Defenseman Kris Russell scored 1:23 into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
Forward Johnny Gaudreau led a 2-on-1 rush and fed a pass to Russell, who was able to get to the puck and beat Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne for his second goal.
The Flames (14-14-2) have won six in a row and are 7-1 in games decided during 3-on-3 overtime.
The Predators (15-10-6) are 1-2-1 in their past four games and 9-4-2 at home.
Cody Hodgson gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the first period when he scored on a penalty shot. Hodgson was hooked by Flames defenseman T.J Brodie on a breakaway and was awarded the penalty shot. He made a quick move to freeze goaltender Karri Ramo and then beat him with a wrist shot on the glove side for his third goal.
Brodie tied the game 1-1 at 12:28 of the second period. Nashville lost Brodie in coverage, and he took a pass forward Sam Bennett from and fired a wrist shot past Rinne for his fourth goal.
Calgary had two minutes of a 5-on-3 power play in the second period but was unable to convert.
Ramo made 21 saves; Rinne finished with 19.
The Predators play at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in a 7 PM contest. Thunder Radio will bring you that game on the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the 2nd quarter, the Coffee County Red Raiders stormed back in the 2nd half to drop Smyrna on Monday night 61 to 56 in an overtime thriller at Coffee County’s Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. A Grant Sadler free throw with 5.8 seconds left in the game sent the 2 teams to an overtime period dominated by Coffee County. The Red Raiders zone defense frustrated the visiting Bulldogs as Coffee County nearly eliminated 2nd half turnovers to shut off the transition offense that Smyrna used to build a 31 to 23 halftime lead. Coffee County held Smyrna to 6 points in the 3rd quarter to earn a season sweep over the Bulldogs.
Coffee County’s Wyatt Day
Coffee County was led in scoring by senior Wyatt Day who finished with a season high 27 points to earn the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game award. Sadler finished with 13 points, 7 of those coming in the last 12 minutes. Kohl Young was huge on the defensive glass and netted 10 points for Coffee County. The Red Raiders are back in action on Tuesday night as both Coffee County teams welcome Fayetteville to “The Patch” for a non-district doubleheader. The girls’ game tips off at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage of that contest beginning with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50. Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
Win and advance is the motto of teams in the postseason and that is exactly what the Lady Rockets were able to do on Monday night with a 33 to 25 win over Middle Tennessee Christian in the quarterfinals of the DRVC tournament. After trailing 10 to 7 after the first quarter to, Westwood got their offense on track as they scored 13 points in the 2nd quarter to take a 3 point lead into the half. Westwood was able to control the scrappy Lady Cougars in a low scoring 2nd half to advance to the semifinals.
Westwood Lady Rocket Ashley Starks
Ashley Starks and Morgan Jones each finished with 9 points for Westwood and Karen Medina netted 6 points to improve the Lady Rockets record to 17 and 2 on the season. The Lady Rockets will take on the winner between Eagleville and Huntland In Thursday’s semifinals at 4 PM at Forrest.
The Westwood Rockets saw their season come to a close on Monday night in a quarterfinal loss to Liberty by a final score of 39 to 29. The Rockets were held scoreless in the 1st quarter as the 2nd seeded Patriots built a 10 to 0 lead that they would never relinquish. Westwood was able to cut the deficit to 6 points heading into the 4th quarter but the Rockets had no answer for the interior height and length of Liberty.
Austin Burch of Westwood basketball
Westwood was led in scoring by Jake Hollandsworth who finished with 15 points. Collin Ward, Austin Burch and Isaiah Owens all finished the night with 4 points for the Rockets. The Rockets finish with a record of 10 and 10 on the season.
The Coffee County Central High School swim team welcomed 4 other schools to Manchester on Friday night for their lone home meet of the season. The Raider swimmers fared well in their home waters as 12 different region qualifying times were recorded on the night.
For the Lady Raider swimmers, Anna O’Connor had a strong night as she won the 100M butterfly and swam the anchor leg for the winning 400M freestyle Relay team. O’Connor also had a region qualifying time of 1:05.66 in the 100M freestyle and helped the Lady Raiders to a 4th place finish in the 200M freestyle relay. Emma Allen qualified in the 50M freestyle at 29.00 seconds and the 100M free in 1:07. Emily Warner had a time of 30.57 seconds in the 50M freestyle and 1:09.78 in the 100M freestyle to qualify in both those events as well. Middle school swimmer Kaylee Williams also posted a region qualifying time of 1:18.22 in the 100M breaststroke and the 200M IM at 2:39.1.
