On Monday night, the Coffee County Lady Raiders again beat Shelbyville Central, this time to advance to the 4A Region 5 Championship Game.
Defense was the name of the game in the first quarter, as the score was knotted at 9-9 after the first eight minutes.
The Lady Raiders then exploded in the second quarter, shutting out the Golden Eaglettes 14-0 to lead at halftime, 23-9.
Coffee continued to pour it on the third quarter, outscoring Shelbyville 15-7 to lead 38-16 heading into the fourth where they put the game in cruise control, winning 40-24.
“We knew we had to make some shots, get a bit of a lead and then dictate things from there on out,” said Coach Joe Pat Cope. “We decided to switch in every screen defensively, and in the second quarter we gave up zero points to another region semifinal team which was pretty good. Our girls really stepped up defensively.”
Scoring for the Lady Raiders in the 4A Region 5 Semifinal were Channa Gannon with 12 points, Natalie Barnes with 10 points, Audri Patton and Olivia Vinson with seven points each, and Jules Ferrell with four points.
The Lady Raiders had made it to Regional round in each of the previous seven seasons with four semifinal appearances, but could never make it to the Region Championship. Tonight, they finally shook the monkey off of their back.
“We’ve lost some close ones in those years and tonight was the game,” said Cope. “We have to continue to play our game and knock down some shots, and regardless of what happens Wednesday, we just have to win Saturday and will be heading to Murfreesboro.”
The Coffee County Lady Raiders will play for the Region Championship on Wednesday night, Feb. 28 at Centennial High School at 7:00 pm.
Xavier Worthy might not win a weigh-in, but the first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs was highly rated by the front office because of his playmaking skills, speed and production at Texas. A wide receiver with the Longhorns, Worthy reeled in 26 receiving touchdowns in three seasons before blazing a 4.21-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. At 165 pounds, Worthy's weight isn't a worry to the Chiefs because of the toughness he showed on the field at Texas. "You're asking the wrong guy about weight," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said of the 28th overall pick in the draft. "I think he's fine where he's at. I don't think that's a problem. He's playing at a high level, and he's been doing this since he was a freshman. I'm not too worried about the weight." Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Worthy, 20, still is growing and plans to connect with the team nutritionist to be in full alignment with Kansas City's plan to bulk him up, if only slightly. "We'll have him with our dietitian and our weight staff. We're not going to make him 200 pounds," Veach joked, "but also keep him at the 175-180 mark I think will be a healthy weight for him. It will all make sense ... all these (draft picks) are going to have to get bigger and stronger just from the marathon of the season, just to survive more games." Reid said Worthy would be used as a receiver and returner as a rookie. He'll join a WR corps that added Hollywood Brown and expects to have Rashee Rice back for a second season after he led the team in receptions as a rookie. Brown and Worthy bring a skill the Chiefs didn't feature last season -- the pure speed to blow the top off of a zone defense. Reid said he saw glimpses of another relatively light but blazing fast -- and tough -- receiver he drafted with the Eagles, DeSean Jackson. Jackson, as it turns out, was Worthy's favorite player growing up. "It just makes me at ease to see a coach who drafted a guy similar to me, and (Jackson) having the success that he had in the system with Andy Reid, so it's just amazing to be able to have a coach who gets you as a player since he had that player before," Worthy said. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was quick to note that Worthy's speed should make a "big-time difference in the NFL." "And the thing about Xavier is he ran that time, but that's the way he practices every single day. Every rep is full speed," Sarkisian said. "He has the ability to take the top off the defense, but he's much more than that. He has tremendous route-running ability and is a tireless worker at that. He has a very high football IQ and is extremely competitive." Worthy was on Reid's radar before he lit up the turf at the Scouting Combine. "Sarkisian and I are close. He kept talking about how smart he was, he's got great football instincts, and he's a tremendous worker," Reid said. "In this offense, you've got to be able to do that and have those characteristics." --Field Level Media
