By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG — It felt like a bit of tough sledding for the Moore County Raiders on Tuesday as the visiting Cascade Champions put up 31 first period points to build an insurmountable lead on their way to a 78-31 victory.

The road win allows the Champions to sweep the 2024-25 series. They bested the Raiders in Wartrace on December 3 by a final of 61-49. In that game, senior Peyton Martin ruled in the paint – leading Moore County with 16 points – but it wasn’t enough to edge the victory. {To read our complete coverage of that game, click here.}

The Champions must have got the memo, as they keyed in on Martin for much of Tuesday’s game – limiting the money post player to just eight points.

{Editor’s Note: This year’s Raiderettes basketball coverage is free to all readers thanks to our community partner, Woodard’s Market.}

Cascade pulls away in the first half

Moore County got the ball off the tip against Cascade, but couldn’t do much with it. Champions Klaeb Kelso stole a loose pass and took off on a fast break for the first points of the game. A bad pass on the next possession led to a trey by Jason Cullum to put Cascade up 5-0.

Gavin Wise got the first Moore County points of the night with a left-side, off-the-glass bucket around the 6:23 mark. Cascade couldn’t answer – missing several shots on goal before Wise picked off the rebound. After setting up a play, Wise scored from the left side again to make it 5-4. Again, Cascade’s Cullum answered with a trey and Tyler Rodgers managed an inside layup for five quick points – prompting a time out from Coach Brown.

Cascade scored an easy layup out of the break, then Moore County answered with inside points from Martin to make it 12-6. The Champions then went on another seven-point run to pull ahead, 19-6 – prompting another Moore County time out at the 2:20 mark. Out of the break, Martin again ended the scoring drought with points inside.

Cascade’s Kelso answered with another trey, then the Champions sent Wise to the line, he missed both – leading to another Cascade run. This time for nine points. Cooper Dickey scored the last Raider points of the first quarter.

At the end of the first eight minutes, Moore County trailed 31-11. Cascade never looked back – putting up double digits for the remaining three quarters. At the final buzzer, Moore County fell 78-31.

Wise and Martin combined for 20 points

Gavin Wise led on Tuesday with 12 points followed by Peyton Martin with eight. Other contributing Raiders were Cooper Dickey (4), Tucker Smith (4), and Colton Morey (3). Cascade’s Noah Watson led all scorers with 27 points.

Moore County shot 11 from the floor for 22 points and managed just a single score from the perimeter – a third quarter trey from Morey. They were six of 12 (50 percent) from the line. For comparison, Cascade shot 15 from the floor for 30 points and added another 42 from the perimeter. They were six of 14 (43 percent) from the line.

Moore County will move on to a district game at Fayetteville on Friday. Tip off of the Raiderettes game is at 6 p.m. and boys’ action will follow. •

{The Lynchburg Times is a locally owned and locally operated community newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We’re the only newspaper that published twice a week with editions every Sunday and Wednesday as well as breaking news as it happens. It’s also one of the few women-owned newspapers in the state. We’re supported by both readers and community partners who believe in independent journalism for the common good. You can support us by clicking here. }