S

The No. 2 Coffee County Lady Raiders put on another defensive clinic in a 67-12 rout of the Lady Lions, but despite a late comeback attempt, the Red Raiders dropped a 50-46 decision to the Lions for a Tuesday night split in Columbia.

Coffee County Lady Raiders: 67, Columbia Central Lady Lions: 12

Last time out against Columbia back on Jan. 17 in Manchester, the No. 2 ranked Lady Raiders were extra stingy on the defensive side, allowing just 16 points in a 77-16 trouncing of the Lady Lions.

The Lady Raiders would be even more ungenerous in their road trip to Columbia on Tuesday night, allowing a season-low 12 points to the Lady Lions in a 67-12 clobbering.

Coffee County was led by Samford commit Natalie Barnes, who scored all 11 of her points in the first quarter, a fast-paced opening period where the Lady Raiders outscored the Lions 32-1.

To start the second quarter, the Lady Raider bench unit would take over, holding the Lions to three points in the frame for a 46-4 halftime lead. Junior Ella Arnold would go on to lead the reserves with a 10-point performance.

A quickly moving second half would see the Lady Raiders outscore Columbia 21-8 over the final two quarters for their seventh district win of the 2024-25 campaign and a 25-0 overall record.

(No. 2) Coffee County: 32 14 9 12 – 67

Columbia Central: 1 3 3 5 – 12

Coffee County (67) Natalie Barnes 11, Ella Arnold 10, Olivia Vinson 9, Channah Gannon 8, Audri Patton 6, Lilly Matherne 6, Kaysen Morgan 6, Morgen Spears 4, Jules Ferrell 4, Jaydee Nogodula 2, Reece Finch 1.

Columbia Central (12) Aniya Bullock 6, Aqinzee Burkeen 3, Tristyn Shaw 3, Kayci Crawford 1.

Coffee County Red Raiders: 46, Columbia Central Lions: 50

In their previous battle with the Lions on Jan. 17, the Red Raiders put an end to a five-game losing streak with a 56-52 victory, which spearheaded Coffee County to a 4-1 run over the next five games, including a three-game winning streak.

The streak would not continue on Tuesday night, where the Red Raiders suffered a 50-46 loss to the Lions for their third loss in district play.

A tough offensive start seemed to be the culprit for the Red Raiders, who only managed a three-point field goal from Brady Wright in the game’s opening frame, where the Lions leaped to an 8-3 lead.

Columbia would pull further ahead in the second quarter on the strength of two triples from Akai Hunt, as the Lions gained a double digit lead of 22-12 at the halftime break.

Despite a 25-point fourth quarter, the Red Raiders just couldn’t seem to overcome their early deficit, and the Lions ran away for a narrow 50-46 victory.

With the loss, the Red Raiders drop to 10-12 on the season with a 4-3 record in 4A District 9.

Coffee County: 3 9 9 25 – 46

Columbia Central: 8 14 10 18 – 50

Coffee County (46) Brady Wright 11, Cortland Farrar 8, Cayden Trail 6, Caiden Warren 5, Kaysen Lowery 5, Audie Nicoll 4, Jaiden Warren 3, MJ Rollman 2, David Lewis 2.

Columbia Central (50) Isiah Humes 13, Akai Hunt 13, DK Armstrong 8, Ronald Moore 5, Jeremiah Vaughn 3, RJ White 3, Elijah Foster-Phillips 3, Chase Tellington 2.

Coffee County basketball will return home on Friday, Feb. 7 for the Border Battle against Warren County with the varsity girls game starting at 6 p.m.

Donations for this year’s edition of the Charity Charge are still being taken prior to the game and anyone wishing to donate a least $1 per point to the Dream for Weave Foundation can reply to one of Thunder Radio’s Border Battle posts on Facebook.