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On Friday night, the Coffee County Lady Raiders were victorious in a tight, defensive battle while the Red Raiders won in a close shootout with the Golden Eagles for a season sweep of Shelbyville.

Through three quarters, it was a defensive slugfest between the Lady Raiders and Golden Eagles, but the Lady Raiders prevailed.

The Lady Raiders got off to a slow start as the Golden Eagles went ahead 10-6 in the first quarter.

Coffee came fighting back in the second quarter, shutting out the Golden Eagles 12-0 to lead 18-10 at halftime.

Shelbyville would outscore Coffee 11-7 in the third quarter, as the Lady Raiders led 25-21 heading into the fourth.

The Lady Raiders would put some distance between themselves and the Golden Eagles, outscoring Shelbyville 15-12 in the fourth quarter to win the game, 40-33.

“We couldn’t seem to make a shot tonight,” said coach Joe Pat Cope. “But there’s going to be nights like that where your shots don’t fall and you have to rely on your defense. You don’t lose many games by giving up 33 points.”

Scoring for the Lady Raiders were Olivia Vinson with 11 points, Natalie Barnes and Jules Ferrell with 10 points each, Ella Arnold with seven points and Ava McIntosh with two points.

Channa Gannon returned to the court for the first time since going out with an ankle injury against Blackman on Nov. 28, playing limited minutes.

“It’s big for us to have her back,” said Cope. “But it’s going to take a while for her to be back at 100%”

The Lady Raiders are now 19-3 with a 3-0 district record.

In contrast, the Red Raiders and Golden Eagles were pitted in a tight offensive shootout of a game.

A high scoring first quarter set the pace, with the Golden Eagles leading 17-14.

The Red Raiders found the edge in the second quarter, outscoring Shelbyville 10-6 to lead at halftime, 24-23.

The battle remained close in the third quarter, as the Red Raiders outscored the Golden Eagles 14-13 and took a 38-36 lead into the fourth.

With a minute left in regulation, Coffee held the lead, 53-52.

With 53.1 seconds left, the Golden Eagles were fouled, and proceeded to make one of their two shots to tie the game at 53-53.

On the next possession, Courtland Farrar was fouled by the Golden Eagles, then made both of his free throws to give Coffee the lead, 55-53 with 29 seconds to go.

Shelbyville would proceed to turn it over, then again foul Farrar, who went to the line and hit one of his two shots as the Red Raiders led 56-53 with 13.9 seconds left.

The Golden Eagles would miss a three point attempt on the next possession, and the Red Raiders held on to win.

“We knew we had to take care of the ball better,” said coach Andrew Taylor. “But we had few turnovers and they (Shelbyville) had too many offensive rebounds and that kept the game close. However, we executed our offense better than the last time we played them.“

Scoring for the Red Raiders were Jackson Shemwell with 16 points, Cooper Reed with 11 points, Brady Wright with nine points, Camden Hunt with eight points, Cayden Trail with five points, Jayden Carter with four points and Courtland Farrar with three points.

The Red Raiders improved to 11-10 with a 2-1 record in district play.

Coffee County basketball is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 27 as they play host to Warren County with the girls game starting at 3:00 pm.

The 2021-22 Red Raider Basketball team, who made a run in the State Tournament that year, will be recognized at halftime of the girls game.