By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LOCAL SPORTS | It’s rare that a Class 1A girls high school basketball team walks into a AAA gym and walks out with a victory. It’s even more rare for that underdog team to earn a road win with a squad led by all juniors. But that’s exactly what the Moore County Raiderettes accomplished Saturday night when they made the short trip to Tullahoma High School and beat the Lady Wildcats by a final score of 43-35.

Moore County came into the game with a 14-4 overall record and 1-0 in district play. They beat Eagleville 53-50 in the District 9 opener on Friday night. The Lady Wildcats held a 5-8 record heading into the game but were riding high off a 47-38 rivalry win over Shelbyville last Thursday.

The two teams have played in the regular season for the past three years with Tullahoma besting Moore County in the 2022-23 season by a final of 55-43 and in the 2021-22 season by the exact same score.

But on Saturday, a determined Raiderettes team came to play. They tied the Lady Wildcats in the first half before pulling away in the the third period.

Game tied at 19-19 at halftime

The Raiderettes jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead over the Lady Wildcats thanks to points by Madison Dingler and basket by Anna Harder. After their opening basket, the Moore County defense held Tullahoma until Lily Melton ended the scoring drought at the 2:05 mark with a layup on the left side. McLayne Bobo scored two from the line with eight seconds to play to end the first quarter.

After this first eight minutes, Moore County led 8-6. Dingler led the first period with five points followed by Audrey Harder with three.

Ellie Graham got the second period scoring going with a layup on the left side. She drew the “and one” foul but couldn’t get the free throw to fall. Tullahoma’s Lily Melton answered with a jumper from the paint. The two teams then traded missed treys before Anna Harder connected on a left corner perimeter shot to build Moore County’s lead to five, 13-8.

Melton then answered with a trey of her own to cut the Raiderette lead back to two. Following a Moore County turnover, Aubrey North made a hook shot in traffic to tie the game with 4:09 to play in the half. About a minute later, Dingler drove inside for two to give the Raiderettes back the lead.

After trading free throws, Dingler drove down court then passed back to Katy Fletcher, who stood at the top of the key. She set her feet and drained a trey to give Moore County a five-point lead. In the final pair of baskets from the line by Bobo and a buzzer-beater trey by Melton tied the game at 19-19.

Madison Dingler led in the first half with seven points followed by Anna Harder with six points. Katy Fletcher added four and Ellie Graham added two more.

Raiderettes pull away in the third

Moore County forced a turnover on the Lady Wildcats first possession then Dingler drove down court and passed to Graham, who sat waiting underneath on the left side. Tullahoma’s Bobo answered with a trey to give Tullahoma their first lead of the game. On their next possession, Graham earned the lead back with a layup on the left side and then Tullahoma’s Faith Vincent scored to make it Wildcats 24, Raiderettes 23. Graham scored a basket and Madelin Lidstrom scored one from the line to make it 25-25 with 5:16 to play in the third.

After trading turnovers, Dingler earned back the lead with two from the line. Audrey Harder then stole the ball and hit a fast break for a layup that sparked a five-point run including a time out inspiring trey from Katy Fletcher. At the end of the third period, Moore County led Tullahoma 33-26.

The Raiderettes and Lady Wildcats paced each other in the final stanza but the Lady Wildcats never earned the lead back. Dingler scored that first and the last points for Moore County – adding the final three points of the game – all from the line.

Madison Dingler led for Moore County with 17 points followed by Ellie Graham with 11. Katy Fletcher contributed seven points and Anna Harder added six more. Audrey Harder also added a basket.

The Raiderettes scored 10 from the floor and four from the perimeter. They continue to struggle at the line – making just 11 of 24. That’s just 46 percent. Tullahoma scored eight from the floor and four from the perimeter. There were 7 of 11 from the free throw line for 64 percent.

Moore County will travel to Loretto on Tuesday. Tip off happens at 6 p.m. If you can’t travel with the team, you can watch the action live thanks to the Moore County Sports Network’s live broadcast on the NFHS Network. •

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