By Tabitha Evans Moore, EDITOR & PUBLISHER
The Moore County Raideretttes seem to be finding their groove this week with a resounding 48-30 road win at Eagleville on Friday night. The win improves the Raiderettes to a perfect 4-0 record in district play. They’ve captured the District 9A top spot and are the#4 Class 1A team in the state, according to Associated Press.
Friday’s game was the second regular season meeting for the two District 9 teams. On January 5, the Lady Eagles visited Moore County and walked away with their first district loss of the season. Moore County edged them in the final two minutes to earn a 53-50 win. Ellie Graham led in that game with 17 points followed by Katy Fletcher with 13.
Moore County jumped out to an early 14-6 lead.
Eagleville’s Brinli Bain scored a trey on the Lady Eagles first possession, and Ellie Graham answered with a left side layup. The two teams traded turnovers, then Anna Harder set upon the left side, took her time, and swished her own three-point shot to give the Raiderettes the lead, 5-3.
Around the three minute mark, a full steam ahead Katy Fletcher made a heads up pass to Graham and she went up for two more. Eagleville walked on their next possession, and Madison Dingler then swished a nothing-but-net trey to give Moore County an early 10-3 lead. Two possessions later, Graham shot, missed, got her own rebound, and shot again for two more Raiderette points.
Following an Eagleville time out, Bain – the only Lady Eagle to score in the first half – hit another trey to cut the Moore County lead in half, 12-6. Then Anna Harder telegraphed a pass to Audrey Harder who shot but missed. Anna ran up, got the rebound, and put it up for two with less than a second left on the first half game clock.
Raiderettes go into the locker room ahead by 12.
Madison Dingler got the second period off with a bang with a three-point play on the Raiderettes first possession. The two teams then traded turnovers for nearly the next four minutes. Then, finally around the four minute mark, the Raiderettes sent a Lady Eagle to the line. She hit both to make it 17-8. In fact, all three of Eagleville’s second period points came from the line. The Raiderette defense did not allow a single basket.
Of course, it wasn’t a high-scoring quarter on the Raiderettes side either. In addition to Dingler’s trey, Katy Fletcher and Audrey Harder scored a basket each. The Raiderettes went into the halftime locker room ahead 21-9.
Moore County comes out swinging in the third.
Anna Harder kicked off the third period scoring when she spotted a gap, ran around the right side, and then inside for two. Eagleville answered with an Eliza McClaran basket. Katy Fletcher answered her answer with a determined right side drive for two more to make it 25-12. Ellie Graham then blocked the next Lady Eagle shot – prompting an Eagleville timeout. To add injury to insult, Anna Harder then went right back up to the top of the key and swished another trey to make the score 28-12.
Three plays later, Emma Sazonov got two put-back points to stretch the lead to 18. Eagleville’s Bain answered with another trey. Moore County then went on a four-point run off points from Fletcher and Ellie Graham. At the end of the third period, the Raiderettes continued to lead, 35-17.
The Lady Eagles put together their best offensive period in the last quarter, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Raiderettes used free throws to do the heavy lifting down the stretch with three Lady Eagles fouling out in the second half. Moore County scored a single Graham basket in the fourth period. The remainder of the their 13-fourth period points came at the line from Dingler, Graham, Anna Harder, and Caroline Parker.
Ellie Graham led with 14 points followed closely by Anna Harder with 12. Madison Dingler added nine more and Katy Fletcher swished seven. Audrey Harder added a basket. Emma Sazonov and Caroline Parker came off the bench and scored two each.
The Raiderettes will play a make up, non-district game against The Webb School on Monday in Lynchburg. Tip off happens at 6 p.m. and there will be no boys’ game that night. Both the Raiders and Raiderettes will tip off against non-district Whitwell at MCHS on Tuesday in preparation for travelling for a district rematch against Fayetteville on Friday.•
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