Stories from Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Funeral service for Mrs. Martha LaVerne McCaleb West, age 82, of Fayetteville, was conducted Wednesday Dec. 7, 2016, at 10 a.m. at Higgins Funeral Home, with Bro. Jim Black officiating. Burial followed beside her husband Joe W. West in Higgins Cedar Hills Memorial Gardens. Mrs. West passed away Dec. 3, 2016...

Marquitta A. "Skeeter" Taylor, 45, of Lewisburg, passed on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. She is preceded in death by her Mother, Minnie Drake Taylor, her grandparents McKinley and Martha Taylor and her maternal grandparents Margaret and Polk Drake; her brother, Douglas Taylor and two uncles...

Dorothy Holder Rogers, age 71 of Lewisburg, died Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, at St. Thomas Hospital. Mrs. Rogers was a native of Marshall County, and she was the daughter of the late Hooper and Irene Tosh Holder. She was a retired secretary and bookkeeper from Truette Construction and a member of the Mooresville Baptist Church...

The Mayor and Council of the City of Lewisburg will hold a work session Monday, December 5, at 4:00 pm, at Lewisburg City Hall, 131 East Church Street. The Industrial Development Board of the City of Lewisburg will hold their regular scheduled monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 5, noon, at the Historic First Avenue Building, 207 1st Avenue North, Lewisburg...

After a season opening loss to Lincoln County, the Forrest Lady Rockets have caught fire, winning seven games in a row, including a huge 80-25 blowout win Friday night at Fayetteville in the District 9A opener for both schools. "It's always good to get that first district win," Forrest coach Jeremy Jean said. "I think we are starting to find ourselves because we are doing all those little things you have to do and the team is playing really well together." Forrest dominated every aspect of the game and put the contest away by the half, leading 45-12.

The FMS Lady Rockets made easy work of the Community Viqueens at Unionville on November 1, winning by 25 points. On Tuesday at Chapel Hill the two squads met for the rematch and this time the Viqueens gave FMS all they had, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Rockets took a hard-earned 40-28 victory to remain undefeated at 17-0 on the season. "I think we all think about it, but on the day of the game we don't talk about it," FMS coach David Junkins said. "I've been very blessed with a lot of talent on this team, a lot of hustle, kids that are working their butts off and it has paid off for us."

In a twist of irony, the two teams most prep football pundits predicted would be meeting on the gridiron last weekend in Cookeville for the 4A state championship were instead lacing it up on the hardwood at Lewisburg. While Memphis East and Knoxville Central were battling for pigskin supremacy, Marshall County (2-2) and Pearl Cohn (3-1) fought neck and neck through four quarters before the Firebirds pulled away late for a 47-40 win in a possible preview of a March tournament matchup. "We played hard, we might not have played smart the whole time but we played hard," Marshall County coach Arnett Bodenhamer, who led the Tigers to the 2A state tournament in just his second season, said. "I can't knock that. It's a marathon, not a sprint. So we'll get better."

The MCHS Tigerettes returned to Dottie Kelso Memorial Gymnasium on Friday night with a game to gauge its overall progress from last season's one-win record versus the Pearl Cohn Firebirds. Pearl Cohn beat Marshall County handily 66-26 in Nashville last year on the way to a 20-win season and region berth. The Firebirds (4-1) came into the contest with just one loss, a nine-point set back against Brentwood Academy, who have won the past three D-II state championships, but were challenged from start to finish against the resurgent Tigerettes (3-3) who lost 48-33 in game much closer than the score indicates.

At one point this season the FMS (8-7) Rockets were three games under the .500 mark before winning six out the next eight ballgames, including Monday night's 42-24 victory over Community at Chapel Hill. "We are playing good ball right now, we just have to keep it rolling," FMS coach Robby Reasonover said. "They are confident, but every team in this conference is good, so you have to bring your game every night."

The Forrest Rockets, mired in an early season six-game losing streak were hungry for a win in Friday night's District 9A opener at Fayetteville, but after building a big first half lead the bottom fell out in a second half scoring drought that resulted in a 61-55 loss. Crazy how this game works isn't it?" Forrest coach Randy Toombs said. "It's very disappointing to have let this one go, but the beauty of this game is....there is always another game down the road. This is one of the very few sports you can redeem yourself after a letdown."

After starting the season 2-8, the Cornersville Bulldogs have been on a tear the past few games and came into the game on Monday versus Minor Hill with a chance to win its fourth game in a row over the Giles County squad. The Bulldogs looked dominant early on, allowing the Wildcats just seven points in the second half, but Cornersville scored just two points in the second quarter to leave the door open for a second half comeback.

The Cornersville Middle School girls overcame an early Minor Hill lead after the first quarter to storm back and win going away 38-21 in a game where Cornersville rotated 16 players. "After the Ethridge game the other night---a tough loss, we had a great first half and a tough second half and I feel like our effort played a factor in it so we've been talking about effort, playing hard, playing good defense and that usually gets our offense going," CMS coach Peyton Newton said. "So we turned the defense up, they gave great effort, and that led to some transition baskets which we know we have to have to be successful. So very proud of them, that's a total team win that we just put out there tonight." Abbie Woodard turned in a huge game for the home team with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.