Coffee splits rivalry battle with Tullahoma
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The Coffee Central Lady Raiders picked up a win after another close-quarters battle, while the Red Raiders dropped another game at The Patch on Friday night.
The Lady Raiders have been no stranger to tight battles in these last couple of games against Bradley Central and Blackman, and while their contest against Tullahoma wasn’t quite as close as those battles, the visitors from across the county wouldn’t go away quietly.
Coffee started the game out well, going up 13-4 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Wildcats kept it close in the second period, but the Lady Raiders still outscored them 13-12 to take a 26-16 halftime lead.
The two teams traded blows in the third quarter, with both teams scoring eight points in the period and Coffee leading 34-24 heading into the fourth.
The Lady Raiders held on in the final quarter on the strength of Olivia Vinson’s nine fourth quarter points and won the game, 46-34.
“We had to take care of business and have the next man up with Channah gone,” said coach Joe Pat Cope. “We had to spread the floor more and play a quicker game, and tonight showed we were more than capable of doing that.”
Scoring for the Lady Raiders were Olivia Vinson with 19 points, Jules Ferrell and Natalie Barnes each had nine points, Ava McIntosh had six points and Nakayjah Holman had three points.
The Lady Raiders now improve to 8-1 on the year, and 7-0 at The Patch.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were looking to get back on track after a bad lost to Blackman.
The Red Raiders came to play at the start, outscoring the Wildcats 21-13, but Tullahoma assumed control in the second quarter, outscoring Coffee 22-4 to take a 35-25 halftime lead.
The Wildcats furthered their lead to 16 at the end of the third to lead 56-40, before winning the game, 67-50.
“We had some breakdowns in our defense tonight,” said Assistant Coach George Pearson. “We need to execute our defense better and I think we could’ve rebounded better on the offensive side.”
Jackson Shemwell had a good bounce-back game against Tullahoma and led the Red Raiders with 16 points.
Also scoring for Coffee were Cooper Reed with 12 points, Jayden Carter with 10 points, Brady Wright with nine points and Cayden Trail with three points.
The Red Raiders fall to 2-4 on the season.
Next up for Coffee Central Basketball will be a stand-alone boys game against Franklin County on Tuesday, Dec. 5, and both teams will be back in action at Blackman on Friday, Dec. 8.
