LOCAL SPORTS | Woodbury — The Raiderettes pulled within four points of Cannon County on Friday night in the last two minutes but the Lionettes put together five unanswered in the final two minutes to pull away – handing Moore County a 52-45 loss at the final buzzer.

The Cannon County game was the third away match up for the Raiderettes last week. Moore County won at Forrest on Tuesday, December 14 by a final score of 52-41 and beat Culleoka on the road on Thursday by a 63-22 margin. Cannon County came into the Moore County game hot of a 63-54 home loss to Monterey. The win over the Raiderettes improves their overall record to 6-5.

Cannon County holds off Raiderettes in the final two minutes

On Friday, Cannon County came out swinging with two three point shots to get out to an early 6-0 lead. At the 4:45 mark senior Olivia Richards answered with her own trey. Senior Chloe Brazier then followed with a basket in the paint. It would be the last Raiderette points of the first period. The sluggish first period ended with the Lionettes leading Moore County 8-5.

In the second, Cannon County put up five unanswered before senior Charlotte Ray swished a bucket to make it 15-7. Moore County then held the Lionettes to just three points while adding points from Richards and Brazier to pull within one. The Lionettes made a last second basket at the buzzer to give them a narrow 22-19 lead at the half.

After the break, Richards immediately drew a foul to send her to the charity stripe. She missed the first shot but made the second to make it a one-point ball game. Moore County put up 15 points to Cannon County’s 14 in the third to end it trailing by just four.

It was as close as the Raiderettes would ever get. Cannon County managed three unanswered baskets to gain a nine point lead heading into the final minute. Brazier swished a trey with 33 seconds remaining to cut it to six points but it was too little too late. At the final buzzer, the Lionettes managed to hold off Moore County and earn the 52-45 victory.

Chloe Brazier led for Moore County with 19 points followed by Olivia Richards with 12. Erica Clifton added six point. Charlotte Ray, Maecy Fletcher, Ellie Graham, and Katie Fletcher all added a basket each. Anaston Holt led for Cannon County with 16 points.

The Moore County Raiderettes will not play any regular season games during the holiday break. Instead, they will participate in two holiday tournaments: the Tullhoma Classic on December 20-21 and the South Pitt Tournament on December 27-28. They resume regular season play on Tuesday, January 4 against Cannon County at MCHS. Tip off will be at 6 p.m. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned newspaper in Lynchburg and also the only woman-owned newspaper in Tennessee. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}