Category: Sports

The Motlow Lady Bucks saw their modest six-game winning streak come to an abrupt end when they dropped a doubleheader to TCCAA rival Columbia State 17-2, 8-0 Sunday afternoon at Cascade High School.
Motlow (7-3-2, 4-2) and Columbia (6-4, 3-1) were scheduled to play another doubleheader as part of the four-game series, but were not able to complete the series due to continued inclement weather.
The Lady Bucks were also scheduled to play a non-conference doubleheader against Gadsden State in Gadsden, Ala., on Tuesday, but the trip was cancelled as well due to continued rain. Next on the schedule is a four-game series against conference rival Dyersburg State, in Dyersburg, Friday and Saturday.

The CHS Tennis teams swept Franklin County on Monday night as they opened the season at the Fred Deadman Park.  In girls play, Alex Crossland , Maddie Taylor, Savannah Hodge and Kayla Wright all won their single matches 8 to 0.  Karlee Reed won her match 8 to 1.  In boys play, Walker Seagraves and Easton Mai each swept their matches by a score of 8-0.  Trevor Ivy-Bodman won his match by a score of 8 to 4.  Weather permitting, the Raider tennis teams will travel to Tullahoma to take on the Wildcats.  The first match is set to begin at 3:30 PM at Tullahoma High School.

CCMS pitcher Haley Richardson delivers a pitch in preseason scrimmage action.

The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider softball team opened their season on Monday in McMinnville as they dropped a 5 to 0 decision to Warren County.  The Lady Raiders had 5 hits on the night, but could not string the hits together to push across a run.  Ashley Evans was 2 for 3 at the plate on the night for Coffee County.  The Lady Raiders have postponed Tuesday night’s scheduled home game with Warren County.  That game has been moved to April 19th.  The Lady Raiders are scheduled to travel to Winchester on Thursday night, weather permitting, to take on North Franklin.  The varsity game is set to get underway at 5:00 PM.

Brianna Jones fires a pitch in the rain during Monday’s not-hit performance… Photo by Barry West

The 2015 high school softball season opened last night for the Coffee County Lady Raiders as they hosted Franklin County in District 8-AAA action.
Senior Brianna Jones was sensational has she threw a no-hitter and struck out 19 batters. Jones was just as good at the plate, going 3-3 with a homerun and 4 RBI. Tori Bell and Taylor Barnes added an RBI each as Coffee County picked up the 7-0 win. Jones was named the Gateway Tire and Service Center player of the game.
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The Lady Raiders will host Lawrence County on Thursday night at 7pm.

CCMS pitcher Harley Hinshaw delivers a pitch on Sunday against Whitworth Buchanan

After waiting 6 days to start their season, the Coffee County Middle School baseball team traveled to Murfreesboro on Sunday afternoon to take on Whitworth Buchanan. The Red Raiders banged out 8 hits but five unearned runs negated Coffee County’s offense as the Raiders settled for a 5 to 5 tie with the Yellow Jackets. Harley Hinshaw was 3 for 3 with a walk and a run scored to lead Coffee County. Cody Esslinger was 2 for 3 on the as well. Esslinger and Hinshaw each pitched two scoreless innings in a game that was called after seven innings due to darkness.  In Junior Varsity action, the Raiders fell by a final score of 7 to 3.

CCMS centerfielder Trace Bryant slides in safe on a passed ball on Sunday against Whitworth Buchanan

The Red Raiders open a 2 game series with Warren County on Monday at 5 p.m. at McMinnville. Coffee County will play their first home game on Tuesday at their new field behind the Coffee County Middle School. First pitch for varsity is 5 p.m. JV will follow both Monday and Tuesday.

The Motlow Bucks basketball team picked up their 23rd win of the year late Thursday night with a 94-77 win over Cleveland St. 77 in the TCCAA/Region VII tournament. Reggie Williams scored 22 to lead the way.
In Friday’s semi-final Columbia St. beat Motlow for the second time in a week as they used a strong bench to win 105-94 to drop the Bucks to 23-6 on the year. Jaylen Barford led Motlow with 32 and DeQuan Miller added 29. Columbia State’s bench outscored the Bucks 56-4. Motlow ranked 19th in the nation is still hoping for a wild-card invitation to NJCAA Tournament in Kansas.

