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On Saturday, Coffee County Central High School played host to the 4A District 9 Tournament Semifinals, with the Lady Raiders winning a close battle with Shelbyville Central and the Red Raiders beating Lincoln County.

For the third time this season, the Lady Raiders were pitted in a tightly contested match with the Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes.

The Lady Raiders had the edge at the start, outscoring Shelbyville 10-7 in a tight first quarter.

It would continue to be a defensive battle in the second quarter as the Lady Raiders outscored the Golden Eaglettes 9-8 to lead 19-15 at halftime.

Coffee County started to pull away in the third, outscoring Shelbyville 16-8 to lead 35-23 heading into the fourth quarter, where the Lady Raiders cruised to a 47-29 win.

“We were playing great defense in the first half, but we didn’t shoot the ball too well and it was hard to get the lid off of the basket,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “It happens sometimes, but in the third quarter, we went on that 13-1 run and from then on it was over.”

Scoring for the Lady Raiders in their District Semifinal win were Olivia Vinson and Channah Gannon with 13 points each, Natalie Barnes with 11 points, Jules Ferrell with seven points and Audri Patton with three points.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders got off to a slow start, but were able to edge out the Lincoln County Falcons in another close game.

The Red Raiders struggled at the start as the Falcons went in front 11-6 in the first quarter.

Coffee County came fighting back in the second, outscoring the Falcons 15-5 to lead at halftime 21-16.

The Falcons wouldn’t go away quietly, as they outscored Coffee 14-10 to cut the Red Raider lead to 31-30 heading into the fourth.

The Red Raiders pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Golden Eagles 21-10 to win the game 52-40.

“We defended the ball well,” said Coach Andrew Taylor. “We stuck to the scouting report, rebounded the ball well and got some stops. Offensively, we struggled a bit, having not played in over a week, but we had some guys step up and make some big shots.”

Scoring for the Red Raiders were Brady Wright with 17 points, Jackson Shemwell with 11 points, Cooper Reed with 10 points, Cayden Trail with five points, Courtland Farrar with four points, Jaiden Warren with three points and Camden Hunt with two.

The Lady Raiders will play for the District Tournament title against Lincoln County on Monday, Feb. 19 while the Red Raiders will vie for their championship against Columbia on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

Both games will take place at Coffee County’s Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium at approximately 7:30 pm.

Both teams also secured a first round home game in the regional tournament, which will take place later next week.