For the Raiders, Ryan Farless swam a pair of region qualifying times as he finished 3rd in the 100M freestyle at 1:09.7and 3rd in the 200M freestyle at 2:15.5. Jack Beachboard qualified in the 100M backstroke with a time of 1:06 and the 50M free style at 26.3. Donald Ridner also qualified in the 50M freestyle at 26.9
Complete meet results can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwgxCbkmUNujUWxfYnRxaGNidzg/view
A 14 point halftime lead was not enough to hold off a 2nd half rally by Lawrence County on Friday night for the Red Raiders as they dropped their 2nd straight heart-breaking decision by a final score of 61 to 55. Five 3 pointers in the 1st half helped the Red Raiders build a 16 point lead in the 2nd quarter as Coffee County played 16 minutes of nearly flawless basketball. Lawrence County answered the challenge in the 3rd quarter as they scored the first 7 points of the 2nd half, eventually taking a lead into the 4th quarter. The Red Raiders enjoyed a short 4 point lead with 6:16 to go in the game before the visiting Wildcats outscored Coffee County 20 to 10 down the stretch to claim the huge district win. Kohl Young had 9 points in the 1st quarter and 7 points in the 4th quarter to lead Coffee County in scoring with 16 points. Wyatt Day added 11 points and Boone Riddle chipped in 6 for the Raiders. For his strong play on the glass, and his team high point total, Young was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game.
Jacey Vaughn of CHS Basketball
The Lady Raiders also enjoyed a 1st quarter lead, but it was a short one as Coffee County succumbed to a tough and experienced Lady Wildcat team by a final score of 60 to 38. Lawrence County entered the game with a perfect record, and the Lady Cats were nearly perfect as they closed out the first half on a 13 to 4 run to take a 16 point lead into the locker room at the half. The Lady Raiders fought gamely down the stretch, but the outcome was never in doubt in the 2nd half. Coffee County was led in scoring by a pair of freshmen as Jacey Vaughn and Abby Morgan each had 8 points for the Lady Raiders. Alliyah Williams added 7 points and Holli Smithson netted 6 for Coffee County. Vaughn had a team high 6 Al White Ford/Lincoln free throws to lead Coffee County in that category and was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game.
The Coffee County boys are back in action on Monday night as they host Smyrna at 6 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Gym in a boys’ only contest. Both Raider teams will be back on the floor on Tuesday night as Fayetteville visits for a doubleheader. Thunder Radio will bring you exclusive coverage both nights as we will begin our broadcast with the Powers Storage Pregame Show at 5:50
The Westwood Rockets opened the Duck River Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday with a 36 to 16 win over Moore County. The Rockets held Moore County without field goals in the 1st and 3rd quarters as the Westwood defense was sparkling in the win. Jake Hollandsworth led the Big Blue offense as he had three 3 point goals and finished with 18 points. Isaiah Owens netted 6 points while Roderic Brinkley chipped in 5 points. Westwood advances to Monday’s quarterfinals where they will take on the #2 seeded Patriots of Liberty. The game is set for a 7:45 PM tip-off. The Lady Rockets, who are the #1 seed in the girls’ bracket, open tournament play against Middle Tennessee Christian on Monday afternoon. The Westwood girls’ game will tip off at 4 PM. The Duck River Valley Conference Tournament concludes this Saturday and will be held at Forrest.
In Girls’ action,
Hillsboro stopped North Coffee -18 to 10
College Street raced past Westwood – 17 to 10
New Union dumped Hickerson – 30-14
Deerfield topped East Coffee – 31 to 12
In Boys’ action,
Hillsboro grounded North Coffee -22 to 14
College Street eased past Westwood – 21 to 17
New Union spanked Hickerson – 30 to 14
Deerfield edged East Coffee – 18 to 12
FINAL CCYBL Standings
Girls
Seed
Team
Wins
Losses
1
Hillsboro
6
1
2
New Union
6
1
3
College Street
5
2
4
Hickerson
4
3
5
Westwood
4
3
6
North Coffee
2
5
7
Deerfield
1
6
8
East Coffee
0
7
Boys
Seed
Boys
Wins
Losses
1
College Street
7
0
2
Westwood
6
1
3
New Union
5
2
4
Hickerson
5
2
5
Hillsboro
2
5
6
Deerfield
2
5
7
East Coffee
1
6
8
North Coffee
0
7
The postseason tournament will begin on Saturday, January 9th.