Wildlife Officer, Tim Hancock, with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will be conducting a Hunter Education Field Day event on Saturday March 21st at P & T Shooting Range located at 226 Archery Lane in Manchester. This event will meet from 12-3 p.m. and all participants must provide proof of successfully passing an on-line course. Participants must also pre-register for this field day event at tnwildlife.org. At this website, just click on “Hunter Education” and navigate to class listings, look for Coffee County listing. Again, this event coincides with all on- line Hunter Education Courses that are approved by the International Hunter Education Association.
Tennessee State law requires anyone born on or after January 1st, 1969 must successfully complete a Hunter Education Course before hunting. Participants must be at least 9 years of age to become certified in Tennessee Hunter Education.
The day’s event will include a review prior to re-taking the test and participants will shoot a 20 gauge shotgun on the firing range. This will be the only Hunter Education Field Day event offered in Coffee County this year by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. This event is free to all.

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association canceled girls state basketball tournament games scheduled for Thursday because a winter storm that left hazardous road conditions.
The TSSAA announced the move Thursday morning, saying officials had been monitoring the weather and road conditions since 4 a.m.
Bernard Childress, executive director of the TSSAA, said in a statement there was no way they are willing to put any student-athlete’s life in jeopardy to play a basketball game.
Games at Murphy Center will resume Friday allowing roads time to improve. The delay means semifinal games scheduled for Friday will start Saturday at 1:30 p.m. because of a Middle Tennessee women’s college game scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
The finals scheduled for Saturday will now be played Sunday.

The CHS Red Raider soccer team had their first scrimmage action of the year on Tuesday night due to wet field conditions. The Red Raiders will hope to get some preseason action on Saturday as they host the 2015 Red Raider Jam. 13 teams will participate in the scrimmage play day beginning at 9 AM on the soccer and football fields behind the Coffee County Raider Academy. The Red Raider varsity will take on Stone Memorial, Fayetteville, Webb and Central Magnet. The Red Raider JV will play Central Magnet JV, Stone Memorial and Smith County JV.

The complete schedule is as follows:
Red Raider Soccer Field
9:00 AM – Webb vs. Central Magnet
9:40 AM – Coffee County vs. Stone Memorial
10:20 AM – Webb vs. Stewarts Creek
11:00 AM – Stone JV vs. Smith Co. JV
11:40 AM – Coffee County vs. Fayetteville
12:20 AM – Stewarts Creek vs. Stone Memorial
1:00 PM – Stone JV vs. Coffee Co. JV
1:40 PM – Webb vs. Coffee County
2:20 PM – Central JV vs. Stone JV
3:00 PM – Fayetteville vs. Central Magnet
3:40 PM – Smith County vs. Webb
4:20 PM – Central Magnet vs. Coffee County
5:00 PM – Stone JV vs. Smith Co. JV

Carden-Jarrell Field
9:00 AM – SAS vs. Smith County
9:40 AM – Warren County vs. Fayetteville
10:20 AM – Central JV vs. Coffee Co. JV
11:00 AM – Central Magnet vs. SAS
11:40 AM – Smith County vs. Warren County
12:20 AM – Smith Co. JV vs. Central JV
1:00 PM – SAS vs. Warren County
1:40 PM – Smith County vs. Stewarts Creek
2:20 PM – Smith Co. JV Coffee Co. JV
3:00 PM – Stone Memorial vs. SAS
3:40 PM – Stewarts Creek vs. Warren County
4:20 PM – Fayetteville vs. Stone Memorial
5:00 PM – Central JV vs. Coffee Co. JV

The Motlow Lady Bucks came into this week’s TCCAA/Region VII Tournament as the No. 9 seed. Motlow took on 8 seed Roane St on Tuesday. Motlow finished the season at 7-20 after a 71-65 loss.
Roane St moves on in the tournament with a matchup against the No. 1 seeded Walters State Lady Senators the No. 8 in the nation in the latest NJCAA poll.

The Motlow Bucks are the No. 2 seed in this week’s TCCAA/Region VII Tournament and will play their first game on Thursday at 6 p.m. The tournament is being played at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis. The Bucks (22-5, 14-4) finished second in the conference during the regular season and received a first-round bye in the tournament, despite losing their final regular season game 98-75 to Columbia State Saturday afternoon in Columbia.
The winner of the TCCAA/Region VII Tournament receives an automatic bid to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., beginning March 16. Due to their outstanding overall records; Motlow, Columbia and Southwest will each be considered for a ‘wild-card’ invitation to the national tournament if they don’t win the TCCAA tournament.