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On Thursday night, the Coffee Middle Lady Raiders celebrated Eighth Grade Night with a 52-9 win while the Red Raiders collected their 17th victory of the year with a 49-12 win at home against Cannon County.

CCMS Lady Raiders: 52, Cannon County Lionettes: 9

After another dominant victory back on Jan. 9 against Stewarts Creek, the Coffee Middle Lady Raiders set their sights on a perfect regular season with an Eighth Grade Night win over the Cannon County Lionettes.

In the opening minutes, both teams would struggle to score, but the Lady Raiders would still race out to a dominant start, outscoring the Lionettes 14-2 in the first quarter and 10-3 in the second for a halftime lead of 24-5.

Coffee County’s defense would continue to hold strong in the second half, allowing just four points in the third quarter and shutting out the Lionettes in the fourth for a 52-9 victory.

“I told our girls yesterday that these Eighth Grade Night games always seem to play out weird or different than they normally do and it was that way tonight,” said Coach David Vinson. “We got off to a slow start, but we played good defense, ended with 52 points and everybody got to play and I was really pleased with that.”

After the game, the eighth grade members of the team were recognized and Coach Vinson shared his thoughts on this year’s group.

“This group has had two undefeated regular seasons in a row and that’s quite an accomplishment,” he said. “It speaks to the hard work that they’ve put into practice and the extra work they’ve put in outside of practice.”

The Coffee Middle Lady Raiders will head into the Area Tournament next week with a 20-0 record.

Box Score: Cannon County Lionettes (9) Addilyn Smith 4, Lily Riley 2, Gracie Estes 2, Ellie Chapman 1.

Coffee County Lady Raiders (52) Harper Crosslin 14, Jenslee Nogodula 11, Avery Pruitt 8, Abbey Williams 6, Brylyn McAdams 5, Kealey Branch 5, Kendall Kesling 2, Brooklyn Carlton 2.

CCMS Red Raiders: 49, Cannon County Lions: 12

Coming off of a loss to Stewarts Creek in their previous game, the Red Raiders were looking to end the regular season on a high note over the Cannon County Lions.

The Red Raiders would allow only four points in the first two quarters combined for a 19-4 lead at the half, including a 10-0 shutout of the Lions in the first quarter.

Coffee County would continue to hold the Lions at bay in the second half, outscoring Cannon 30-8 over the final two quarters for a 49-12 win.

“Tonight’s effort was great,” said Assistant Coach Aiden Abellana. “Myself and the other coaches think that this was the first complete game that we’ve played this season. Our defense was spectacular and offensively, we shot the ball well and hit seven threes, which I think is the most we’ve hit in a game this year. Our guys wanted to prove a point, because the last game against Cannon was close, and they came out and got the job done.”

The Red Raiders close out the regular season with a 17-4 overall record.

Box Score: Cannon County Lions (12) Cannen Andrews 6, Carson Byrom 4, Corbin Garrett 2.

Coffee County Red Raiders (49) Rylan Abellana 11, Jaxon Pruitt 11, Jo Jordan 10, Ethan Arnold 5, Lane Sheppard 4, LT Carney 3, Kanon Creek 3, Hyatt Moss 2.

Coffee County Middle School will play host to the 3A Area 6 Tournament next week with the Red Raiders playing their first game on Tuesday, Jan. 21 against Harris at approximately 7 p.m. A ceremony honoring the eighth grade members of the team will take place beforehand.

The Lady Raiders will take a first round bye and begin their tournament in the semifinals on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at approximately 6 p.m. against the winner of Lewisburg and Warren County.