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Coffee County girls’ basketball cruised to a win to open its home tournament slate Friday afternoon.

Welcoming Clarkrange to Joe Frank Patch Gymnasium, the Lady Raiders went up early and continued to push ahead as the game continued on the way to picking up a 73-49 victory.

“They shared the basketball. They were making the one more pass. Jaydee Nogodula, such a high-IQ point guard, she makes us tick. These girls are so unselfish. Audri (Patton) and Kaysen (Morgan) and Natalie (Barnes),” Coffee County coach Joe Pat Cope said. “This team, they’re just so close.”

In addition to the win, the home fans were also able to witness a career milestone for Natalie Barnes, who scored her 1,500^th point during the second half.

“Kids like her is why I do what I do. It’s why I coach. She lives the game of basketball, but more than that, she’s just a great kid,” Cope said of Barnes. “She cares about her teammates, there’s never any drama with her. She comes in here, she clocks in, she does her work and she makes our team, she makes our school, she makes our community a better place.”

Coffee County quickly jumped ahead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Kaysen Morgan and Barnes to open the game. Clarkrange answered with a trey of its own, but the Lady Raiders continued to maintain their lead on the way to finishing the first quarter up 19-10.

The Coffee County lead expanded further in the second quarter, reaching 43-25 by halftime.

With the Lady Raiders up 45-31 early in the third quarter, Barnes drained another shot from behind the 3-point arc to put Coffee County ahead by 17. It was on this basket that Barnes reached her milestone, surpassing 1,500 career points.

“It feels pretty good and it’s definitely something that I wanted to happen,” Barnes said of her achievement. “Honestly I couldn’t do it without my teammates, so I’m grateful for them.”

Coffee County went on to finish the third quarter with a 60-34 lead, before adding another 13 points in the fourth quarter to seal the 24-point win.

“We really just looked on the defensive side to stop No. 22 (Lydia Phillips) and I think we did a pretty good job of that,” Barnes said of the win. “On the offensive side, I think it was just a really good team effort. When they started face guarding me, Kaysen and Audri were knocking down their shots, so it was really good.”

Barnes led the Lady Raider offense on the way to the victory with 21 points. Morgan followed with 14 points. Jaydee Nogodula added nine points. Lilly Matherne sank eight points, finishing just ahead of Audri Patton and Hayleigh Harris with seven points each. Adalyn Clark brought in three points. Jenslee Nogodula and Morgen Spears each had two points.

Coffee County (10-1) continues Santa Shootout play with a pair of games Saturday. The Lady Raiders will open the day with a 2:30 p.m. matchup against Brentwood before taking on Marion County at 5:30 p.m.

Both games will be played at Coffee County Central High School.