Holli Smithson of CHS Basketball(Photo by Jay Bailey – Manchester Times)
Hitting an amazing 15 of their 17 second half free throws lifted the Coffee County Lady Raiders to a 40 to 32 win in high school basketball on Tuesday at Tullahoma. After taking a 2 point lead into the locker room at the half, the Lady Raiders scored the first 7 points of the 2nd half to build a lead they would not relinquish. Holli Smithson finished the night with 11 points to lead Coffee County in scoring. More importantly, Smithson had 7 Al White Ford/Lincoln free throws in the 2nd half as she was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center Player of the Game. Bailey Morgan and Aerial Williams each finished the night with 9 points.
Stephen Sullivan of Coffee County basketball
The Red Raiders could not muster double digit points in any quarter as they fell to the Wildcats 39 to 17. Although scoring only 6 points in first half, Coffee County’s defense still had the game close at intermission 15 to 6. Tullahoma scored the final 10 points of the game to hand the Raiders the stinging defeat. Stephen Sullivan led Coffee County in scoring with 8 points as he was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center Player of the Game
Coffee County returns home on Friday night as they welcome Shelbyville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage beginning at 5:50 PM with the Powers’ Storage Pregame Show.
Corey Crawford stopped 38 of 39 Nashville Predators shots, as the Preds fell 4-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
“I just thought we did not have our ‘A’ game,” forward Mike Fisher said. “We were playing against a great team, and I thought we had too many turnovers in the neutral zone that cost us. They are good at turning pucks over and going and getting those odd-man rushes, and that’s what they did and that was the difference.”
The first 19-plus minutes of the opening frame were scoreless until Artem Anisimov beat Pekka Rinne in tight for his 16th of the season, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead headed into the first intermission.
The clubs then traded goals early in the second, with Richard Panik giving Chicago a 2-0 lead before Ryan Ellis beat Corey Crawford with a slapper from the blue line to bring Nashville to within one. Patrick Kane got it right back on a breakaway, however, and made it 3-1 Blackhawks at 4:08.
The score remained stagnant for the rest of the second and much of the third, as the Preds continued to throw shots at Crawford. Chicago added an empty-net tally at 19:23 to finish things off and hand the Preds their 18th regulation loss of the season.
“There are parts of the game tonight where I don’t think we were executing very well,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought the first 10 minutes was all us and the last 10 minutes was all them. We made too many mistakes in the last 10 minutes, but it’s difficult to play 60 minutes against a team like them. Part of the problem tonight was that we shot ourselves in the foot with mistakes that just can’t happen.”
“Consistency” has been a key word for the Preds during a tough stretch, and they believe there are positive signs among the negative, but they’re still looking for ways to be able to string those positives together on a regular basis.
“I think it’s there, you see it in spurts, just this consistency thing we keep talking about it,” Preds Captain Shea Weber said. “Whether it is 10 minutes or 20 minutes, it’s there for spurts of games and it’s not good enough. Especially in this League where a team that’s won 12 games in a row, you can’t make mistakes and expect it not to cost you.”
The Predators begin a 4 game road trip on Thursday night in Winnipeg as they take on the Jets. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that match-up on the Fifth Third Bank Nashville Predators Radio Network beginning at 7 PM.
Missing 5 wrestlers due to illness, the Coffee County Red Raider wrestling team failed to gain a match victory on Monday night in the Tullahoma Border War dual meet. More importantly, Coffee County dropped 3 crucial district matches which eliminated them from the possibility of competing in next week’s Region 5 Duals that they will host. “Giving up 30 points before you ever hit the mat is hard to overcome against any competition” said Red Raider head coach Roger Barlow following the meet. Coffee County fell 42 to 27 to Franklin County, 60 to 22 to Shelbyville and 66 to 18 to Tullahoma who won the team championship.
Rein Bozich (top) of Coffee County Wrestling
Regardless of the disappointing team result, there were several strong individual performances from the wrestlers that were able to compete. Josh Tobitt continued his strong January performance as he was 3 for 3 on the night with 3 pinfall wins. Tobitt wrestled at 182 pounds in 2 of his matches and took the mat in the 195 pound class against Franklin County. Michael Pressley(170) got pinfall wins against Franklin County and Tullahoma. Dustin Seals(285) got a pair of pinfall wins over Tullahoma and Shelbyville. Owen Teague(145) scored a pin against Shelbyville and a decision win versus Franklin County. And Rein Bozich(138) scored a forfeit win against Franklin County and a major decision against Shelbyville.
The CHS grapplers return home on Thursday night as they welcome Smyrna and Warren County to their home dojo at the Coffee County Raider Academy. The dual meet will get underway at 6 PM. The Region 5 Dual meet will be held on Thursday, January 28th and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium.
