LOCAL SPORTS | Lynchburg — The Moore County Raiders gave the Tullahoma Wildcats all they wanted on Friday in Lynchburg. With seconds to play and Tullahoma leading by a mere three points, the never-say-die Raiders nearly got off a game tying buzzer beater.
Instead, the final buzzer sounded before Will Harder could get off a final half court shot and the Raiders fell to the Wildcats 63-60 in front of a nail-biting home crowd.
The Raiders (1-7) went into the match up against the Class AAA Tullahoma Wildcats (0-4) fresh of a tough 72-41 loss to another Class AAA team, the Lincoln County Falcons. The Falcons jumped out to an early 27-12 first period lead in Fayetteville and never looked back. Will Harder led for the Raiders against LCHS with 15 points followed by Alex Copeland and Dawson White with nine points each. {To read our complete coverage of that game, click here.} Tullahoma’s boys came into the game at Moore County following a 41-28 loss at Franklin County.
Pulled within one point with two minutes to play
Tullahoma got on the boards first with a trey on their first possession. Alex Copeland immediately answered with a basket of his own. Points by Will Harder and a three by Dawson White tied the score at 7-7 before the Wildcats scored nine unanswered to make it 16-7 with a little over two minutes to play in the period. Copeland swished a three at the buzzer to make it 20 -12 at the end of the first period.
Moore County then managed a big 25 point second half. Alex Copeland, Will Harder, and six straight points from Dawson White pulled the Raiders within one at around the four minute mark. Three possessions later, the Wildcats got caught reaching in on a White score attempt. He made both baskets tying the game at 27-27. The Raiders and Wildcats then traded baskets to go into the locker room tied at 37-37.
The Wildcats out scored the Raiders in the third period, putting up 13 while holding Moore County to just eight. In the fourth, points by Alex Copeland, Keller Morey, and Will Harder pulled Moore County within one point with 2:06 to play. Morey swished a three with :25 left to play and the Raiders then got the stop but didn’t leave Will Harder enough time to get off the would be game tying shot. At the end of four, Moore County lost 63-60 to the Wildcats.
Alex Copeland led for Moore County with 22 points followed by senior Will Harder with 16 points. Keller Morey (9), Dawson White (9), and Will Baker (4) all contributed as well.
The Raiders will rematch with Forrest next Tuesday (December 14) in Chapel Hill. Moore County lost to the Rockets 54-38 in Lynchburg on December 3. {To read our complete coverage of that game, click here.} The game tips off after the girls game in Chapel Hill. If you plan to go, the GPS address is 310 North Horton Parkway in Chapel Hill. If you can’t attend in person, you can watch the Moore County Sports Network’s live broadcast on the NFHS Network or follow The Lynchburg Times live blog of the game on our Facebook page. •
{The Lynchburg Times is the only 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.}