S

On Tuesday night, the Coffee County Red Raiders lost to the Columbia Central Lions in the TSSAA 4A District 9 Championship Game after a second half comeback fell short.

The Red Raiders pulled ahead at the start, outscoring Columbia 14-11 in the first quarter.

However, Columbia’s defense came back with a vengeance in the second, as the Lions went on a 13-1 run to start the quarter, holding Coffee without a field goal for six minutes before going into halftime with the lead, 28-17.

The Red Raiders would chip away in the third quarter, outscoring Columbia 11-9 as they faced a 37-28 deficit heading into the fourth.

With a minute to go, the Red Raiders had trimmed the Columbia lead to 40-37.

With around 30 seconds left, Coffee started to foul, and the Lions would shoot free throws, making only one of them to go up 41-37.

On the next Red Raider possession, Brady Wright hit a three pointer to make it a one point game with 10.7 seconds left, 41-40.

Coffee would foul again, and the Lions would make just one more free throw to go up 42-40.

The Red Raiders would get the ball down court, but turn it over on an errant pass with 2.1 seconds left.

The Lions would again be fouled on the inbounds pass, and they would add one more free throw to make it 43-40.

Coffee would try to pass it out on the ensuing inbounds pass, but the Lions snatched it up, winning the game and the District Championship.

“We didn’t play defense like we normally have been and it cost us,” said Jackson Shemwell. “Missing 14 free throws didn’t help either, but I’m proud of our guys for fighting back.”

“First of all, I’ve got to give credit to Columbia,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “They’re a good team and they’re a well coached team. For us, it came down to a lot of little things. We didn’t take care of the ball, we missed 14 free throws and we missed critical shots around the basket. Coaching could’ve been better as well and that’s on me. All you can do from tonight now, is learn from it. We’re going to take a look at our next opponent tomorrow, get a scouting report and from then on, we have to execute it.”

Scoring for the Red Raiders were Cayden Trail with 12 points, Cooper Reed with nine points, Jackson Shemwell with eight points, Jayden Carter with six points and Brady Wright with five points.

After the game, Coffee County’s Jackson Shemwell and Cooper Reed received All-Tournament honors.

In the District 9 Consolation game, the Warren County Pioneers beat Lincoln County 53-42 to place third in the tournament.

The Red Raiders will host play host to the Franklin Admirals in the first round of the Regional Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 pm.