LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The Moore County Raiderettes used tough-as-nails defense in the first half and chances at the free throw line in the second half to earn a 53-43 home district win against the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday night in Lynchburg. The win lifts the Raiderettes (18-10, 5-3) to tied for first place in District 9A play heading into the district tournament. The loss drops the Lady Bulldog (13-13, 4-4) to tied for third with Fayetteville (11-12, 4-4).

Tuesday night was the second regular season meeting for the Lady Bulldogs and Raiderettes. Moore County (4-3, 17-10) traveled to Cornersville (4-3, 12-12) on January 20 and notched a disappointing 53-40 loss. Prior to that game, the Lady Bulldog lost three straight district games to Huntland, Fayetteville, and Eagleville. Their January 20 win against the Raiderettes sparked a late season run.

Raiderette D held Lady Bulldogs to 10 first half points

The Raiderettes came out sluggish offensively on Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs got on the boards first with points from Ady Gentry off the tip off. Katie Fletcher got the first Moore County points of the game when an aggressive-from-the-word-go Cornersville team sent her to the line about one minute into the contest. Fletcher hit one of two. Cornersville’s Jayli Childress than made a bucket inside. The Lady Bulldogs sent Paisley Logan to the line for two shots on the next possession. She made both to pull Moore County within one, 4-3. Childress answered again then Maecy Fletcher swished a nothing-but-net trey to tie the game, 6-6. Moore County earned its first foul of the night around the two minute mark, sending Lady Bulldog Anna Wood to the line. She hit one of her two shots give the Lady Bulldogs back a one-point lead. Then Ellie Graham swished a trey to make it 9-7 at the end of the first period.

The Raiderette defense heated up in the second period. They harassed Lady Bulldog ball handlers and set traps – forcing Cornersville into bad passes and hurried shots. The frustration on the maroon side of the court felt palpable. In particular, sisters Katie Fletcher and Maecy Fletcher became tenacious ball hawks – fighting for rebounds and itching for the steal. Moore County put together a 13-point run with points from Paisley Logan, Katy Fletcher, and Ellie Graham to built a 14-point lead while holding Cornersville to just three points. Moore County went into the break leading 24-10. Graham led in the first half with 16 points.

Ellie Graham came out hot in the third period – hitting a fade away trey about a minute in. She then quickly drew not one but two on-the-floor fouls by Ady Gentry to give Gentry fouls number three and four. Graham then hit a jumper on the next offensive possession to give Moore County a 29-10 lead. Additional points by Paisley Logan and Katy Fletcher helped Moore County end the third leading 38-21.

Moore County sealed the deal despite 22 fourth period points from the Lady Bulldogs with nine points from the free throw line and points by Paisley Logan, Ellie Graham, and Madison Dingler in the fourth period to lift them to a 53-43 victory.

Ellie Graham led with 23 points

Ellie Graham led for Moore County with 23 points followed by Paisley Logan with 11 and Katy Fletcher with eight. Madison Dingler swished another six points. Maecy Fletcher added another four points. Emma Sazonov came off the bench and scored a point. Katy Fletcher, Maecy Fletcher, Ellie Graham, and Madison Dingler all scored 3-point shots. Alicia Polk led for Cornersville with 14 followed closely by Anna Wood with 13.

The Raiderettes will now try to sweeten their chances a run for state with a District 9A Tournament game on Valentine’s Day night. The will play the winner of the Conversville versus Eagleville play in game on Monday. •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently-owned, community newspaper located in Lynchburg, Tennessee the home of The Jack Daniel Distillery. We focus on public service, non-partisan, rural journalism. We cover the Metro Moore County government, local tourism, Moore County schools, high school sports, Motlow State Community College, as well as whiskey industry news and regional and state stories that affect our readers.}