All-American center Hunter Dickinson is returning to Kansas for his final season of college eligibility in 2024-25. The 7-foot-2 Dickinson transferred to Kansas prior to last season from Michigan and was a second-team All-American and All-Big 12 First Team selection. He confirmed the decision to run it back in Lawrence by replying to coach Bill Self via social media Friday. Self posted to X, "Hey (Hunter) have you made a decision yet? Everybody want to know what you're thinking." Dickinson replied: "Yeah you're right coach. I guess it's time to tell everyone I'm coming back! Rock Chalk!" Kansas landed a fourth major transfer earlier Friday with the official commitment from Alabama's Rylan Griffen. He joins South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo, former Wisconsin forward AJ Storr and former Florida guard Riley Kugel as the newcomers to Self's squad via the portal this offseason. Kansas lost four of its final five games entering the NCAA Tournament and was defeated in the second round by Gonzaga (89-68). Dickinson had 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting. After Kansas finished its season shooting 33 percent from 3-point range, Self vowed to upgrade the perimeter around Dickinson. Dickinson is capable of making those shots, but the post presence can also bully defenders in the paint with strength and a soft touch around the rim. He averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds at Kansas last season, but ended the season with a shoulder injury. Dickinson averaged 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds as a sophomore at Michigan in 2021-22 and put up 18.5-9.0 as a junior before leaving for Kansas. -Field Level Media In addition to touted freshman Flory Bidunga, a five-star recruit and Indiana's Mr. Basketball, Kansas has four of its six top scorers back from 2023-24. --Field Level Media
Trade offers for wide receiver Deebo Samuel could fetch the San Francisco 49ers a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, according to multiple reports. The two teams at the center of the bidding prior to the start of the second round of the 2024 draft on Friday were AFC East rivals Buffalo and New England, NFL Network and The Athletic reported. NFL Network reported the Patriots and 49ers engaged in conversations around Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk during the NFL Scouting Combine, but compensation was a sticking point. The Bills traded No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans earlier this month and traded back twice on Thursday. Buffalo holds the No. 33 pick in the draft Friday. 49ers general manager John Lynch said on Wednesday that he "wouldn't anticipate" a scenario in which the team would trade Aiyuk, who is looking for a long-term deal from San Francisco. Whether Samuel could be available after Lynch used the 49ers' first-round selection on Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall -- a former Aiyuk teammate in 2019 before transferring to the Gators from Arizona State. Lynch called Samuel "a part of this team, and a big part of this team" on Thursday night after the pick. Head coach Kyle Shanahan went further, saying trade talks took place when teams called but trading a wide receiver "doesn't seem that likely to be honest. But I'm still on the table. If someone offered [owner] Jed [York] and John good stuff for me, I'm going to be out of here." --Field Level Media
Eliminating one week of preseason games, adding a week to the 17-game regular season and bumping the Super Bowl to a three-day weekend in February are all part of the long-term outlook of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell said Friday in an interview with ESPN that the NFL could expand the league calendar. "I think we're good at 17 now. We're looking at how we continue. I'm not a fan of the preseason. I don't think we need three preseason games anymore," Goodell said on The Pat McAfee Show. "I don't buy it. I'd rather replace a preseason game with a regular season any day. That's just picking quality, right? If we got to 18 (regular-season games) and two (preseason games per team), that's not an unreasonable thing. "The other thing that does: (the Super Bowl) ends up on Presidents' Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend. Which makes (the Super Bowl) Sunday night and you've got Monday off." Previous attempts to push the regular season beyond the current 17 games -- increased from 16 in 2021, when the preseason was reduced from four games to three -- were met with stiff resistance by the NFLPA in recent years. In 2018, then-NFLPA president Eric Winston called Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' plan for 18 games as a "safer" alternative to four preseason weeks laughable. The following offseason, the NFL and NFLPA held discussions about an 18-game regular season with players having a maximum participation allowance of 16 games. That plan also included the potential for adding a second bye week for every team. --Field Level Media
