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Coffee County Middle completed a sweep of the 3A Area 6 Championships after the Red Raiders took down the Whitthorne Tigers 38-20 on Friday night in Manchester.

Before facing Whitthorne in the championship game, the Red Raiders defeated Harris for the fourth time this season with a 40-30 victory over the Eagles in the semifinals on Tuesday. In the other semifinal game on Wednesday, top seed Whitthorne defeated Lewisburg in a 57-25 blowout for their 23rd win of the season, setting up a Coffee County-Whitthorne battle for the Area Championship on Friday night, Jan. 24.

One year ago to the date, the two teams met in the semifinals of 2024’s 3A Area 6 Tournament, with the Tigers winning that matchup 44-29.

In Friday night’s championship clash, each team would tally five points in the first quarter, but the Red Raiders would jet ahead in the second quarter on the back of their ferocious defense, which helped shut out the Tigers 12-0 for a halftime lead of 17-5.

Whitthorne would outscore Coffee 7-6 in the third quarter, but the Red Raiders completely took over in the fourth, outrunning the Tigers 15-8 to win the game 38-20 and claim the Area Championship.

“Before the game, we had made some adjustments to our 2-3 zone, because we knew Whitthorne was more perimeter-oriented and had some shooters,” said Red Raider Coach Jason Creek. “I told the boys at halftime that we needed to win the second half and that the environment was going to get ramped up and it was. They did a really good job of keeping their composure. I’m proud of them and I think they’re playing some really good basketball at the right time.”

Coach Creek also talked highly of his eighth grade players.

“We have nine of them this year, and I have coached five of those nine through AAU ball,” he said. “It’s a really good group of kids. As far as basketball players and the other sports they play, they have very high IQ’s. I talked to them when they were sixth graders about trying to build a legacy and leaving this place as a successful group of young men and they have. They’re fun to watch and I’m excited to see what they can do at the high school level.”

With the win over Whitthorne, the Red Raiders enter the 3A Section 2 Tournament as the No. 1 seed from Area 6 and a 19-4 overall record. Coffee County will play the No. 3 seed from Area 7 in the Section Quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at Stewarts Creek Middle School at approximately 8:15 p.m. The CCMS Lady Raiders will be playing that same night in the game before at approximately 7 p.m.

Box Score: Whitthorne Tigers (20) De’Cari Parks 8, Austin Taylor 5, Tre Johnson 3, King Murphy 2, Tyshan Dotson 2.

Coffee County Red Raiders (38) Jaxon Pruitt 12, Jo Jordan 9, Rylan Abellana 6, Kanon Creek 6, Ethan Arnold 5, Hyatt Moss 1.