By Tabitha Evans Moore, EDITOR & PUBLISHER

The Raiders put up a heck of a fight against Huntland on Friday – pulling within one point in the fourth period – but the Hornets pulled away down the stretch to hand Moore County a 55-48 loss in Lynchburg in the final regular season game of the year.

Moore County (6-15, 1-5) came into the game fresh off a 72-29 non-district loss at AAA Murfreesboro Central Magnet last Monday. Huntland (10-15, 2-4) lost to top-rated Wayne County on February 9. Both District 9 teams came into the final district game of the season with identical 1-4 records.

Coach Brown started all five of his seniors – Alex Copeland, Wes Clifton, Dawson White, Emery Bryan, and Sawyer Parks – on Senior Night.

Moore County trails by eight at the half

The Raiders and Hornets paced each other in the first period. Moore County struck first with an all-business, off-the-glass shot by Sawyer Parks. Huntland’s Cayden Bradford answered with two from the right side. The two teams traded turnovers for the next seven possessions then Bradford made the exact same shot from the opposite side to give Huntland the lead, 4-2.

Several possessions later, Huntland sent Gavin Wise to the line and he made one of two to cut the lead to one point. On the next Huntland possession, Peyton Martin intercepted a Hornet pass and took off down court – going inside for two points to earn back the lead, 5-4.

With less than a minute to play in the first, Martin went back up on the left side for two to build the Moore County lead to three, 7-4. Then, Hornet Lashawn Kimmons went up for the final points of the period. At the end of the first period, Moore County led Huntland by one point, 7-6.

Huntland pulled ahead in the second period – scoring 17 while holding Moore County to just eight points. The Hornets led 23-15 at the half.

Raiders pull within one in the fourth

Dawson White scored on the Raiders first possession of the third period, then Huntland pieced together a six-point run thanks to three consecutive baskets by Demetri Reed to pull ahead 29-17 with around six minutes to play in the quarter. Moore County answered with their own nine-point run off points from Matthew White, Dawson White, and Gavin Wise to get within three points, 29-26.

Huntland ended the dry spell with a trey by Bradford and one from the line by Kimmons to earn back a 33-26 lead. With 24 seconds remaining in the third, Martin scored on back-to-back possession to make it once again a three point game. At the end of the third period, Huntland led Moore County 33-30.

Moore County got as close as a one-point in the fourth thanks to an Alex Copeland trey with 5:31 to play. Huntland’s Kimmons answered with his own trey, then Copeland went back to the top of the key for three more – prompting a Huntland time out.

Huntland slowly pulled away down the stretch – putting up 15 in the final four minutes of the game while holding the Raiders to just eight points. At the final buzzer, Moore County dropped their final regular season district game to head into the District 9A Tournament as a #4 seed. They will play #1 seed Eagleville on Valentine’s Day in Rutherford County.

Dawson White led for Moore County with 15 points followed closely by fellow senior Alex Copeland with 14 points. Other contributing Raiders were: Peyton Martin (8), Brantley Hill (3), Gavin Wise (3), Matthew White (2), Sawyer Parks (2), and Wes Clifton (1). •

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