Cold shooting from the field and the free throw line combined to result in a 41 to 31 Lady Raider loss on Saturday afternoon at home against Siegel. In a battle that saw a near stalemate in turnovers, Coffee County and Siegel struggled to mount any effective offensive attack in the girls only contest at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium. In the 4th straight game without post player Alliyah Williams, Coffee County struggled to stop the inside duo of Tracy and Ellis as they combined for 23 points to earn Siegel their first ever win over Coffee County in girls’ basketball.
Freshman Abby Morgan shined on the defensive end for Coffee County as she notched 6 steals and finished with 7 points to be named the Gateway Tire and Service Center Player of the Game. Holli Smithson led Coffee County in scoring with 11 points while junior post player Aerial Williams finished with 6 points. The loss dropped Coffee County’s record to 7 and 9 on the season.
The Lady Raiders and Red Raiders return to district action in Tullahoma on Tuesday night. As always, Thunder Radio will be there to bring you the action. The girls’ game tips off at 6 PM and we begin our broadcast with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50.
Illness and family emergencies resulted in a six member Coffee County Red Raider wrestling team taking part in the Top of the Mountain Invitational at Sewanee on Saturday. Regardless of the small team size, the Red Raiders finished the tournament with a 9th place finish out of the 24 teams in attendance.
The day was highlighted by the performance of Josh Tobitt, wrestling at 182 pounds, who won his weight class and was barely edged out as the “Wrestler of the Tournament.” Tobitt won all 3 of his matches on the day as he pinned each of his opponents in a minute or less.
CHS wrestler Owen Teague(right)
Owen Teague(138) finished in 2nd place in his weight class for Coffee County as he won 3 straight matches before falling in the finals. Michael Pressley(170) finished the day with a record of 2 and 2 as he lost in the semifinals of the consolation bracket as did Dustin Seals(285) who also garnered a 4th place finish. Brody Litz(152) got a pinfall win on the day while Cade Baker(220) rounded out the Raider’s day with a pair of good performances.
Coffee County will be back in action on Monday as they compete in a 4 way district match at Tullahoma. Coffee County will face Franklin County, Shelbyville and Tullahoma in the important district dual meet that begins at 5 PM at the old West Tullahoma gym. A top 2 finish on Monday would assure the Raiders of a berth in the Region dual meet to be held on January 28th at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.
The Coffee County Youth Basketball League held their semifinals on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. In girls’ action, Hillsboro defeated Westwood 26 to 19 while New Union dropped College Street 23 to 12. Both New Union and Hillsboro will advance to next Saturday’s finals. Westwood’s girls will meet the College Street girls in Saturday’s consolation game.
In boys’ action, College Street clipped Hickerson 41 to 26 and New Union edged Westwood 27 to 22. College Street and New Union will square off in Saturday’s finals. In Saturday’s consolation game, Hickerson Station will face Westwood..
Saturday will also be the cheerleading competition each school’s cheer squads will compete for the coveted cheerleading championship. Saturday’s events will begin at 9 AM at Coffee County Central High School’s Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.
Saturday, January 23, 2016 Tournament Finals and Consolation Schedule
9:00 – Westwood vs College Street – Girls Consolation
10:00 – Hickerson vs Westwood – Boys Consolation
11:00 – Cheerleading Competition
12:00 – New Union vs Hillsboro – Girls Championship
1:30 – New Union vs College Street – Boys Championship
Carter Hutton stopped all 29 shots he faced, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild by a 3-0 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The victory was Nashville’s 20th of the season, and gave them a 3-1-0 record against the Wild as the season series came to a close.
“It was a huge game for us,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but we got it done and Hutts did a great job; he was amazing in net.”
Eric Nystrom struck first for the Preds just 1:24 into the contest, when he redirected a Shea Weber point shot at the right face-off circle past Devan Dubnyk. The goal was Nystrom’s seventh of the season and his second in as many games.
That 1-0 score held through two periods, courtesy of a number of stellar stops from Hutton over the first 40 minutes, until the Preds earned a power play in the third. Josi followed up on his own rebound and roofed the puck over a sprawling Dubnyk for his 10th goal of the season to give Nashville a 2-0 lead. Ryan Johansen recorded an assist on the play, giving him seven points (2g-5a) in his first five games with the Predators.
Hutton and the Preds withstood one more final push from Minnesota to complete the victory, a win that felt even better considering the past stretch of outings for the Preds.
“It’s been tough,” Laviolette said. “It’s been frustrating. The guys have been playing hard, putting in a hard effort and aren’t seeing the results from it. So it’s good to get a win. It was a big division game, division win and home win. There were a lot of good things about it.”
