The last game Coffee County will play in Tennessee in 2022 went near perfect.
The CHS Lady Raiders got a combined 31 points from the Gannon sisters, 13 from guard Natalie Barnes and forced 24 turnovers in a 57-28 blowout win over Moore County Thursday to close out the Jeff Taylor Christmas Classic in Tullahoma.
“We did, we got of to a good start,” said CHS head coach Joe Pat Cope. “We had Olivia running point some and you notice yesterday we had no throw ahead easy 3-pointers. Today, first play we get it ahead and Natalie hits one to get us started.”
Barnes set the tone early with 11 first-half points behind three 3-pointers and a pull-up jumper.
From there Coffee County did a lot of damage in the paint. Senior Chloe Gannon managed 16-points despite battling foul Trouble and Channah Gannon dropped in 15 points off the bench.
The Lady Raiders led 14-7 midway through the first quarter then took off on a 21-3 run to close the half and end all doubt early. CHS led by as many as 32 at one point in the fourth before substituting liberally.
Alivia Reel added 6 points for the Lady Raiders off the bench, she also jump started several fast breaks with steals at the top of the 1-3-1 zone defense. Jalie Ruehling and Olivia Vinson each scored 3 for CHS. The Lady Raiders went 14-of-17 at the free-throw line.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE FOR THE BROADCAST REPLAY
The win improves Coffee County to 16-1 on the season and is their 9th straight. The Lady Raiders will be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday before jetting off to New Hampshire for “The Bash” post-Christmas tournament on Dec. 26.
Raider boys cancelled
The Raider boys were supposed to play Glencliff Thursday night in Tullahoma but the threat of inclement weather led the metro based school to cancel the trip. That game will not be made up.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders return to regular-season action Jan. 3 when they host Cane Ridge.
Thunder Radio photos by Holly Peterson
