As 2017 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 40 prep teams we follow and report on.  Today we look back at the year for Westwood and Coffee Middle golf teams.  Switching to a new “flag scoring” system this spring changed how each match looked, but allowed for teammates to pair up throughout the season.  Improved numbers for each team were offset by a lack of experience for both the Raiders and Rockets. Thunder Radio reported on the season ending tournament in a story...

Hitting the road for the final regular season game before the holidays, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams traveled to Huntland on Friday night.  Both Raider teams were looking to complete the season sweep over Huntland as each got wins on December 4th.  The Lady Raiders overcame a slow start to win 57 to 47.  The Red Raiders stormed out to a huge first quarter lead as they won 64 to 38. The cold, frigid air outside must have affected the Lady Raiders offensively as they struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first half.  Taking a 10...

The Lady Rockets of Westwood returned to Community on Saturday for the consolation game of Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament.   Westwood squared off against Moore County with a 3rd place finish in the conference on the line.  Despite outscoring Moore County in the final 3 quarters, the Lady Rockets fell 44 to 34. Westwood outscored Moore County 30 to 27 in the final 18 minutes of the game but it could not overcome a slow start.  The Lady Rockets were held to 4 points in the 1st quarter which put them in a hole they could not overcome. ...

The Coffee County swim teams traveled to LaVergne on Thursday night for a division meet on Thursday night.  The Coffee County teams were paired up against Stewarts Creek in the duals scoring format.  The Red Hawks swept Coffee County’s men and women and also captured the combined title in the head to head matchup. The night did feature some strong individual performances for both the Lady Raiders and Red Raiders. For the Lady Raiders Kaylee Williams won the 200M IM with a time of 2:42.71 as she cut 1.2 seconds off her state qualifying time.  She also won the...

  The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team will be hosting their 4th Annual Christmas Tournament beginning next week.  Eight teams, from as far away as Jamestown and Jackson, will compete in the 3 day event to crown a champion.  The tournament begins on Monday, December 18th and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Competing in the tournament will be Shelbyville, York Institute, Franklin County, Lebanon, Glencliff, University School of Jackson, Smyrna and Coffee County.  Games will begin at 3 PM each afternoon and will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at CHS.  The...

Pekka Rinne stopped all 32 shots he faced and the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames by a 2-0 final on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It’s the second consecutive shutout for the Preds, after a 4-0 victory in Edmonton on Thursday. The win gives the Preds points in seven consecutive outings, as well as a three-game sweep through Western Canada. The Predators haven’t lost a game in regulation in the month of December and the club now has 16 victories in their last 20 tries, and after completing this three-game excursion, Nashville is six points richer. “A...

The Titans lost a heartbreaker here on Sunday. A 45-yard field goal by 49ers kicker Robbie Gould on the final play of the game was the difference in a 25-23 loss to the 49ers. The Titans had taken the lead 23-22 on kicker Ryan Succop’s 50-yard field goal with 1:07 left. With the loss, the Titans dropped to 8-6 on the season, two games behind in the Jaguars (10-4) in the AFC South. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 23-of-33 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns, with a 110.8 rating. But the Titans couldn’t stop 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo,...

Facing a Cascade team that ran up the score on the Lady Rockets in October, Westwood returned to Community on Thursday night for a semifinal matchup in the Duck River Valley Conference postseason tournament.  This time, Westwood was able to keep it closer, but not able to pull the upset.  Cascade dropped the Lady Rockets 42 to 29. After falling behind by 5 in the first quarter, Westwood was able to stay close to the Lady Champions heading into the 4th quarter.  Cascade was able to pull away late to advance to the championship game.  Westwood once again showed...