball League held their league championships on Saturday as champions were crowned in basketball and cheerleading. The day opened with a pair of consolation games beginning with the girls third place game between Westwood and College Street. The Lady Eagles of Westwood used a 12 point 1st quarter to power their way to a 21 to 16 win over the Lady Cougars. Alivia Reel led Westwood in scoring with 8 points while Princess Penaloza added 5 points.
In the boys’ consolation, Westwood built a 10 point 1st quarter lead on their way to a 27 to 18 win over Hickerson. Ethan Hargrove led the Hickerson Hawks in scoring with 7 points. The Eagles of Westwood were led by the 10 points of Isaiah Campbell.
In the girls’ championship game, the Lady Rebels of New Union outscored the Lady Tigers of Hillsboro 12 to 0 in a 5 minute stretch of the 4th quarter to win 28 to 24. The Rebels were led in scoring by Katie Cotton with 8 points while Callie Garrett added 7 points for New Union. The Tigers were led by in scoring by Nikki Graham with 9 points for Hillsboro.

College Street Cougars – 2016 Boys Elementary champions

In the boys’ championship, New Union outscored College Street in the 1st and 4th quarters but it was not enough as College Street won its 3rd consecutive league title 33 to 30. The Cougars used an 8-run midway of the 2nd half to gain the breathing room they needed to capture the title over the Rebels. Quentin Johnson powered College Street with 20 points while J.T. Anderson added 5 points. New Union was led in scoring by Dayne Crosslin who had 20 points.

College Street Cougars – 2016 Elementary cheer champions

A packed house saw the College Street cheerleaders capture yet another cheer championship. The Cougar cheerleaders defeated 6 other teams for their 4th straight cheer title. The Westwood Eagles cheerleading squad finished in 2nd place while the Deerfield Bucks came in 3rd place.
The basketball AND cheer champions will be featured on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show broadcast on Thunder Radio. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live from the Al White Ford/Lincoln showroom each Saturday at 10 AM. The coaches and 5th graders for each squad will be featured on the show and fans are invited to tune in or come by Al White for the show.

Gavin Husted and Katie Holmes are crowned 2016 Winterfest King and Queen on Friday night. (Photo by Jay Bailey – Manchester Times)

The physical play of the Lincoln County basketball teams on Friday night plagued the Lady Raiders and Raiders as they dropped a pair of district contests at the Joe Frank Patch Gym on Winterfest night. In the girls game, the Lady Falcons forced 22 Lady Raider turnovers as Lincoln County dropped Coffee County 59 to 37. Coffee County was led in scoring by Holli Smithson who had 10 points. Aerial Williams and Abby Morgan each added 6 points. Freshman Alisha Jennings came off the bench to notch 5 points and was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game.
In the boys game, the interior post players of the Falcons dominated the glass in the first half as Lincoln County built a 13 point halftime lead on their way to a 70 to 37 defeat of Coffee County. The Raiders were led in scoring by Garrett Eldridge who was named the Gateway Tire & Service Center player of the game as he scored 10 points. Grant Sadler added 6 points and Wyatt Day added 5 points for Coffee County.
During the Winterfest festivities, the Coffee County Central High School student body elected Gavin Husted and Katie Holmes as the Winterfest King and Queen. The duo was crowned in a ceremony between games. Coffee County returns home on Tuesday night as they welcome district foe Columbia to “The Patch.” The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will begin our exclusive coverage with the Powers Storage pregame show at 5:50.

Julia Duncan drives to the basket on Thursday night against North Franklin

The Lady Raiders advanced to CTC finals as they look for their 2nd straight conference title after crushing North Franklin 54 to 20 on Thursday night. Trailing 9 to 8 with 3:51 left in the 1st quarter, Coffee County held the Lady Gators scoreless for almost 12 full minutes as they scored the next 30 points to build a 38 to 9 lead with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Julia Duncan led all scorers with 22 points for Coffee County. Bella Vinson added 9 points and Jenna Garretson added 7 points for the Lady Raiders who improved to 18 and 0 on the season.

