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On Wednesday afternoon, the Coffee County Lady Raiders beat the Dobyns-Bennett Indians to advance to the TSSAA 4A State Semifinals.

The Lady Raiders flew out of the gate at the start, going on a 9-0 run before outscoring the Indians 22-9 in the first quarter.

Dobyns-Bennett would outscore Coffee 11-10 in the second quarter, but the Lady Raiders still led 32-20 at the half.

Coffee County struggled on offense in the third quarter, as the Indians outscored them 11-6, but the Lady Raiders still led 38-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Raiders held service in the fourth, outscoring the Indians 10-8 to win the game, 48-39.

“It’s very special to be here,” said Natalie Barnes. “The atmosphere was amazing and now we just have to stay locked in and keep going.”

“This morning during our walk through we talked about staying laser focused,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “For these girls to be as young as they are, they’ve done a fantastic job.”

Scoring for the Lady Raiders in their State Semifinal win were Natalie Barnes with 18 points, Channah Gannanon with 12 points, Olivia Vinson with seven points, Jules Ferrell with six points and Ella Arnold with five points.

The Coffee County Lady Raiders will continue their run in The Blue Cross Basketball Championships in the 4A Semifinals against the defending State Champion Bradley Central Bearettes at 11:00 AM on Friday, March 8 at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

Also advancing to the State Semifinals were Bartlett, who defeated Sevier County 54-42, and Cleveland, who beat Lincoln County 60-44.