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Coffee County basketball opened the week with a road trip to Cookeville Tuesday night, resuming Class 4A District 6 play after a break during last Friday’s home matchup against Page.

The Lady Raiders got the evening started with a 45-33 victory over the Lady Cavaliers to keep their undefeated start to district play intact. The Red Raiders were unable to follow up in the boys’ game, falling 73-40 to remain on the hunt for their first district win.

Coffee County (18-4/3-0 district girls, 10-11/0-3 district boys) will travel to Lincoln County for another district battle Friday evening. Tip-off of the girls’ game is slated for 4 p.m.

Lady Raiders keep rolling in district

Coming into Tuesday night’s game, both Coffee County and Cookeville were off to undefeated starts in the girls’ district standings.

In a battle between two state tournament qualifiers from the year before, it was the Lady Raiders who kept their undefeated district record in check, holding off the Lady Cavaliers to return to Manchester with a win.

“I thought we handled their pressure pretty good. You’ve got two of the best programs in the state playing. Cookeville’s a top five program in the state and I think we are too,” Coffee County coach Joe Pat Cope said afterward. “Any time you come together, it’s gonna be a heck of a game and that’s what the fans got tonight. We were on the other end of it, but it easily could’ve went the other way.”

A tight start to the game saw Cookeville up 8-6 on Coffee County late in the first quarter, with both Lady Raider baskets up to that point coming on 3-pointers from Audri Patton and Kaysen Morgan, respectively. Jaydee Nogodula went on to add a trey of her own to put the Lady Raiders ahead and ultimately take a 9-8 lead into the second quarter.

Coffee County was able to build up some additional space as the first half continued, at one point reaching 17-11 before the Lady Cavaliers hit a pair of buckets to tighten it once again. Nogodula knocked down one more basket to put the Lady Raiders ahead by four, but Cookeville followed with one more of its own to send Coffee County into halftime up 19-17.

The Lady Raiders were able to separate themselves once more as the second half got under way, starting with another 3-pointer from Morgan before Morgen Spears added a basket of her own to build a 24-17 lead early in the third quarter. Coffee County continued to hold off Cookeville from there and went into the fourth quarter leading 28-22.

After a Lady Cavalier bucket to open the final quarter cut the deficit to four, Patton responded by sinking her fourth 3-pointer of the night to put the Lady Raiders up 31-24. Spears followed with another basket to put Coffee County up by nine shortly after. The Lady Raiders ultimately outscored the Lady Cavaliers 17-11 over the course of the fourth quarter on the way to sealing the win.

“It feels great. This was definitely the team to beat in my opinion and that’s what we’ve been focused on all year,” Spears said. “We’ve heard Cookeville, Cookeville and I think we just came down here, really executed it and took it home.”

Patton led the offense with 16 points, including five 3-pointers. Up next was Spears with 10 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Nogodula and Morgan both followed with eight points each. Jenslee Nogodula had three points.

Red Raiders fall behind in second half

Unlike the girls’ matchup, the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader featured a matchup between two teams that were each looking for their first district win of the season.

Tied at 5-5 early in the first quarter, an 11-point Cookeville run put Coffee County in a 16-5 hole before Luke Campbell nailed a 3-pointer to cut back into it. The Red Raiders went on to give up five more points before MJ Rollman added a basket to make it a 21-10 Cavalier lead after one.

Coffee County was able to climb back into it early in the second quarter, going on a 9-point run to shrink the Cookeville lead to 21-19. The Cavaliers answered with five more points before a basket from Rollman made it a 26-21 game. Cookeville proceeded to sink one more trey before the end of the first half to take a 29-21 lead on Coffee County at the break.

While momentum had been on Coffee County’s side early in the second quarter, it was a different story over the course of the second half. A quick start for the Cavaliers led to a 48-28 lead on the Red Raiders by the end of the third quarter. The deficit continued to grow in the fourth quarter, ultimately leading to Coffee County finishing the game down by 33.

Rollman led the Red Raider offensive effort with 15 points. Campbell followed with 11 points. Audie Nicoll added eight points. Jerrad Morgan came away with five points. Levi Rollman had a single free throw for one point.