Bella Vinson catches her breath during a stop in action on Thursday night against North Franklin

Coffee County will advance to Saturday’s finals as they will take on the winner of Friday night’s semifinal game between White County and West Tullahoma. The CTC Championship will take place at 5 PM on Saturday evening at the Coffee County Middle School. Coach George Pearson will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to preview their finals matchup

Hayden Hullett of CCMS basketball

A 3 point basket as time expired by Hayden Hullett capped a huge 15 point, 4th quarter comeback for Coffee County on Thursday night against West Tullahoma and sent their 1st round CTC Tournament game to overtime. In the overtime period, turnovers spoiled Coffee County’s upset bid as the Raiders’ season came to a close with a 45 to 42 loss at the hands of the Bobcats. Blanton Brown led the Raiders in scoring with 14 points. Brandon Jernigan finished with 10 points while Hullett and Larson Meltzer each netted 9 points for Coffee County. The loss ends the Red Raiders season.
After the game, Coach Jonathan Oliver had nothing but praise for his young team. When asked about Hullett’s shot he had this to say:

When asked what his lasting impression of this team would be, Oliver had this to say:

Coach Joanthan Oliver(right) goes over an inbounds play during a timeout on Thursday night

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber

A perfect four-game road trip has Nashville back in a playoff spot as they enter the All-Star break.

Shea Weber’s power-play goal in the second period stood up as the winner, helping the Predators to a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

The Predators, who opened the night one point out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, finished a four-game trip 4-0-0, having also beaten Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.

”It’s not easy to come out here and beat these teams in their own buildings,” Weber said. ”We’re battling our way back into the playoff picture here. The last four games have really helped.”

Mike Ribeiro also scored for Nashville, and Mattias Ekholm had an assist to extend his points streak to a career-high five games.

The Predators moved from sixth to fourth in the Central Division and into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference with their four wins.

The Flames were back at home after a 1-3-1 road trip that saw them fall eight points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Calgary mounted a furious rally late in the third period, but could not get the tying goal past Carter Hutton.

With Pekka Rinne getting the night off after facing the Canucks on Tuesday, Hutton made 26 saves, including 15 in the final 20 minutes, to improve to 5-2-1.

”It wasn’t the prettiest finish, but it was back to back, and the end of a road trip,” Hutton said. ”It was a huge two points any way we look at it.”

Nashville extended its lead to 2-0 on Weber’s one-timer at 17:37 of the second. The power-play goal against the Flames’ 29th-ranked penalty kill came after Calgary’s 30th-ranked power play had squandered three straight man advantages in the first period.

Nashville opened the scoring 6:21 into the game when Craig Smith burst into the Flames’ end and dropped a pass into the slot to Ribeiro, whose shot squeaked through Ramo.

The Predators are off until Tuesday, February 7th for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game to be held Sunday at the Bridgestone Arena.

Motlow College softball coach Janice Morey

A new era in Motlow State Community College softball is set to begin when recently-named head coach Janice Morey and her Lady Bucks host visiting Calhoun Community College Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the softball complex on Motlow’s Moore County campus. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.

“I am very excited to return to the community I was raised in and to have an opportunity to make a positive impact,” said Morey, a former Lady Bucks’ player and native of Lynchburg. “I cannot imagine wanting to take this step forward in my career anywhere other than Motlow.”

The doubleheader against Calhoun is the first of 26 scheduled twin bills (52 games) for the Lady Bucks, including 36 contests against Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) opponents. Each meeting with conference opponents includes doubleheaders on consecutive days. The first TCCAA meeting on Motlow’s schedule is Friday and Saturday, March 4-5, with the Lady Bucks traveling to Jackson to face Jackson State.

The 2016 softball slate includes home-and-home doubleheaders with Calhoun, Gadsden State and Snead State; each located in Alabama. Motlow will also host and travel to West Georgia Tech, located in Carr¬ollton, Ga., and will host a doubleheader against the Tennessee Wesleyan JV squad on April 11.

Motlow is scheduled to play 13 doubleheaders at home and 14 on the road. The most difficult stretch of games comes the final two weeks of the regular season. The Lady Bucks will travel to perennial national power Chattanooga State April 22-23, then end the season hosting Walters State the following weekend. Both the Lady Tigers and Lady Senators finished the 2015 regular season ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation.

Morey is the sixth head coach the Motlow softball program has had since it began play in 1995 with co-head coaches Jackie Reavis and Mike Holt. Angela Tulley then took over the reins for two seasons, followed by Gary Barfield who led the program to 526 wins and its only state championship during his 14 seasons. Former Lady Bucks’ player Tori Raby returned to Motlow in 2012 and guided the program the past four seasons.

Morey was named head coach in November after serving as an assistant coach at Stewarts Creek High School in Murfreesboro. Prior to that she was the head coach at Oakland High School for 10 years, winning the district championship in her final season.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.

Members of the 2016 Motlow Lady Bucks softball team, front row from left: Lauren Hasty, Taylor Wolaver, Traci Shelton, Kathleen Sledge, Ashton Watkins, Riley O’Neal, Rachel Gamble and Taylor Mitchell. Second row: Taylor Honea, Cameron Pearson, Riley Long, Summer Carter, Aubrey Crowell, Caroline Abernethy and McKenzie Anderson.