S

The No. 2 Coffee County Lady Raiders took care of business yet again with an 83-30 thrashing of the Eaglettes while the Red Raiders won their third consecutive game in a 44-43 battle against the Golden Eagles on Friday night in Manchester.

CCHS Lady Raiders: 83, Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes: 30

In their previous matchup with the Eaglettes on Jan. 14 in Shelbyville, the Lady Raiders would utilize a stifling press defense at the start of the game and then go to win 75-45 for their first district win of the season. Entering Friday night’s tilt with the Eaglettes, the No. 2 ranked Lady Raiders were coming off of a 72-17 road victory over Spring Hill on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Similar to their last clash against the Eaglettes, the Lady Raider defense set the tone early, as Coffee County outscored Shelbyville 24-6 in the opening quarter and 23-5 in the second for a massive halftime lead of 47-11.

The Lady Raider bench unit would take over midway through the third quarter, and Coffee County would go on to outscore the Golden Eaglettes 36-19 over the final two quarters to win 83-30.

“We switched our defense up a bit from the last time we played them,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “We tried to press Shelbyville at their place and we were up on them early, but we kind of ran out of gas. Tonight, we played four or five different defenses and switched it up every three or four possessions. It kept us on our toes and I think we also shot the ball well…it will be a fun game to go back and watch, they shared the ball well tonight.”

With the Lady Raiders now past the halfway point of district play, Coach Cope reiterated how important it was for his team to remain composed at this point of the season.

“We just have to keep grinding away,” said Cope. “At this time of year and as good as this team is, if you have one bad shooting night in the postseason, then you’re done. Nobody cares if you’re 24-0 or 28-0 or whatever, all they care about is advancing. You just have to stay laser focused and keep moving forward.”

The Lady Raiders are now 24-0 with a 6-0 mark in 4A District 9 play.

Box Score: Shelbyville Central Golden Eaglettes (30) Jada Perry 11, Lanaya Young 6, Morgan Pridmore 4, Destiny McCullogh 3, Yasmine McFarland 2, Alexia Stewart 2, Jazmine Western 1, Nijah Gray 1.

No. 2 Coffee County Lady Raiders (83) Channah Gannon 17, Jules Ferrell 15, Natalie Barnes 14, Ella Arnold 11, Morgen Spears 6, Audri Patton 4, Olivia Vinson 4, Andon Selvog 3, Addalyn Clark 3, Lily Matherne 3, Kaysen Morgan 2, Jaydee Nogodula 1.

CCHS Red Raiders: 44, Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles: 43

Last time against Shelbyville, the Red Raiders suffered a heartbreaker of a 55-48 overtime loss on the road to open district play. Following that defeat, the Red Raiders won three of their next four games, with their most recent victory being a 50-39 road win at Spring Hill.

In their Friday night tilt, the Red Raiders would take control at the start, outscoring the Golden Eagles 13-3 in the first quarter, but Shelbyville would bounce back in the second, outscoring Coffee County 20-8 for a narrow 23-21 halftime lead.

Coffee County would fight their back in the third quarter to take a 37-34 lead into the fourth, where the battle would go down to the wire.

With one minute to go in regulation, the score was knotted at 43-43. On their last possession, the Red Raiders whittled the clock down before senior Brady Wright went up for a shot attempt and drew a foul with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Wright would hit one of his two free throw attempts and the Golden Eagles would not even got a shot off in the time remaining, giving the Red Raiders a 44-43 victory.

“They battled and they never gave up,” Coach Andrew Taylor said of his team. “We took better care of the ball in the second half, made some shots and executed down the stretch.”

With his team winning three games in a row and four of their last five, Coach Taylor believes that everything is starting to click for the Red Raiders.

“I think we’re starting to figure some things out,” said Taylor. “Guys are starting to execute a lot better and at any time when you start winning, everybody feels better, right? I think the guys are understanding what we have to do to be successful. There were a lot of new pieces this year, it took a little time and we’re a little banged up, so we’re just grinding these games out one at a time.”

The Red Raiders are now 10-11 on the season with a 4-2 mark in district play.

Box Score: Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles (43) Jevon Lee 23, Tae’Shawn Shelton 8, Jack Conditt 5, Jordan Taylor 4, Idris Grey 3.

No. 2 Coffee County Red Raiders (44) Cayden Trail 15, Brady Wright 14, MJ Rollman 10, Caiden Warren 2, Cortland Farrar 2, Levi Rollman 1.

Coffee County basketball will travel to Columbia Central on Tuesday, Feb. 4 with varsity action starting at 6 p.m.