By Tabitha Evans Moore, EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNNVILLE — There haven’t been that many surprises so far in the TSSAA Class 1A West girls basketball postseason. A #3 seed Houston County did knock off #2 seed Collinwood by a mere three points and #3 Union City bested #2 seed Middleton by a final of 46-40. Other than those two games, the bracket looks about like you’d expect. But this time of year, the upsets start to happen and Cinderellas are born. The question on Raiderette fans’ minds going into Monday night’s semifinal game was: could the Cornersville Lady Bulldog catch Moore County slipping and managed an upset?

Motivation would not be a factor. The gals in Columbia blue were itching for a shot at the Region 5A title game after missing it last year. They dropped the Regional Semifinal against Wayne County in 2023 by a final of 69-47.

Not as on the radar but just as much a factor was the not-so-friendly rivalry between Raiderettes Head Coach Chad Spencer and Cornersville Head Coach Hayden McMahon. Electricity filled the pregame air.

Graham scored all 10 of Moore County’s first period points

Moore County jumped out to an early 10-9 lead in the first period thanks to two treys and two layups by Ellie Graham, who scored all 10 of the Raiderettes first period points.

Moore County kicked off the second period with a seven-point run to build a 17-9 lead. Graham scored the first basket on put back points to make it 12-9. She then got the steal on the next Lady Bulldog possession and dished to Madison Dingler for two more, 14-9. On the next play, Emma Sazonov plucked a Lady Bulldog pass out of thin air and fed it to Dingler who swished a trey, 17-9.

Cornersville then answered with their own six point run from two treys – one from Jayli Childress and a second from Anna Wood – to pull the Lady Bulldogs within two, 17-15.

The two teams traded turnovers, then Dingler went back up for a jumper to make it 19-15. Graham got the rebound on the next missed Lady Bulldog shot and passed down low to Katy Fletcher, who drew the foul. She made both from the line to give Moore County a 21-15 lead with 1:38 to play in the half. Cornersville scored their third trey of the second period with less than a minute to play.

Moore County went into the break leading 21-18. Ellie Graham led in the first half with 12 points followed by Madison Dingler with seven, and Katy Fletcher with two points. Twelve of Cornersvile 18 first half points came behind the perimeter.

Dingler scores seven of nine in the fourth

Cornersville fought back in the third quarter. They put up 12 points while holding Moore County to 10 points. Lady Bulldog Anna Wood went to the line with seconds remaining to pull Cornerville within one point, 31-30, at the end of the third.

Dingler kicked off the fourth period scoring with a trey on Moore County’s first possession. Cornersville answered with a basket underneath, 34-32. The two teams then traded turnovers for the next several minutes, then Dingler swished a jumper to make it, 36-32. Lady Bulldog Ady Gentry answered with a trey to pull them back within one, 36-35.

Cornersville got the turnover on the next Raiderette possession, they scored underneath to earn the lead with a little under three minutes to play. They then went on a three point run to pull ahead by four, 40-36.

With 1:40 to play, a determined Katy Fletcher fought in the paint for two points to make it 40-38. Dingler then stole the ball with 41 second to play and got the layup to tie the game sending it into overtime. Dingler scored seven of Moore County’s nine fourth quarter points.

Fletcher scores the go ahead basket as time expires

Cornersville Katelyn Powers kicked off the overtime scoring with a trey to give the Lady Bulldogs a quick 43-40 lead. It would be their only points in overtime. Graham swished her own three with 1:07 to play to tie it at 43-43. Then following a timeout, Dingler inbounded the ball to Fletcher who waited patiently on the right side. As time expired, she went up for the game winning off-the-backboard basket.

Moore County beat Cornersville in overtime by a final score of 45-43.

Ellie Graham led for Moore County with 19 points followed by Madison Dingler with 13. Katy Fletcher added six. Emma Sazonov added four more and Anna Harder swished a lone trey.

Moore County will now move on to the Region 5A Championship game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Richland High School. They will play the Eagleville Lady Eagles, who beat Richland 47-32 also on Monday night. Win or lose, the Cornersville win secured Moore County a spot in the TSSAA 2024 Class 1A West Sectional game on Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m. •

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