CORNERSVILLE, Tenn. — Tournament season finds many players and coaches in unfamiliar territory. Rather than the district rivals and close proximity schools they’re used to, it’s a whole new set of characters including star players from out of the area.

On Monday, the Raiderettes crew discovered the hype was real surrounding one of those players, Wayne County’s Blair Baugus. The Lady Wildcats used 26 points from the Miss Basketball finalist – a six-foot sophomore forward – to lift them to a 69-47 victory over Moore County and a chance to advance to the TSSAA Class 1A Girls’ Basketball State Tournament.

Wayne County came into the game with a perfect 31-0 record and returned four starters from last year’s TSSAA Class 1A Championship game in which McKenzie narrowly beat them, 46-42. Wayne County will now play Huntland on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Region 5A Championship game. That game will be played at Cornersville High School.

Raiderettes battle back in the third period

Moore County seemed to come out a bit sluggish and out of sorts. Who could blame them? It’s been an emotional week for Moore County High School students following the untimely death of a classmate, senior Isaiah Petty. As the Raiderettes warmed up Monday night, they wore t-shirts that read: Playing for Petty.

Following the tip off, Wayne County went on a seven -point run before Paisley Logan scored the first basket for the Raiderettes around the four minute mark. Logan scored nine of Moore County’s 12 first period points. Anna Harder swished a trey for the other three. At the end of the first period, the Raiderettes trailed 18-12.

It was as close as they’d ever get. Wayne County scored 14 unanswered in the beginning of the second period to pull away 39-23 by halftime.

Moore County battled back in the third period – pulling within nine points to give them a shot at the comeback. Anna Harder hit 3-point shots two and three and Paisley Logan added one more. Logan, Ellie Graham, and Madison Dingler all scored baskets to put together Moore County’s 20-point third period.

Then it all fell apart in the fourth. Wayne County scored 17 in the final period while holding Moore County to just four points – all from Ellie Graham.

Senior Paisley Logan led for Moore County with 14 points. Ellie Graham added 11. Anna Harder swished three treys for nine points. Madison Dingler scored eight points. Audrey Harder added a trey and Katy Fletcher added a basket. Blair Baugus led for Wayne County with 26 points.

Moore County graduates two seniors, Maecy Fletcher and Paisley Logan. They ended their season with a 20-12 overall record and a 5-3 District 9A record. •

{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.}