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On Tuesday night, the Lady Raiders won in dramatic fashion while the Red Raiders struggled against the Blackman Blaze.

The Coffee Central Lady Raiders were looking to rebound after their tough loss to Bradley Central on Thanksgiving break and they did just that with a tough and gritty win over Blackman.

The Lady Raiders would outscore the Blaze 12-9 in the first quarter before the Blaze responded likewise in the second with a 12-9 quarter of their own and the score was knotted, 21-21 at the half.

Early in the third quarter, Coffee’s Channah Gannon went down hard after making a play on the defensive end, hurting her ankle.

“She rolled that ankle pretty badly,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “It was a high ankle sprain, so she could be out for a while, but she’s tough and she’ll be back.”

The battle between the two teams continued and Coffee would edge ahead for a 40-34 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The visitors from Murfreesboro didn’t make it easy for the Lady Raiders, and started chipping away before tying the game at 45-45 with 2:30 to go.

The score remained that way until Natalie Barnes hit a go-ahead three for the Lady Raiders with 1:35 to go, and Coffee led 48-45.

As Blackman brought the ball back down they were fouled and sent to the free throw line.

The Blaze would just make the first free throw and miss the second, but the Lady Raiders couldn’t grab the rebound and the Blaze put it back to tie the game back at 48-48.

As the seconds ticked down on the clock, the Lady Raiders made a push to take the lead. 

After a couple of shots couldn’t fall, Natalie Barnes decided to be the hero again for the Lady Raiders and put in a last second shot to win the game, 50-48 and send the crowd at “The Patch” into a frenzy.

“We got the shot we wanted, it just didn’t fall,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “But Natalie came flying in and put it back at the buzzer. It’s a huge win over a good team.”

The win was also Joe Pat Cope’s 300th win as a head coach.

“I give all the credit to those kids,” said Cope. “It makes my job a lot easier when I have kids like Bella Vinson or Abby Morgan or Natalie Barnes over the years.” 

Scoring for the Lady Raiders were Natalie Barnes with 20 points, Jules Ferrell with 10 points, Olivia Vinson with nine points, Channah Gannon with seven points, and Nakayjah Holman with four points.

The Coffee Central Lady Raiders improved to 7-1 on the season and are now 6-0 at Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders did not have much to celebrate after a tough loss to the Blackman Blaze.

Coffee struggled right out of the gate, as the Blaze held them to three points in the first quarter and led the Red Raiders 13-3.

The Red Raiders would get things going in the second quarter, outscoring the Blaze 9-7, but still faced a 20-12 halftime deficit.

The battle remained close in the third quarter, with the Blaze leading 34-25 heading into the fourth, but things fell apart quickly for The Red Raiders.

The Red Raider offense had struggled throughout the night with two of their principle players, Cooper Reed and Jackson Shemwell combining for just 14 points in the game, and Shemwell receiving a technical foul in the fourth quarter.

“It’s critical for them to be successful, because they are our most experienced guys,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “I think Jackson let emotions get the best of him tonight, but he knows that, and both of them are hard workers and they will be better.”

The Blaze would outscore Coffee 16-3 in the final frame for a 50-28 win.

“Offensively, we were out of rhythm all night,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “We have to be more patient with our shot selection.”

Scoring for the Red Raiders were Brady Wright and Cooper Reed with 10 points each, Jackson Shemwell with four points, Jayden Carter with three points and Cayden Trail with one point.

The Red raiders fall to 2-3 on the season and 0-3 at “The Patch”.

Next up for Coffee Central Basketball will be a Friday night match up with cross-county rivals Tullahoma at home on Dec. 1.