Raiderettes punch ticket to State

After dropping the Class 1A State Championship Game last season, Moore County was laser-focused on returning to The Glass House. On Saturday night, the Raiderettes punched their ticket to Murfreesboro with a no-doubt-about-it 57-37 throttling of McEwen.

The Lady Warriors rolled into town led by Miss Basketball finalist Laila Downs-Darden. They left knowing MCHS's Ellie Graham should hang that hardware on her wall on March 18.

Raiderettes head coach Chad Spencer shuffled out a starting five of Emma Dye, Katy Fletcher, Graham, Anna Harder, and Ally Sharpe. It was a lethal combination of offense and defense – and proved itself by taking leads of 11-3, 21-4, and 23-9 in the first quarter.

McEwen scored first – a basket by Shana Bohanon – but the lead was short-lived. Dye drained a 3-pointer with 6:48 showing on the clock.

McEwen's Avery Branch hit one of two free-throw attempts to knot the game at 3-all before the Raiderettes took command of the ballgame.

Graham snatched a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a bucket to give Moore County a 5-3 lead, and the floodgates opened.

Dye scored off the glass. Fletcher added a bucket. Dye followed with another score, and it was 11-3 with 4:20 remaining in the quarter.

Before Memaw could settle in with her soda and nachos, Harder drilled a trey, Graham blocked a Darden shot, Sharpe drove for a basket, Graham kissed the glass for 2, and Dye sank another 3-pointer. It was 21-4 with just over a minute to play – and the rout was on.

Sharpe added a pullup bucket to cap MCHS's scoring for a 23-9 lead entering the second quarter. Dye paced the Raiderettes with 10 first-quarter points.

McEwen outscored Moore County 12-11 in the second, but the damage was done.

The frame started sloppy with three consecutive turnovers before Darden posted her first points of the night to pull the Lady Warriors within 23-11 with 6:39 remaining in the half. In total, she scored 10 points in the second quarter.

Still, Moore County (29-3) went punch-for-punch as Fletcher (3-pointer), Graham, Dye, Emma Sazanov, and Sharpe (two free throws) kept pace for a 34-21 halftime lead.

Harder put the team on her back in the third quarter. She played tenacious defense and scored nine points – including a trey – while Graham (6) and Fletcher (2) contributed to extend the Raiderettes' lead to 51-33.

With 6:45 on the third-quarter clock, Graham scored a bucket, was fouled by Darden, and sank the plus-1 to put MCHS up 37-23. Harder followed with a 3-ball that was a dagger.

The teams played nip-tuck for the remainder of the quarter, leading to the fourth, which proved to be an 8-minute coronation for the Sectional champions, who have reeled off 18 consecutive wins.

Graham scored four points in the final quarter, highlighted by a reverse layup with 2:15 to play and a give-and-go from Fletcher that Graham played off the backboard to cap the scoring with 1:26 on the clock.

Graham is the only Class 1A Miss Basketball finalist still in the postseason. Richland bounced Wayne County on Saturday night, ending the season for Blair Baugus, the award's third nominee.

Darden scored 16 points to lead McEwen, while Bohanon added 13. The Lady Warriors hit 14 field goals, one 3-pointer, and were 6 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Graham led a trio of Raiderettes in double figures with 16 points. Harder added 14 and Dye 12. Fletcher (7), Sharpe (6), and Sazonov (2) completed the scoring for MCHS.

Moore County had 18 buckets, drained five 3-pointers, and was 6 of 10 from the stripe.

TSSAA Class 1A Girls Basketball State Tournament

MTSU's Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center

Wednesday

9:30 a.m. – Van Buren vs. Memphis Middle College
11 a.m. – Moore County vs. Coalfield
12:45 p.m. – Copper Basin vs. Richland
2:15 p.m. – Greenfield vs. North Greene

Friday

9:30 a.m. – Van Buren-Memphis Middle College winner vs. Moore Co.-Coalfield winner
11 a.m. – Copper Basin-Richland winner vs. Greenfield-North Greene winner

Saturday