Raiders settle for District 9A runners up; fall to Fayetteville 65-33

MCHS senior Will Harder goes up for second effort points against Fayetteville on Tuesday in Lynchburg. Harder led for the Raiders with 13 points. (PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Reed)

LYNCHBURG — Sometimes the shots fall and sometime they don’t. Tuesday felt like more of the latter for the Moore County Raiders in the District 9A Championship game against Fayetteville. Moore County fell to the Tigers 65-33 in a game that was never particularly close.

The Tigers came into the game looking for a little revenge after Moore County handed them their only district loss on February 1. In that game, the Tigers pulled ahead in the first period but got into foul trouble in the second allowing Moore County to pull ahead thanks to eight points from the foul line. The Tigers battled back in the third but the Raiders put up 18 in the final stanza to earn a 54-47 win.

In the District Championship, the Tigers jumped out to a 8-0 lead before Will Harder put up the Raiders first points of the night — a three around the four minute mark. The Tigers answered with a basket then Harder and Will Baker put up points to get Moore County within a basket. The Tigers scored four unanswered to end the first period 14-8.

It was pretty much downhill from there. The Raiders put up just five second period points to go into the locker room trailing 35-13. That 22 point deficit ended up being more that the Raiders could overcome. The Tigers continued to outscored the Raiders in the second half. At the final buzzer, Moore County lost to Fayetteville 65-33 and settled for District 9A Runners Up.

Will Harder led for Moore County with 13. Other contributing Raiders were Alex Copeland (6), Keller Morey (3), Wes Clifton (3), Will Baker (3), Colton Bateman (2), Will Parker (2), and Peyton Martin (1). Brayden Hockett led for the Tigers with 17 followed by Isaiah Thomason with 15.

Raiders Will Harder, Colton Bateman, and Alex Copeland were all named to the All District 9A Team and the All District 9A Tournament Team.

The Raiders will head into the Region 5A tournament next as a number two seed. The Times will post that bracket info as soon as it’s available. •

{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 Distilleryt, 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.}