EAGLEVILLE — And so we meet again?
District 8 rivals the Moore County Raiders and Eagleville Eagles met for the fourth time of the 2020-21 season on Tuesday night – this time in the Region 4 Semifinal game. And this time, the Raiders walked away with a 40-30 victory.
The path to the rematch went through the private school division for both teams. Moore County beat LEAD Academy, 66-63, in overtime this past Saturday to advance in the TSSAA tournament. Eagleville routed STEM Academy 70-38 that same night to earn their spot in the semifinal game.
Moore County and Eagleville last matched up in the District 8 semifinal game on February 23 and it was a real nail biter. The Raiders battled back from a 14 point third period deficit to get not one but two shots at a tie ballgame with less than a minute to play in Lynchburg.
The Raiders fought back that night with the help of junior Will Harder who scored nine points in less than 30 second with back-to-back-to-back three points shots. Last night, Raider fans watched to see if the boys in Columbia blue could muster some of the same offense that got them within two baskets of the Eagles last time.
Raiders enter the game banged up
The Raiders came into the semifinal game a little banged up. MCHS got up 48-34 on LEAD Academy in the third period on Saturday before senior point guard Brayden Cashion got fouled and knocked briefly unconscious. He laid under the basket for several minutes before Moore County medical staff helped him walk off the court. Cashion did not return to the game. Despite his third period exit, he scored 14 that night – just five points behind Andrew Copeland who led for the Raiders against LEAD Academy with 19.
Cashion’s senior leadership was missed. The Raiders led by 13 at the end of the third, then the Panthers mounted a fourth period comeback. With 1:19 to play, the Panthers tied the game 58-58 with a couple of free throws to send it into overtime.
Moore County pulled out the OT win thanks in part to solid defensive and offensive play by Andrew Copeland. He managed two blocked shots as well as consecutive scores in the OT period. Riley Holman also shot two free throw with four seconds left to give the Raiders a three point lead. The Panthers final jumper bounced off the glass to give the Raiders the 66-63 win.
Aggressive defense gets the win against the Eagles
Eagleville got the early lead against Moore County on Tuesday. Solid defense by the Eagles kept the Raiders off the board until the 4:59 mark when Dylan Scruggs threw up a nothing-but-net three to cut the Eagle lead in half, 3-6. Missed shots and the balls just not bouncing Moore County’s way led to a 9-13 first period score.
Moore County came back strong in the second period — out scoring the Eagles by eight points. At around the five minute mark, the Eagles fouled Andrew Copeland on the lay in. The basket fell in and he got the and one. It swished to get Moore County within one, 15-16. Then with less than three minutes to play in the half, Dylan Scruggs scored to give Moore County a one point lead. Brayden Cashion, who did not start but came into the game around the three minute mark, swished two more to pad the lead and Moore County headed into the locker room up by four points, 22-18.
Free throws cement the win in the fourth
Eagleville started the third period with a turnover that Moore County quickly converted to points as Dylan Scruggs sent up a jumper to give the Raiders a 24-18 lead. But the Eagles weren’t content to just lay down. With less than two minutes to play in the third period, the Eagles made a trey to give Eagleville the 27-28 edge. But it didn’t last long. The Eagles sent Scruggs to the line on the next possession with a one-and-one. He sank the first one to tie the ballgame.
The fourth period was all Moore County and mostly from the charity stripe. Moore County scored 12 and held Eagleville to just two points. Eight of those 12 were from the line as the Eagles continuously fouled and send Raiders to the line. At the 1:31 mark, the Eagles fouled senior Raider Brayden Cashion and he went to the line and sunk both making it a four point ball game and out of reach. At the final buzzer, Moore County got the 40-30 victory and a chance to play Cascade on Thursday in the Region 4 Finals. Cascade beat Fayetteville 53-48 on Tuesday in Lincoln County.
Brayden Cashion led for Moore County with 12 points followed by Dylan Scruggs with nine and Will Harder with eight. Other Raiders scoring against Eagleville were: Andrew Copeland (5), Riley Holman (4), and Colton Bateman (2).
The Raider will need to improve their shooting percentage if they hope to move past Cascade on Thursday. Moore County shot just 36 from the floor against Eagleville making just 7-21 baskets and 5-12 three point attempts. They shot 11-16 from the free throw line. •
{The Lynchburg Times is an independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg, 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.}