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On Monday night, the Coffee Middle Lady Raiders began the 2024-25 season with a dominant 51-19 win while the Red Raiders lost a close, 44-37 battle at East Tullahoma.

CCMS Lady Raiders

The Lady Raider offense started off a bit slow in the first few minutes of play, but their tenacious defense fueled them to a 10-4 lead after the first quarter with eighth grader Harper Crosslin scoring eight of Coffee County’s 10 first quarter points.

Coffee County’s offense came to life in the second quarter, scoring 17 points against East’s seven to rack up a halftime lead of 27-11. Eighth grader Jenslee Nogodula scored 10 of those 17 points.

The Lady Raider defense continued to stifle the Lady Panthers in the second half, outscoring them 12-4 in each of the third and fourth quarters to win the game 51-19.

“The first quarter was a little slow, but after that we played better,” said Coach David Vinson. “We fouled a lot in that first half, but in the second half we didn’t have as many fouls. We passed the ball well, and our defense went after it. That’s how we won a lot of our games last year, and hopefully we can do that again this year.”

Box score: CCMS Lady Raiders (51)

Jenslee Nogodula 19, Brylyn McAdams 13, Harper Crosslin 8, Avery Pruitt 6, Kinsley Pruitt 2, Brooklyn Carlton 2, Kealey Branch 1

CCMS Red Raiders

The Red Raiders had the edge in the beginning of their contest with the Panthers, outscoring East 12-7 in the first quarter with five players scoring at least a point for Coffee County.

East Tullahoma’s defense held Coffee county to just six points in the second quarter, but even though the Panthers scored 10, the Red Raiders still held a one point advantage at halftime, 18-17.

The Panthers would build off their second quarter momentum out of the break, outscoring Coffee County 15-8 to take a 32-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

A Jaxon Pruitt three-pointer would cut the Panther lead to 37-35 with 1:37 left in regulation, but from that moment on, the Panthers outscored the Red Raiders 7-2 to win the game 44-37.

“I feel like, for the most part, that if it could’ve gone wrong it did,” said Coach Jason Creek. “We came out and started strong, we had a chance to extend the lead and that didn’t happen. We committed a lot of turnovers, we missed a lot of free throws, we had some foul trouble and that allowed the other team to get back into it. Hopefully, we can put it behind us and move forward on Thursday.”

Box Score: CCMS Red Raiders (37)

Jaxon Pruitt 13, Jo Jordan 8, Rylan Abellana 7, Kanon Creek 5, Ethan Arnold 3, Lane Sheppard 1

The Coffee County Middle Red Raiders and Lady Raiders will be back in action on Thursday, Oct. 24 when they travel to Harris.