LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The Raiderettes got off to a good start in their district opener against Huntland on Tuesday but couldn’t hold on down the stretch. After leading by six a halftime, Moore County fell to the Lady Hornets by seven points at the final buzzer.

The Raiderettes came into the game fresh off a 58-25 shellacking of the Giles County Bobcats on Friday, January 6. Huntland beat the Grundy County Yellow Jackets 59-41 the following day. It was the first District 9A match up for Moore County and the second district game for the Hornets. They beat Cornersville by a 14 point margin on January 6.

Raiderette defense shuts down Lady Hornet in first half

Moore County jumped out early in the first half – doubling the Lady Hornets five points in the first eight minutes. Neither team scored in the first three minutes, then around the 4:47 mark, a Lady Hornet fouled Maecy Fletcher who made one of her two shots from the line. A possession later, her sister, Katy Fletcher muscled inside to score the first basket of the game – giving the Raiderettes a 3-0 lead. Katy – who nabbed seven defensive rebounds in the first half – rebounded the ball a possession later and dished it to a waiting Paisley Logan, who drained the first Raiderette 3-point shot of the game to make it 9-0. Huntland scored their first points of the game on an inside basket with just 28 seconds to play. The Hornets fouled Katy Fletcher on the next play. She made one of her two shots from the line. Huntland rebounded and made a buzzer beater trey to make it 10-5 at the end of the first.

Moore County kept the momentum in the second period. They went on an six point run with points from Ellie Graham and Madison Dingler that ate up the first three minutes. Huntland’s Josie May scored the first Lady Hornet points of the second period. She made two baskets in a row to cut the Raiderette’s lead to five points, 16-11. Then, the Lady Hornets fouled Paisley Logan with 45 second to play before the break. She made both. The Raiderettes sent May to the line with seconds remaining to make the halftime score Raiderettes 18, Lady Hornets 12.

Usually a third period team, the Raiderettes fell apart after the break allowing Huntland to score 16 in the third while only managing a 3-point shot from Paisley Logan and two free-throws from Madison Dingler. Moore County fought back in the fourth but it wasn’t enough. At the final buzzer, the Raiderettes lost their first district game 46-39.

Ellie Graham led with 15 points

Ellie Graham led for Moore County with 15 points followed by double digit points from Paisley Logan with 10. Other contributing Raiderettes were Katy Fletcher (5), Madison Dingler (4), Maecy Fletcher (3), and Anna Harder (3).

The two teams shot fairly even. Moore County scored nine baskets and three treys while Huntland shot 12 from the floor as well as three from the perimeter. Moore County was 12 of 18 from the free throw line (67 percent) and Huntland was 13 of 19 (68 percent).

The Raiderettes will play two straight district games at home next. They play Fayetteville (6-5, 2-0) on Thursday followed by Eagleville (13-5, 0-1) next Tuesday. Moore County will travel to Cornersville (6-10, 0-2) on Friday, January 20. •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently-owned, community newspaper located in Lynchburg, Tennessee the home of The Jack Daniel Distillery. We focus on public service, non-partisan, rural journalism. We cover the Metro Moore County government, local tourism, Moore County schools, high school sports, Motlow State Community College, as well as whiskey industry news and regional and state stories that affect our readers.}