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On Saturday, Natalie Barnes became the latest Coffee County player to make the 1,000-point club and the Lady Raiders won their second game of the DTC Classic with a 77-36 victory over Clinton.

In their previous game of the tournament on Friday, the Lady Raiders picked up a dominant 63-24 win over Central Magnet to move to 10-0 on the season.

Standing between the Lady Raiders and an appearance in the Championship Game were the Clinton Lady Dragons, a team that finished runners up in the 3A District 4 Tournament last season.

Like the previous game, the Lady Raiders raced out to a quick start, outscoring the Lady Dragons 19-7 in the first quarter and 26-13 in the second for a double digit halftime lead of 45-20.

Coffee County would pour it on in the second half, outscoring the Lady Dragons 32-16 over the final two quarters to win the game, 77-36.

“Anytime you have four players with double digits in points, you know you’re doing something right,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “We just have to clean some stuff up going into the new year, but this team has a chance to be very, very special.”

Apart from the win, the Lady Raiders had other reasons to celebrate. 

Towards the end of the second quarter, Lady Raider junior and recent Samford commit Natalie Barnes hit a three pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining to score the 1,000th point of her high school career.

After the game, Barnes was quick to credit the accomplishment to her teammates and coaches.

“It feels really good to do that, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” she said. “They look to pass to me a lot and the coaches have a lot of confidence in me to shoot the ball, so it was a team effort.”

The Lady Raiders improve to 11-0 on the season and will play Cumberland County in the DTC Christmas Classic Championship Game on Monday, Dec. 23 starting at 6 p.m. at Gordonsville High School.

Box Score: Coffee County Lady Raiders (77) Jules Ferrell 20, Olivia Vinson 17, Channah Gannon 14, Natalie Barnes 13, Ella Arnold 6, Jaydee Nogodula 3, Morgen Spears 2, Hayleigh Harris 2.

Clinton Lady Dragons (36) Allie York 12, Josie Moody 11, Lanee Camichae 4, Sydney Herrell 3, Addi Gamble 2, Bailey Burroughs 2, Kenzlee Hucthins 2.