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It will be another five months before any high school basketball games are counted towards a team’s resume, but that doesn’t mean that the games played in June are any less important than the ones played in November.

Both of Coffee County Central’s basketball teams have been hard at work in the offseason so far, and that work was put on display during last week’s summer camps at Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium.

Red Raider offense finding rhythm

The 2024-25 season was a wildly inconsistent one for the Red Raiders, who finished the year with a mark of 14-16.

Defensively, they were quite stout, holding their opponents to 50 points or less on 15 occasions, and allowing 60 points or more in just three games, but the offense could never seem to keep a consistent rhythm.

As a team, the Red Raiders scored 50 points or more on just 13 occasions, breaking 60 points in five of those games.

For the 2025-26 season, the Red Raiders are going to have to find some offensive consistency, and if they keep building on what they’ve established so far this summer, they’re sure to find it.

“So far, I like our team chemistry,” Andrew Taylor said after their Monday scrimmage against Creek Wood. “Offensively, we’re doing some nice things, guys are moving, guys are finding cutters and we’re making shots… I feel like we’re more ahead on the offensive side than where we were last year as far as understanding concepts, shot selection, spacing, cutting and ball movement. So, I would say we’re definitely ahead of schedule.”

The Red Raiders lost six seniors from last year’s squad, three of which (Brady Wright, Cayden Trail and Courtland Farrar) combined to lead the team in scoring in 22 of last season’s 30 games.

Filling in six pairs of shoes is not an easy thing for any team to do, but Coach Taylor believes that several players will make a jump on next year’s squad.

“There’s going to be several people,” said Taylor. “I think MJ Rollman is going to be a factor, Luke Campbell, who saw some minutes last year will be a factor and Kaysen Lowery as well.”

Each of those three players never seemed to shy away from shooting the ball in the scrimmage against Creek Wood, especially Campbell, who connected on several three-point jumpers.

Taylor continued to praise some others who saw limited action last year.

“Audie Nicoll, who saw some minutes last year as a freshman, has really gotten stronger this offseason and has gotten in better shape to deal with the physicality,” Taylor remarked. “Jett Trussler and Gabe Hambly are defending really well right now at this stage, so there’s going to be quite a few guys making that step.”

The only critique Taylor seemed to have about his team was their defensive ability.

“We’re not quite there defensively,” he said. “I feel like last year’s team was really good on the defensive end and they rebounded well for their size. So, we have a good offense, we just need to work on our defense.”

Lady Raiders not rebuilding, just reloading

The last two years have been a thing of beauty for the Lady Raiders; a combined record of 67-5, two Regular Season District Championships, two District Tournament Championships, two Region Championships and two State Tournament appearances, including a Final Four appearance in 2024.

Things will look quite different for the 2025-26 season, with TSWA All-State Players Olivia Vinson and Channah Gannon now going to play college basketball at Lipscomb and Southern Indiana respectively. Both played a major role in the team’s recent success.

“We’re going to have to play a lot of zone defense this year,” Coach Joe Pat Cope said after their Thursday scrimmage against Rockvale. “We don’t really have a big post defender and on offense, we don’t have that back-to-the-basket type of player, so we’ll be five-out with a lot of motion, but they’ll be ready.”

Other notable departures include Ava McIntosh, who will be starting college next fall, and Jules Ferrell, a sophomore on last year’s squad who will be transferring to Middle Tennessee Christian School, where her mother and former Westwood Middle coach Shala Ferrell will be the new head coach of the Lady Cougars. Ella Arnold, who played quality minutes off of the bench last year in her junior season, has also left the team.

The only starter from last year’s squad remaining is Samford-commit Natalie Barnes, who will be entering her senior season. Audri Patton and Jaydee Nogodula each saw a load of playing time off the bench last year, and it’s a safe bet that they will both be starters come November. Morgen Spears, Lilly Matherne and Haleigh Harris should also find some significant minutes next season.

“The main thing that I’ve learned so far this offseason is that the Lady Raiders don’t rebuild, they reload,” Cope said on Thursday. “Everybody thought that we would be down, losing four starters, but this team has hit the ground running. This team has a little chip on their shoulder. I think that they’re going to be fun to watch and I think they’re going to be successful again.”

The Lady Raiders (and Red Raiders) will be moving from 4A District 9 to 4A District 6 starting in the 2025-26 season, but their district will contain some familiar foes from the previous cycle, including Lincoln County, Shelbyville and Warren County, as well as fellow 4A State Tourney team Cookeville. Columbia and Spring Hill will be in new districts.

In the new 4A Region 3, Coffee County will be opposite District 5, where Bradley Central and Cleveland now reside.

The Lady Raiders have a tough road ahead of them if they want to make a third consecutive trip to Murfreesboro, but Coach Cope still believes they can compete with the best.

“I think that we’re still a top 10 team in the state,” he said. “But we’re back in a region with the likes of Bradley Central, Cleveland, Cookeville, and of course Lincoln County. It’s going to be a tough region, but I still see ourselves as a top 10 team in the state.”