Schedule
9:00 – East Coffee vs Hillsboro – Girls
10:00 – North Coffee vs College Street – Boys
11:00 – Deerfield vs New Union – Girls
12:00 – East Coffee vs Westwood – Boys
1:00 – North Coffee vs College Street – Girls
2:00 – Deerfield vs New Union – Boys
3:00 – Westwood vs Hickerson – Girls
4:00 – Hillsboro vs Hickerson – Boys
WMS Basketball at Al White (STAFF Photo by Tiffany Clutter
In a ceremony at the Al White Ford/Lincoln dealership on Friday, the Westwood Lady Rocket basketball team was presented a check for $8,500 as their proceeds from a recent fundraising event. The Westwood basketball team and the Westwood PTA hosted a Lincoln Drive My School Fundraiser on Saturday, November 14th where the Lincoln Motor Company presented $20 to the organizations for each test drive taken during the event. Baxter White, the program coordinator for the Lincoln Drive My School at Al White, presented the check to members of the Lady Rocket basketball team, head coach Angela Houck and Westwood principal Chad Fletcher.
Andreas Martinsen’s goal at 9:37 of the third period helped the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.
With the teams at even strength, the puck popped up in the air after a shot by Avalanche forward Carl Soderberg and Martinsen was able to swat it past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne for his second goal of the season.
“It was a dirty one, an ugly goal, but I think our line, we were going the whole night,” Martinsen said. “We were working them down low and being physical and taking pucks to the net. In the end you get rewarded with a little ugly one, so that was nice for all three of us.”
Francois Beauchemin and Nick Holden scored and Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for Colorado (13-16-1).
“[Varlamov] was really good,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “He made some really good saves, especially in those [penalty kills] as well, but overall, yes he was very solid. I like to say that our guys played well in front of him. Our [defensemen] were sharp with the breakout. I thought we did a good job.”
Miikka Salomaki and Craig Smith had goals for Nashville (15-10-5). Rinne made 22 saves.
“Colorado came in here in the first period with a pretty pointed game,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was direct. It was physical. It was fast. We were catching them in the first period and we need to be better. I’m not going to make any excuses. We need to be ready for that at the start of the game.”
Smith tied the game 58 seconds into the third period on a one-timer from the point. He took a pass from defenseman Ryan Ellis and his shot beat Varlamov for his seventh goal.
Beauchemin gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:37 of the first period on the power play. The Predators had a miscommunication and weren’t able to clear the puck out of the zone. Beauchemin took a pass from forward Nathan MacKinnon and shot it past Rinne for his third goal.
“Yeah, good shot, but good screen in front by [Avalanche forward Matt Duchene],” Beauchemin said. “[Rinne] didn’t see it. That’s all we needed on the power play. Just keep things simple, putting pucks on net with traffic in front. Tonight was a good example of how we have to score goals.”
Holden doubled the Avalanche’s lead at 14:38 of the first period just as another power-play opportunity expired. Holden drove to the net, received a pass from forward Alex Tanguay and one-timed a shot past Rinne for his second goal.
Nashville went 0-for-5 on the power play. Colorado was able to get in the shooting lanes and block shots and got some help from the goal posts.
“We took a lot of penalties,” Duchene said. “Too many, I think. We took a lot more than we would’ve liked to, but our [penalty kill] was there when we needed it tonight. [Varlamov] was outstanding, and we got a couple of good bounces off of some goal posts. The guys on the [penalty kill] did a [heck] of a job tonight.”
The Avalanche were outshot 10-1 in the second period but were able to kill three penalties to keep the Predators from capitalizing on their momentum.
“I think that was the big thing for us today,” Martinsen said. “They have a really good power play so those guys out there did a great job blocking shots and getting in the lanes. [Varlamov] too had a couple of really big saves there. That’s a big part of the win today.”
Salomaki scored to make it 2-1 with 7.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Ellis took the original shot from the point, and Salomaki redirected the puck past Varlamov for his third goal.
Nashville will host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that matchup following Coffee County basketball.
Defenseman Kris Russell scored 1:23 into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
The Coffee County Central High School swim team welcomed 4 other schools to Manchester on Friday night for their lone home meet of the season. The Raider swimmers fared well in their home waters as 12 different region qualifying times were recorded on the night.
In Girls’ action,