Raiders looking to improve tournament seed with win over Eagleville on Friday

Moore County will need senior leadership from Colton Bateman (left) and continued tenacious play in the paint from Keller Morey (right) to snag another district win. Bateman scored six against Fayetteville and Morey added another 13. (**PHOTO CREDIT:** *Jeff Reed*)

LYNCHBURG — With district tournament time just around the corner, all area high school basketball teams are looking to bank as many wins as possible to improve their seed once post season play gets underway. Those home games come in handy. The Moore County Raiders have just two more chance to raise their district stock. They’ll take on Eagleville this Friday in Lynchburg and travel to Cornersville on February 8.

The Raiders come into the Eagleville game fresh off a 54-47 upset victory over the Fayetteville Tigers on Tuesday in Lynchburg. The Tigers came into the match with a perfect 6-0 district record but the Raiders got them into foul trouble early and headed into the final period in the bonus. They put up 18 points including 10 from the free throw line to pull away in the fourth quarter. {To read our full coverage of that game, click here.} Will Harder led for the Raiders with 17 followed by Alex Copeland with 15 and Keller Morey with 13.

The win improved Moore County’s district record to 3-3 and dropped the Tigers to 6-1.

The Eagles come into the Raider game following a narrow four point loss at Cornersville on Tuesday. The Bulldogs pulled away early in the game leading 28-19 at halftime but the Eagles battled back in the second half outscoring the Bulldogs in the third and matching them point-for-point in the final stanza. At the final buzzer, Cornersville got the 56-51 win and improved their district record to 3-4. The Eagles fell to 1-5 in district play.

As of Thursday, the district rankings were: Fayetteville (6-1), Huntland (3-3), Moore County (3-3), Cornersville (3-4), and Eagleville 1-5.

Tip off will happen at MCHS Gym immediately following the Raiderette’s game. Those you can’t attend can watch the Moore County Sports Network on the NFHS Network or follow The Lynchburg Times Facebook page for live score updates. •

{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.}