By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG — “Girls can play too.” That refrain roared from the home stands behind the Raiderettes bench on Friday night as the Moore County Raiderettes took on the Eagleville Lady Eagles in a District 9A game.

Halftime could not happen soon enough in a heated rivalry game that threatened to boil over from time to time. Moore County endured shoves, trips, elbows, and just plain running over in the first period until they decided to give as good as they were getting in the second eight minutes. Refs called double digit fouls in the second period in an attempt to turn down the heat — much to the ire of the home crowd.

Raiderettes shut out Lady Eagles in the first

The Raiderettes came out swinging with a tempo game plan and lots of pressure. They raced out to a quick 6-0 lead off points from Ellie Graham, Emma Dye, and Ally Sharp — prompting a quick time out from the Eagleville Coach.

Out of the break, Emma Dye snagged a rebound and fed the ball to Sharpe who swished Moore County’s first three of the night to make it 9-0.

On the next Lady Eagle possession, Anna Harder deflected a pass then fought for the jump ball. It went Eagleville’s way but Harder and Fletcher harassed the Lady Eagle dribbler to force a walk. The teams traded a couple of turnovers, then Harder swished a trey to make it 12-0 with 1:19 to play in the period. Emma Dye made one from the line to end the first with a 13-0 point lead.

And the Lady Eagles clearly felt a certain kind of way about it. The second period was a physical eight minutes. Raiderettes were shoved to the ground, tripped, pushed, and run over — drawing the occasional foul. They pretty much turned the other cheek until something snapped in the last two minutes of first half play.

With 2:14 to play, the Lady Eagles Rylee Warbritton went up for a shot and Graham went over the top of her with a clean “no ma’am.” That seemed to ramp up the physicality from both teams.

Eagleville scored then Graham drove inside but drew a charge — one of four in the game. Undaunted, Graham then went right back inside and blocked the next Lady Eagle shot with no call. It rattled the Lady Eagle shooter and she air-balled her next trey.

Mackenzie Goodwin drew a foul in the final seconds and made one of two to send Moore County into the locker room with a 12-point lead, 24-12.

At halftime, Moore County honored Raider Baseball Coach Randy Morey, who’s currently battling cancer. Numerous people in the crowd wore Team Morey shirts donated by Jennifer Deal at Real Deal Design. A clearly touched Coach Morey stood at center court to a standing ovation.

Moore County puts up 20 in the third

The halftime break seemed to settle things down. The Raiderettes were all business in the third period — forgoing the emotional response and instead serving straight points. Clearly showing some senior leadership, Graham and Fletcher went on a 10-point run to make it 34-12.

Lady Eagle MC Whitt broke the scoring drought with two from the line, then Moore County pieces together another 10 unanswered from Graham, Dye, Sharpe. and Fletcher.

The Raiderettes padded their lead to 44-14 in the end of the third and Coach Spencer began substituting heavily in the fourth. Despite being ahead by 30, the formidable Raiderette bench came in and added seven more. Emma Sazonov, Audrey Harder, Ellie Carter, and Lily Hogland all added points. Harder in particular also played an outstanding defensive game — forcing turnover after turnover. The Raiderettes held the Lady Eagles to just two fourth period points.

At the final buzzer, a bruised and battle scarred Raiderettes team managed an impressive 53-16 win over a physically tough Eagleville team.

Ellie Graham led with 13 points followed closely by Ally Sharpe, and Katy Fletcher with nine each. Emma Sazonov came off the bench early and added seven more. Emma Dye swished five and the Harder twins, Anna and Audrey, scored three each. Ellie Carter scored a fourth period bucket and Lily Hogland added one from the line.

Moore County scored 26 from the floor and 15 from the line. They were just 12 of 26 from the line. For comparison, the Lady Eagles scored six from both the floor and the perimeter. They were four of eight from the line.

The win advanced Moore County to a perfect 4-0 in District 9A plays and sweeps the Eagleville series.•

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