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The Coffee County Lady Raiders prevailed in an intense 59-55 victory over rival Lincoln County to capture the 4A District 9 Tournament Championship on Monday night in Shelbyville.

No other team has challenged the Lady Raiders this season quite the way that Lincoln County has, and in Monday night’s 4A District 9 Championship Game, Coffee County undoubtedly faced their greatest test of the season thus far.

The latest meeting between two of Class 4A’s best teams turned out to be an instant classic, and considering some of their most recent clashes, that’s certainly saying something.

In the opening quarter, Coffee County raced out to an early 9-2 lead, but the Lady Falcons stormed back to tie the score at 13-13 after the first eight minutes of play.

Coffee County’s guards were a little quiet in the first quarter and most of Coffee County’s offense came through Southern Indiana signee Channah Gannon, who scored 11 of the Lady Raiders’ 13 first quarter points.

The Lady Raider backcourt would respond with a few timely threes in the second quarter, and after the first half, Coffee County held a 31-26 lead.

On the Lincoln County side, seniors Abby Bryan and Molly Brown took on most of the scoring load in the early moments, as the duo scored 22 of the Lady Falcon’s 26 points in the first half.

Allysa Petty would join in on the fun for Lincoln County and stir some trouble for the Lady Raiders in the third quarter, scoring 11 points to help the Lady Falcons even the score at 46-46 to end the third quarter.

Coffee County would take the game back over in the fourth quarter, building up a 58-52 with around 50 seconds left, but Abby Bryan would hit a three for the Lady Falcons to cut the lead back to 58-55.

The Lady Falcons would have a chance to tie after a missed layup by Jules Ferrell, but Ferrell would rebound the ball on the other end of the court and draw an intentional Lincoln County foul.

Ferrell would miss her first free throw, but sink the second one to put the Lady Raiders ahead 59-55.

Lincoln County would have another possession in the final seconds, but any chance at victory was snuffed out on a last second block by Lipscomb signee Olivia Vinson to seal the victory for Coffee County.

“Lincoln County’s a State Tournament contender and it just blows my mind that we’re able to get win after win against them,” said Lady Raider Coach Pat Cope. “Our girls locked in and played hard when they needed to. Down the stretch, Ava pulled us some big offensive rebounds, Natalie knocked down some shots, Jules hit a big free throw, Olivia blocked the final shot and Channah was scoring at will. It was a huge night.”

Channah Gannon, who was recently named the MVP for 4A District 9, backed up the accomplishment with a 27-point performance in the Championship Game.

“I knew I would be doubled-teamed,” Gannon said. “Once they backed off of me, I knew I could score at any time.”

With the win, the Lady Raiders stay perfect with a 30-0 record and will advance to the 4A Region 5 Tournament as the No. 1 seed from District 9.

The Regional Tournament will begin on Friday, Feb. 28 when the Lady Raiders play host to Franklin at Joe Frank “Patch” Memorial Gymnasium at 7 p.m.

Lincoln County: 13 13 20 9 – 55

Coffee County: 13 18 15 13 – 59

Lincoln County – Abby Bryan 20, Molly Brown 18, Alyssa Petty 13, Grasen Tipps 4.

Coffee County – Channah Gannon 27, Olivia Vinson 15, Jules Ferrell 8, Natalie Barnes 6, Ava McIntosh 3.