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The 2026 portion of Coffee County girls’ basketball’s slate began with a loss Saturday night.

Hosting cross-county rival Tullahoma, the Lady Raiders kept it close but came out on the wrong end of a 65-59 loss at Joe Frank Patch Gymnasium. The loss was Coffee County’s first at home since February 2022 and put the Lady Raiders at 14-2 on the season.

Trailing 12-7 at the end of the first quarter, Coffee County kept right on Tullahoma’s tails through the first half’s remainder and went into the break down 22-17.

The Lady Raiders fell further behind as the second half got under way, falling further behind by the end of the third quarter at 49-37. Looking to get back into it in the fourth quarter, the Coffee County offense came out running and tightened it over the final eight minutes, outscoring Tullahoma 22-16 in this span. This was ultimately not enough to overcome the Lady Cats’ lead, as the Lady Raiders finished trailing by six.

Natalie Barnes led the Coffee County offensive effort with 25 points. Audri Patton followed with 13 points. Jaydee Nogodula added eight points. Up next was Kaysen Morgan with six points. Hayleigh Harris drained three baskets from the free throw line for three points, finishing just ahead of Andon Selvog with two points. Jenslee Nogodula and Morgen Spears both had one free throw for one point each.

CHS goes undefeated at Gulf Shores tournament

Before returning home to face Tullahoma, the Lady Raiders wrapped up their All Girls Christmas Bash at the Beach schedule in Gulf Shores, Alabama this past Monday and Tuesday.

Coming off of Dec. 27’s 55-50 win over Pine Forest (Pensacola, Fla.), Coffee County followed this up with a 79-39 routing of Spanish Fort (Spanish Fort, Ala.) last Monday, before following this up with a 65-29 victory over Alma Bryant (Irvington, Ala.) to finish with a perfect 3-0 record in tournament play.

Already up 26-9 on Spanish Fort after one quarter, the Lady Raiders had expanded their lead to 53-20 by halftime. Coffee County went on to add 20 more points in the third quarter while holding Spanish Fort to eight points in the same span, before closing out the game ahead by 40.

Morgan led the Lady Raider offense with 13 points. Barnes and Spears followed with 12 points each. Harris added 10 points, finishing just ahead of Adalyn Clark with nine points. Jaydee Nogodula and Brylyn McAdams each came away with six points. Patton picked up five points. Lily Matherne was next with four points. Jenslee Nogodula had a single basket for two points.

After finding themselves in a tight 17-14 matchup at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Raiders were able to separate themselves further with a 32-18 lead at halftime. Coffee County continued to push ahead in the third quarter, outscoring Alma Bryant 22-9 to enter the fourth quarter leading 54-27. The Lady Raider defense allowed only two more Alma Bryant points over the game’s remainder, ultimately finishing the game up by 36 points.

Barnes was Coffee County’s scoring leader, coming away with 22 points. Patton was next with nine points. Jaydee Nogodula followed with seven points, finishing just ahead of Morgan and Spears with six points each. Harris and Matherne each nailed four points. McAdams posted three free throws for three points. Selvog and Clark both had two points each.