The Preds also enjoyed being back in their own building after returning home from a four-game stretch, adding to the satisfaction of the win.
“The fans were great tonight,” Laviolette said. “The building was packed, and there was a lot of good energy in here. Sometimes when you play Minnesota, it’s a low-event game. At one point in the second period, with six or seven minutes to go, the shots were 17-15, or whatever they were. There was just not a lot of action and activity, but the fans stayed with us. It was a good night here.”
Home Cooking for Hutton:
Carter Hutton impressed the Nashville faithful in his first home start of the season by turning aside each and every one of the 29 pucks Minnesota threw his way on Saturday night. It was Hutton’s third career shutout and fourth win of the season.
Nashville’s backup netminder is now 4-2-1 on the campaign, continuing to give the Preds a solid option when Pekka Rinne gets the night off.
“It’s a team win,” Hutton said. “We had some big blocks, we had some big plays and our penalty kill was great. For me, I didn’t really waiver too much from last year to this year. I just keep working on my game when I get a chance to play, just do my best to help our team win.”
Hutton made a number of key saves throughout the contest, handing the Wild their second consecutive scoreless outing and giving the Preds two more key points in the Central Division standings.
“He was huge for us tonight,” Josi said. “Especially in the second period when we didn’t play that well and they out chanced us in that period, he made some huge saves. He’s been great all year; whenever he’s had to step in, he did a great job.”
“He was really good,” Laviolette said of Hutton. “If we’re being honest, we came out a little bit slow in the first 10 minutes. He had a lot of activity, and if he wasn’t sharp early on, then the game could have swung a different way.”
The Nashville Sounds Baseball Club will hold tryouts for their new dance team on Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31 at First Tennessee Park. The team is seeking individuals with prior dance experience to go along with enthusiastic and high-energy personalities for the new edition to their in-game entertainment.
A seasonal position for the 2016 season, dance team members will perform choreographed dances, greet fans as they enter First Tennessee Park, assist in distributing promotional giveaways and interact with the crowd during all 72 home games.
“The Nashville Sounds dance team is a very important part of the entertainment at First Tennessee Park,” said Mary Hegley, Director of Entertainment. “We’re not only looking for great dancers, but also individuals who bring high-energy and a positive attitude to every game of the 2016 season.”
WHO: Nashville Sounds Baseball Club
WHAT: 2016 Dance Team Tryouts
WHERE: First Tennessee Park
WHEN: Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. with tryouts taking place from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Candidates must choose to attend one of two available tryout sessions. Registration will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. with auditions to follow from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Each candidate will perform a one minute routine of their choice with music from a CD, iPod or phone. After the first round of cuts, a choreographed routine will be taught to the remaining candidates from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Each candidate will perform the choreographed routine with final cuts to follow.
All candidates must be at least 18 years old and are required to bring a completed application from www.nashvillesounds.com. Other qualifications include being able to work nights, weekends and holidays. Candidates should wear dance attire with comfortable shoes and are encouraged to bring makeup/hair products, a towel and a bottle of water. Candidates may choose to bring a 4×6” photograph to the audition session they attend.
The 2016 season will be the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. The Sounds begin the season at First Tennessee Park when they host the Oklahoma City Dodgers on Thursday, April 7 at 6:35 p.m. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.
Once again, the defense of Coffee County powered the Lady Raiders to their 15th straight win in a 36 to 10 defeat of West Tullahoma on Thursday night in middle school basketball action at CCMS. The Lady Raiders held the Lady Bobcats to a single field goal in the 1st half as they carried a 22 to 4 lead into the halftime break on 8th Grade Night. Coffee County was led in scoring by a pair of 8th graders as Julia Duncan finished the night with 18 points while Ellie Graham added 5 points. Bella Vinson and Keelie Hillis chipped in 4 points apiece as Coffee County improved to 15 and 0 on the season.
Blanton Brown of CCMS basketball(file photo)
The Red Raiders took a 1 point lead into the final minute before a turnover and a defensive lapse allowed the West boys to drop Coffee County 37 to 36. Trailing by 4 entering the final period, Coffee County looked poised to rally for the comeback win as they managed to rebound for a 3 point lead. The Bobcats late game heroics allowed them to garner a season sweep over Coffee County. The Red Raiders were also led in scoring by a pair of 8th graders as Blanton Brown scored 10 points on the night, including 5 during the 4th quarter comeback. Brandon Jernigan finished with 9 points. Seventh graders Jaxon Vaughn and Hayden Hullett each had a pair of 3 pointers to finish with 6 points apiece. Coffee County closes out the regular season on Thursday night when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Harris. The CTC postseason tournament is slated to get underway on Monday, January 25th and will be held at Coffee County Middle School.
