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Coffee County basketball got its week off to a good start Tuesday night.

Traveling to Winchester to face off against Franklin County, both the Lady Raiders and Red Raiders came home with victories, starting with a 50-39 win in the girls’ game before the boys’ team came out on top 45-40 in the nightcap.

Coffee County (8-1 girls, 4-3 boys) will return home to host Fayetteville City on Friday. The girls’ game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.

Lady Raiders bounce back

Four days after Coffee County girls’ basketball suffered its first loss of the season at York Institute, the Lady Raiders came to Franklin County looking to get back on track in another road environment.

Coffee County prevailed this time around, overcoming a first-quarter deficit to take control and defeat the Rebelettes.

“Second half, we were able to spread the floor and we had some different people not named Barnes and Morgan step up and score,” Coffee County coach Joe Pat Cope said. “Jaydee (Nogodula), Audri Patton had a really good game. Morgen Spears I thought played her best game and we just had different people contributing other than Morgan and Barnes.”

A quick start for Franklin County saw the Lady Raiders keeping it close but still trailing 11-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Raiders were quick to answer as the second quarter got under way, going up 14-12 on a 3-pointer from Natalie Barnes and continuing to maintain the lead from there. Coffee County did not trail Franklin County through the first half’s remainder and went into the break ahead 24-19.

The Rebelettes were briefly able to retake control early in the third quarter, putting up six unanswered points to build a 25-24 lead. The Lady Raiders responded with a 3-pointer from Jaydee Nogodula to go back up by two and continued to maintain their lead from there. After finishing the third quarter ahead 38-32, Coffee County was able to push its lead into the double digits on the way to winning by 11.

“We had more players looking to score and it really helped us. It took the pressure off Kaysen and Natalie trying to score the ball, so it caused us to score more points and move the ball around,” Nogodula said. “We knew that we just had to not lose two in a row. We learned from the loss that we had at York, so we knew how to respond.”

Barnes led the team with 13 points. Nogodula followed with 10 points. Kaysen Morgan added eight points, finishing just ahead of Audri Patton with seven points. Hayliegh Harris and Morgen Spears both knocked down five points each. Lilly Matherne had a single basket for two points.

Raiders stay hot on the road

Coffee County boys’ basketball came into Tuesday evening’s game with the chance to get back above .500 for the first time since winning the season opener on Nov. 17.

The Red Raiders delivered, battling back in the second half to secure a victory over the Rebels.

“We just played a little smarter, defended a little better, took better shots, had a little more patience on offense,” Coffee County coach Andrew Taylor said. “It’s always a tough place to play over here. Their kids play hard. For whatever reason we don’t typically shoot it well over here, so for us to come back on the road early on like that shows.”

After a back-and-forth first quarter that Coffee County finished ahead 8-7, Franklin County answered with a quick start to the second quarter to put the Red Raiders in a 15-10 hole. The Rebels went on to add another nine points from there while holding Coffee County to four points in the same span to head into halftime with a 24-14 lead.

Trailing by double digits early in the third quarter, the Red Raiders kicked off an offensive run of their own, ultimately tying the game at 29-29 on a 3-pointer from Jerrad Morgan. Franklin County was able to go to the free throw line and sink one shot before the third quarter’s close, sending the game into the fourth quarter with Coffee County trailing by one.

Tied at 39-39 late, MJ Rollman delivered the go-ahead bucket to put the Red Raiders back up by two. Coffee County did not trail again and secured another come-from-behind road win, following Friday’s 64-58 victory over York.

“It obviously helps the team morale. It kind of proves we’re a good team,” Rollman said of the team’s recent run. “Going on the road, winning at two tough places, that’s important and gets us experience for a young team.”

Rollman led the way with 23 points. Audie Nicoll followed with 12 points. Morgan and Kaysen Lowery both came away with four points each. Levi Rollman had one basket for two points.