SHELBYVILLE — Mark another goal off the list.
Coffee County Central’s Lady Raiders got big shots when they needed them and played great defense in a 56-45 win over Warren County Friday night for a District 6-4A tournament championship.
“It never gets old, you know, being able to win another one of these I’m just so proud of these girls,” said CHS head coach Joe Pat Cope.
The win completes a perfect district season for the Lady Raiders. They won the regular season district title and now the tournament to go 11-0. It marks the 5th consecutive year they have won a district championship. The win is 25 in a row for this season and their 4th win in 4 tries over the Lady Pioneers of Warren County.
“That’s a good basketball team and we struggled some with their pressure late but we were able to hold on,” added Cope.
Coffee County led by as many as 14, but a Lady Pioneer run in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 3 at 44-41 after a pair of Kyra Perkins free throws with less than 2-mintues to play. CHS did have turnover problems, giving the ball back to Warren County 16 times on the night.
But Warren County never got any closer than 3. Lady Raider freshman Olivia Vinson and senior Elli Chumley went 4-for-4 at the free throw line on consecutive trips down the floor to give the Lady Raiders the breathing room they needed. CHS finished 22 of 30 at the stripe for the game.
Vinson hit three 3-pointers and 5 big free throws down the stretch. She finished with 16 points and was named Thunder Radio’s Stone Fort Mortgage Player of the Game. She was also named District 6-4A tournament MVP.
Coffee County actually led wire-to-wire. Despite a few runs by the Lady Pioneers, they were never able to tie the game or take the lead. CHS led 24-17 at halftime and 31-25 after three quarters.
Chloe Gannon finished with 11 points for CHS and Chumley added 10. Kiya Ferrell had 9 big points off the bench, including a pair of midrange jumpers in the second half to keep Warren County at a distance.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPLAY.
ALL DISTRICT
Coffee County’s Chloe Gannon was named District 6-4A MVP. Vinson, Chumley, Channah Gannon and Jalie Ruehling were named All-District.
UP NEXT
The Lady Raiders have some time off before hosting the Region 3-4A quarter-finals next Friday, Feb. 26 at Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Tip time and opponent TBD.
