FOR THE first time since 1965, playing under the name Manchester Central, the Coffee County High School (CCHS) basketball team has made it to the state tournament. That achievement could be surprising for those who don\u2019t know the Red Raiders. Coach Andrew Taylor said that on an individual basis the team is neither as tall nor as fast as some of their opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur average height is not what other teams are, in our classification,\u201d Taylor said, \u201cOur vertical leap… it may not be what other teams we play, you know, have individually, but collectively as a group of five out on the court [our team members] play very well together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Co-athletic Director Brandon McWhorter said a lot of the team\u2019s success could be attributed to Coach Taylor, who he said was one of the most unselfish men he knew. Taylor has worked off and on as the boys\u2019 basketball coach for 20 years and has been at CCHS for 25 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s preached to them team ball,\u201d McWhorter said. \u201cEvery team that we play you look at and go, \u2018we should be beat,\u2019 but they don\u2019t care about that, you know. They just care about being together and on that court and playing, which is what made us special.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making the TSSAA state tournament is particularly impressive because of how new most of the players are to varsity basketball. Despite this, Taylor said the team has been playing well both defensively and offensively \u2013 they have been sharing the ball, catching rebounds, and being efficient on both ends of the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe returned one starter,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe had a good group of young men, they just didn\u2019t have a lot of varsity experience \u2013 so as the season progressed, especially since the Christmas break, we\u2019ve been playing really, really well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile the Red Raiders are well-rounded on the court, they excel even more off of it. Historically the team has been regularly involved in community\u00a0service, and several are involved in student government or are in the top ten percent of their class,\u201d McWhorter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not all about basketball,\u201d he said. \u201cThese kids are smart; they work hard in the classroom.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Manchester community has responded in kind, supporting the team at all of their home games in greater and greater numbers. At the game on March 16, Taylor said that people lined up in the school hallways and the streets, as the players walked to the bus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had tremendous crowds at all of our home basketball games,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cWe also have a very good girls team, so we\u2019ve routinely had very good home crowds\u2026 our community\u2019s support has been just really tremendous. -GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FOR THE first time since 1965, playing under the name Manchester Central, the Coffee County High School (CCHS) basketball team has made it to the state tournament. That achievement could be surprising for those who don\u2019t know the Red Raiders. Coach Andrew Taylor said that on an individual basis the team is neither as tall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":13459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n