COLUMBIA, TENN — A bad third quarter, foul trouble and turnovers doomed the Central High School Red Raiders in their District 8-AAA opener Saturday afternoon, a 50-44 loss to the Columbia Lions.
The Raiders let a 22-14 halftime lead slip away into a 33-26 deficit after three quarters. The Lions outscored Coffee County 19-4 in the third period and the Raiders fell into foul trouble. Unofficially, the Raiders had 7 third quarter turnovers.
Red Raider Trenton Scrivnor and CJ Anthony both fouled out, meanwhile Connor Shemwell and Tyler Taylor each finished with four fouls. In total, there were 25 fouls called on the Raiders. The Lions took advantage, hitting 20 free throws.
Coffee County trailed by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter, but mounted a comeback behind 9 fourth quarter points from senior Jaxon Vaughn and 6 from senior Kyle Farless, who finished with a game high 16 points. But the Raiders were unable to pull any closer than 7 points during meaningful minutes. Vaughn drained a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to secure the final score at 50-44.
GAME NOTES:
*The Raiders drop to 4-4 on the season with the loss and 0-1 in District 8-AAA play. It was the first game for CHS since Dec. 19 and just their third game in 31 days due to COVID-19 limitations.
*The win makes Columbia 1-0 in district play and snaps a 4 game losing streak for the Lions.
*This game was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. but was delayed for 56 minutes due to no officials being onsite for the start of the game.
*Red Raider senior Kyle Farless was named Stone Fort Mortgage Player of the Game.
*Ferdinand Davis did the majority of the damage for the Lions, piling up 16 points – 13 coming in the second half and 7 of those coming at the free throw line.
UP NEXT
*The Raiders will be back in action Tuesday, Jan. 5 when they travel to Shelbyville for another District 8-AAA game. The Lady Raiders will tip at 6 p.m. with the Raiders to follow. Both games can be heard live on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 106.9 FM, 1320AM
