S

On Saturday night at a packed Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gymnasium, the Coffee County Lady Raiders beat the Hendersonville Lady Commandos in dominant fashion, punching their ticket to the TSSAA State Tournament.

The Lady Raiders immediately set the tone at the start, shutting out the Lady Commandos 22-0 in the first quarter.

Hendersonville would get on the board in the second quarter, but the Lady Raiders would still outscore them 11-9 to lead at halftime, 33-9.

Coffee County continued to roll in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Commandos 13-10 to lead 46-19 going into the fourth, where they would close out the game, 63-30.

With the win, the Lady Raiders advance to the TSSAA 4A State Championships.

“This is what you coach for,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “For our community and for our school, I couldn’t be any prouder.”

“It feels awesome,” said junior Channah Gannon. “We knew there was going to be a big crowd, and we had to come out with the mindset that it was just like any other game and hustle.”

“It feels awesome, I’m so excited to go to State,” said freshman Jules Ferrell. “We just have to keep playing good basketball, keep knocking down our shots, making good passes and running our offensive scheme.”

Scoring for the Lady Raiders in the Sectional Round game were Jules Ferrell with 16 points, Olivia Vinson with 15 points, Channah Gannon with 13 points, Natalie Barnes with 11 points and Audri Patton with eight points.

The Lady Raiders will continue their quest for a State Championship on Wednesday, March 6 in the State Quarterfinals against the Dobyns Bennett Indians at approximately 12:45 pm at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

Tickets for the TSSAA State Tournament are $12 per day when purchased in advance on GoFan or $15 per day when purchased with cash at the gate and parking is $5 a day for the parking lot on Greenland Drive.