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On Tuesday night, the Coffee Middle Red Raiders held off a late charge by the Harris Eagles to advance to the semifinals of the AAA Area 6 Tournament.

After the winter weather caused the CTC Tournament to be canceled and for the Area Tournament to be delayed by a day, the Coffee Middle Red Raiders were back in action on their home floor to take on the Harris Eagles.

Both teams traded a couple of three point shots in the first quarter and the scored was tied 8-8 after one quarter of play. 

The Red Raiders pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 11-2 to take a 19-10 lead into halftime.

Coffee would add to their lead in the third, outscoring Harris 9-6 to lead 28-16 heading into the fourth.

Harris climbed back into the game with a 13-2 run that cut the Red Raider lead to 30-29 with 1:30 left in regulation.

The Red Raiders would try and play keep away, and with 43 seconds left, they were fouled.

Rylan Abellana would be sent to the free throw line for two shots, where he missed both, but the Red Raiders jumped on the rebound and were fouled again.

This time, Jaxon Pruitt was sent to the charity stripe and he made one of his two free throws to give Coffee a two point advantage, 31-29, with 30 seconds left.

Harris couldn’t find an opening on the offensive end, and with 10 seconds left, the Eagles called a timeout.

The Eagles would draw a foul and make two of their three free throws to tie the game at 31-31 with 5.9 seconds left in the game.

The Red Raiders were able to break through to the other end of the court, and Jerrad Morgan was fouled on a shot attempt and sent to the free throw line. 

Morgan hit both of his free throws to give Coffee the lead and the win, 33-31.

“For the first three quarters, I think that was the most complete game that we’ve played all year,” said Coach Jonathan Oliver. “Harris hit some big shots in the fourth quarter and started applying pressure to us defensively which allowed them to chip away. However, we got some fouls called for us and Jerrad hit those two big free throws at the end. Overall, we came out with good intensity,  everyone did their part and it was a good team win tonight.”

Scoring for the Red Raiders were Jerrad Morgan with 13 points, Jaxon Pruitt with nine points, Landyn Stiefel with six points, Warren Simmons with four points and Ethan Arnold with two points.

The Red Raiders come back to play the Whitthorne Tigers in the semifinals of the AAA Area 6 tournament on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5:00 pm with the Lady Raiders taking on Warren County in their semifinal game afterwards.