Big stakes for Friday night’s Raiderettes versus Hornet home game

Senior Olivia Richards goes up for a basket against Cornersville last Friday. Richards scored 10 points in Moore County’s 61-26 district win. (PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Reed)

LOCAL SPORTS |Lynchburg — There’s a lot riding on Friday night’s Moore County Raiderettes (15-7, 3-1) versus Huntland Lady Hornets (19-4, 5-0) game. It will be the last time the two District 8 rivals see each other in the regular season and right now they’re ranked number one and number two. A Moore County’s win could pull them closer with Huntland and come in handy once it comes time to seed the district tournament. A Lady Hornet win would likely put them securely in the driver’s seat.

The two teams traded losses so far this season. On November 23, the Raiderettes beat the Lady Hornets 45-41 at the Whitwell Thanksgiving Tournament. The Lady Hornets led for the majority of the game but the Raiderettes rallied in the fourth period to earn the W. Then on January 11, Moore County dropped their district opener against the Lady Hornets 51-38 in Franklin County. Raiderettes shots just would not fall that night and mounting turnovers as well as a lopsided foul count helped Huntland mount a 13 point edge. One bright spot in that game was that two freshman, Ellie Graham and Katy Fletcher, combined for nearly half of the Raiderette’s total points. {To read our complete coverage of that game, click here.}

Moore County comes into the Huntland game fresh off an impressive 61-26 win over Cornersville. Hot three point shooting turned out to be the difference maker in that game. Nine Raiderettes — including five freshmen — swished treys in that game. In fact, 30 of the Raiderettes total points came from the perimeter. Freshman Ellie Graham led in total points with 17 followed by senior Olivia Richards and freshman Katy Fletcher with 10 points each. 

Huntland will be no easy win. So far this season, the Lady Hornets are perfect in District 8 play with 53-31 win over Cornersville in their district opener followed by the Moore County win, a 54-45 win over Fayetteville on January 18, and a five point district win over Eagleville last Friday. On Wednesday, they notched another district W, this time a 57-26 win over Cornersville.

Those who can’t attend the home district in person can watch the Moore County Sport Network’s student broadcasting team on the NFHS Network. The Lynchburg Times will also live blog the game on its Facebook Page. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only locally-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.}