By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER
LOCAL SPORTS | With wins against Eagleville and Fayetteville under their collective Columbia blue belts, the Moore County Raiderettes will now look forward to their third District 9 game against perennial foe the Lady Hornets. Based on icy road conditions, officials have postponed that game until further notice. The Raiderettes and Lady Hornets will not play on Friday.
The Raiderettes beat Fayettevile 65-35 come into the game fresh off a 65-35 last Friday night. Moore County got off to a slow start — scoring just four in the first period while allowing the Lady Tigers to build up a 10-point lead. They found their groove in the second period — putting up 26 points while holding the Lady Tigers to just six — to go into halftime ahead by 10. They kept that lead through the second half and held Fayetteville to a single basket in the fourth period.
Ellie Graham led for Moore County with 19 points follow by two other double-digit scorers. Katy Fletcher added 16 and Madison Dingler swished another 12. Emma Sazonov came off the bench and scored eight. Anna Harder added three and Audrey Harder scored 2.
Here are some things to know going into the Huntland game:
1 | Ellie Graham may score her 1,000th point. Moore County junior Ellie Graham is on track to score her 1,000 point against Huntland — if the make up game is scheduled soon. The Raiderettes are set to travel to Chattanooga to play Boyd-Buchanan on Monday.
If you’ll recall, last year Graham made three from the line with no time on the clock to hand the Lady Hornets a 38-37 loss in their second game of the 2022-23 season. With just seconds to play, Maecy Fletcher threw what was arguably a football pass the length of the court to a waiting Graham. The Lady Hornets fouled Graham on her three-point attempt — sending her to the line. She made all three shots to seal the win. We’d look for the Huntland coach to attempt to neutralize her with a double team.
2 | It could be a chippy game. Moore County and Huntland faced off in the District 9 Championship game last year with the Raiderettes falling 61-54. The two teams are currently tied in district play and seem to be on a collision course for another post season match up. They bring out the competitive nature in each other and Moore County will need to keep their heads and not allow foul trouble and Hornet free throws to determine the outcome.
3 | It will be a battle of the District 9 unbeatens. Huntland beat Fayetteville on January 5 by a final of 58-49 and beat Eagleville a week later by just two points, 53-51. The Raiderettes beat Eagleville by three on January 5 — outlasting the Lady Eagles 53-50. Moore County earned a definitive win over Fayetteville last Friday. On paper, these two team look evenly matched and the game will likely come down to who can connect at the line. Moore County will need every point they can get from the free throw line. They shot 19 of 23 (82 %) against Fayetteville and 11 of 19 (52 percent) in their loss against Loretto.
4 | The TSSAA’s new free throw rules will likely come into play. Over the summer the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletics Association made a rules change that will likely start affecting games down the stretch. Under the new rules, all player shoot two shots while the other team is “in the bonus” to eliminate once-and-one scenarios. They also set new foul limits per quarter. If any team fouls more than five times per eight-minute period, subsequent fouls send the opposing team to the line. In a game that likely to get chippy, this new rule may come into play.
5 | Look for Huntland senior Jocy May to make an impact. According to our sources, star senior Jocy May returned from the injured list in late December and has been making an impact in games since Christmas. She helped Huntland make a second half come back — scoring 11 in that game. She also led against Fayetteville with 15 points.
6 | Keep an eye on May, Avalos, and Burks. Three players to watch in the Huntland game will be May, senior Yareli Avalon’s, and junior Maddie Burks. All three tend to score in the double digits and trade places as the Lady Hornets top scorers.
Moore County has games at Boyd-Buchanan next Monday (January 22) and at Eagleville next Friday (January 26). School officials rescheduled the Huntland game to next Tuesday, January 23
{Community newspapers like The Lynchburg Times serve an important roll to high school athletes. Players use links to our articles in college applications and the TSSAA keeps up with Moore County star athletes through our coverage. That leads to more awards and recognition. Please consider supporting our work by subscribing. Click this link to sign up.}