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On Monday night, the Coffee County Lady Raiders again beat Shelbyville Central, this time to advance to the 4A Region 5 Championship Game.

Defense was the name of the game in the first quarter, as the score was knotted at 9-9 after the first eight minutes.

The Lady Raiders then exploded in the second quarter, shutting out the Golden Eaglettes 14-0 to lead at halftime, 23-9.

Coffee continued to pour it on the third quarter, outscoring Shelbyville 15-7 to lead 38-16 heading into the fourth where they put the game in cruise control, winning 40-24.

“We knew we had to make some shots, get a bit of a lead and then dictate things from there on out,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “We decided to switch in every screen defensively, and in the second quarter we gave up zero points to another region semifinal team which was pretty good. Our girls really stepped up defensively.”

Scoring for the Lady Raiders in the 4A Region 5 Semifinal were Channa Gannon with 12 points, Natalie Barnes with 10 points, Audri Patton and Olivia Vinson with seven points each, and Jules Ferrell with four points.

The Lady Raiders had made it to Regional round in each of the previous seven seasons with four semifinal appearances, but could never make it to the Region Championship. Tonight, they finally shook the monkey off of their back.

“We’ve lost some close ones in those years and tonight was the game,” said Cope. “We have to continue to play our game and knock down some shots, and regardless of what happens Wednesday, we just have to win Saturday and will be heading to Murfreesboro.”

The Coffee County Lady Raiders will play for the Region Championship on Wednesday night, Feb. 28 at Centennial High School at 7:00 pm.