By Tabitha Evans Moore, EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — There’s a reason Las Vegas bookies bake home court advantage into the spread when handicapping college games. The home crowd, the familiar give of the court, and the bounce of a friendly goal all add up over the course of the game. 

On Friday night, tournament hosts, the Moore County Raiderettes, used their considerable skill and good vibes from Raider Nation to manage a dominating 80-36 win over Culleoka in a Round One Region 5A Tournament game.

As they ran onto the court to T.I.’s Bring ‘Em Out, an enthusiastic home crowd gave them a standing ovation. It set the tone. During warm ups, they swished trey-after-trey — and seemed to feed off the crowd’s energy. 

With just 10 players, the Lady Warriors faced an uphill battle even prior to the tip. Moore County boasts depth this year with a first, second, and third string that can all ball. 

Emma Dye, Katy Fletcher, Anna Harder, Ally Sharpe, and Ellie Graham got the start against Culleoka. Coach Spencer pulled all but Dye in the second period.

Raiderettes get up by 30 in the first

On the tip off, Graham used her length to send the ball to Dye, who ran down the left side for two to get Moore County on the board first. Moore County started strong with a press defense that forced a couple of ill-conceived passes from the Lady Warriors. This year’s defensive motto for the Raiderettes is the “Land Sharks” and long cross-court passes are chum. Sharpe knocked the first one out of bounds, then accidentally kicked the second one into the stands. In a bit of whimsical concern, the Raiderette stand out walked over to check on the fan, who gave her an enthusiastic high five. 

Dye then stole a Lady Warrior’s dribble and passed to Sharpe, who went in for the left side layup. Culleoka’s Izzy Hargrove answered with the game’s first trey to make it 4-3. 

Despite the eventual lopsided score, it was a physical game with lots of contact. Graham took an elbow to the face on the next play following a jump ball that went the Lady Warriors way, but they couldn’t do anything with it. Then Sharpe deflected a pass that Dye picked up and fed back to Sharpe for two points. Despite her two steps, the ref called walking — much to the chagrin of the home crowd. 

Fletcher intercepted a pass on the next Culleoka possession. She went in for two a drew the foul — making one of two shots. Fletcher went back in on the next possession to stretch the Moore County lead. 

Culleoka missed a shot and Emma Sazonov — who subbed in early in the first period, snagged the rebound. Once in a Raiderette territory Sharpe fed Graham for two. Graham owned the first period underneath — scoring 15 of her 17 points in the first.  

Culleoka answered with a trey from Phynlee Keeling that cut the Moore County lead to three, 9-6. Then Sharpe answered with a right side perimeter shot that was all net. On the next Culleoka possession, Dye snagged a rebound and drove all the way into for the layup to build the lead to eight, 14-6.

Graham went up for put back points on the next drive and drew the foul. She swished both, 16-6. She then snagged the rebound on the next Lady Warriors possession and fed it to Fletcher for two.  Graham then hit a nothing but net trey to build the Moore County edge to 15, 21-6 with 4:06 to go in the first. 

Graham, Fletcher, and Audrey Harder — who subbed in early in the first — then put together a 15 point run to end the first period 36-6. 

The Raiderettes outscored the Lady Warriors 20 to four in the second even as Coach Spencer began to substitute heavily. Bella Tucker came in around the four minute mark and Hannah Martin came in at the two minute mark. She swished a right side trey with 7.1 seconds to play to send the Raiderettes into the locker room leading by 43, 53-10. 

The bench started the second half

Coach Spencer sent in a new starting five in the third with Emma Dye, Bella Tucker, Mackenzie Goodwin, Emily Burkes, and Ellie Carter. 

Carter got the second half scoring going with a smooth left side trey. A few possessions later Tucker went up strong for two more. Lily Hogland and Ella Burkes subbed in midway through the period and Harley Hart followed about a minute later. 

Hoagland passed to Goodwin with 3:58 to play in the period, and she drained a left side trey to make it 61-22. On the next Culleoka possession, Hart swatted the shot in a great defensive play but drew the foul. She then rebounded the missed free throw to give Moore County the possession. 

Hart got in on the mix on the next Culleoka series — wrapping up with a Lady Warrior for a jump ball, then a few plays later the center fed Tucker for two more. 

With less than two minutes to play, Tucker spotted a wide open Hoagland — who’d been lingering unguarded around left perimeter. She fed her the ball, and Hoagland swished the trey.

Abby Mason came in with about a minute to play in the third along with Martin. Mason took a shot on goal on the next possession, missed, caught her own rebound and then earned two put-back points. 

Moore County ended the third leading 71-28. 

Alexus Hornaday subbed in the fourth and made an impact with a trey. Ella Burks, Goodwin, and Mason closed out the fourth period scoring. At the final buzzer, the Raiderettes earned an 80-36 win over Culleoka and advanced to a Region 5A second round game against Cornersville on Monday at 6 p.m.

Graham led with 17 points 

Every Raiderette got playing time on Friday and all but two scored. Ellie Graham led with 17 points followed by Katy Fletcher with 10 points. Other contributing Raiderettes were Ally Sharpe (7), Emma Sazonov (7), Audrey Harder (6), Makenzie Goodwin (5), Bella Tucker (4), Emma Dye (4), Abbey Mason (4), Hannah Martin (3), Alexus Hornaday (3), Lily Hoagland (3), Ellie Carter (3), Ella Burks (2), and Anna Harder (2). 

The Raiderettes scored 48 from the floor and 27 from the perimeter. They were an impressive eight of nine from the line. 

Tip off of the Cornersville game will take place at the Moore CountyHigh School Gym at 6 p.m. on Monday. •

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