Kevin Fiala scored his 1st NHL goal in Thursday night’s OT loss at Winnipeg
The Nashville Predators rallied all the way back from a three-goal deficit in the third period, but ultimately fell 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday at the MTS Centre.
Kevin Fiala scored his first NHL goal in the opening frame, and James Neal’s 200th career tally evened the score at 4-4 with 14 seconds left to play in regulation to cap off a wild third period that saw the Preds claw their way back to gain a much-needed point.
“We showed some great character,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “They’re up 4-1, and we just battled and kept battling. Sometimes when it’s not going your way, you just have to try to make it a better effort and I thought we showed a great effort.”
Fiala’s first tally of his career came 59 seconds into the first period, finishing off a rush with linemate Ryan Johansen for the score. Johansen’s initial attempt from the slot was denied by Connor Hellebuyck, but Fiala was there to deposit the rebound into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Dustin Byfuglien evened the score at 1-1 for the Jets at the 6:32 mark of the second period before Bryan Little made it 2-1 Winnipeg with a power-play goal. Byfuglien added another before the period was out to give the Jets a 3-1 lead after two.
Winnipeg made it 4-1 in the third, then Johansen scored his second with the Preds on the power play, cutting the Jets lead to 4-2. Ryan Ellis got the Preds to within one when he threw the puck in front from the goal line, with the marker credited to Eric Nystrom to make it 4-3. Then, with Pekka Rinne pulled for the extra attacker, Neal finished off a flurry of chances in the dying seconds to force overtime.
“We talked about before, it’s tough when you lose a lot and it’s not going your way,” Josi said. “You get frustrated pretty quick, so we just have to stay positive. It’s definitely a good sign that we came back after we were down 4-1, and it shows some character in this team.”
Nashville finishes their road trip with a 0-3-1 record, but the way the final period of regulation of the excursion ended gives the Preds plenty of reason for optimism as their season continues on.
“We didn’t come out with two points tonight, but coming down 4-1 on the road, being on a four-game losing streak like that and being able to stick with it like that, finding a way to score goals against a goalie who played great all night is really impressive,” Johansen said. “We didn’t get two points tonight, but there was a lot of positives at the end of that game. A lot, and that’s something we can definitely build off of and use moving forward.”
Kevin Fiala was recalled by the Preds ahead of Thursday’s game in Winnipeg with the hope he could help to alleviate Nashville’s scoring woes. It took him just 59 seconds to do so.
Skating on a line with Ryan Johansen and James Neal, Fiala tallied his first career NHL goal in just his second regular season game – his first in 2015-16 – to give the Predators a 1-0 advantage early in the contest.
However, Fiala had to wait a moment for the celebration to begin. His shot entered the net just below the crossbar, struck the camera fixed to the top of the cage and bounced right back out, allowing play to continue. The review didn’t take long though, confirming the 19-year-old had indeed earned his first, who didn’t even know the puck had initially gone in.
“I saw I had an open net, and I just hit the puck. I was pretty angry at myself because I thought it wasn’t a goal,” Fiala said. “But then after the replay we saw it was a goal, so I was happy.”
Fiala’s line was dangerous all night, creating scoring chances throughout the contest and earning the rookie praise from his peers and coach.
“He played a great game, he played really strong,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “He was moving his feet and [it] seemed like he was dangerous all the time and worked really hard. [Milwaukee Admirals Head Coach] Dean Evason did a great job of getting him transitioned into the North American game and moving his feet. That’s the best I’ve seen him look.”
“He was awesome,” Josi said. “We knew he’s a high-skilled player, and he made some great plays out there.”
Although the game’s final result would’ve made that first tally even sweeter, it’s still a happy moment for Fiala, and he can’t wait to do it again.
“It would be better if we would’ve won, of course, but it’s my first goal; of course I’m happy for that,” Fiala said. “We played pretty good; it was 4-1 and we went to 4-4, and I’m pretty proud of my team. We did well, really well, but a couple of bad bounces too and bad luck sometimes, but that’s hockey. We will just go forward and forget this game.”
Kevin Fiala finished with one goal and five shots in 17:48 of ice time in his second career regular season game. Fiala skated in one game last season for the Preds, and then appeared in a postseason contest as well.
Cody Bass appeared in his third contest of the season for Nashville, registering one hit in 5:41 of ice time.
Eric Nystrom returned to the lineup Thursday after being a healthy scratch on Tuesday.
The Predators return home Saturday to host the Minnesota Wild at 7 PM. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast on the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.
