Red Raiders win overtime thriller while Lady Raiders win sixth straight
S
On Friday night, the Red Raiders won their second straight game in an overtime thriller while the Lady Raiders had a close battle with Tullahoma.
For the Lady Raiders it was a tough battle against the rival Lady Wildcats.
The first quarter was a bit of a back and forth slugfest with the Lady Wildcats, but the Lady Raiders went in front, 15-9.
Scoring was a little more scarce in the second quarter as Coffee outscored Tullahoma 7-1, but the Lady Raiders still led at halftime, 22-10.
Tullahoma outscored Coffee 9-7 in the third quarter, but the Lady Raiders remained in front heading into the fourth quarter, where they would hold on to win, 37-26.
“Shots didn’t fall very well tonight, but our defense held up,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “I’m going home to watch film and we’ll meet at the school at 9:00 am and then hit the road and take care of business.”
Scoring for the Lady Raiders were Natalie Barnes with 20 points, Jules Ferrell with 10 points, Olivia Vinson with five points and Audri Patton with two points.
The Lady Raiders are now 12-1 on the season and are riding a six game winning streak, with their next contest taking place on Saturday, Dec. 16 against Brentwood in the Rockvale Exposure at Rockvale High School at 11:30 am.
In the meantime, the Red Raiders picked up their second win in a row in an overtime battle with the Wildcats.
Both teams traded blows in the first quarter with Tullahoma having the edge, 15-10.
The Red Raiders fought back in the second quarter, outscoring Tullahoma 9-5 as the Wildcats led 20-19 at the half.
Tullahoma would outscore Coffee in the third quarter, 18-14 and lead the game, 38-33 heading into the fourth.
The battle continued into the fourth quarter, where the Red Raiders would go ahead late, 50-48.
Tullahoma came back and tied the game at 50-50 with 30 seconds left.
Coffee County would get a chance to end it at the buzzer, but the shot wouldn’t go in and the game went into overtime.
The Red Raiders took over in the extra minutes with Jackson Shemwell scoring six of the Red Raiders’ 13 points in overtime, and the Red Raiders would hold on to win, 63-57.
“We’re starting to figure some things out,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “Our defenses was solid tonight, and offensively our guys were making plays. It’s always a battle down here.”
Shemwell had been hounded by the Tullahoma student section all night, but proceeded to drop 25 points on the Wildcats to lead Coffee to victory.
“It feels great to come out with the win,” said Shemwell. “They can talk all they want, talk is cheap around here.”
“Jackson is a competitor,” said Coach Taylor. “I think he looks at every game the same, but when people yell at him, it motivates him. He made some big plays down the stretch tonight and Cooper and Brady made some big shots and Courtland played fantastic defense, so it was a great team effort tonight.”
Also scoring for the Red Raiders were Cooper Reed with 20 points, Brady Wright with 14 points and Jaiden Warren with two points.
The Red Raiders are now 5-6 on the season.
The Red Raiders will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 20 against Nolensville with the game taking place at 2:00 pm at Blackman High School.
