GRAY DEYOSports Writer

After leading early in the first quarter 7-0, the Lady Wildcats lead slipped away, losing to Lincoln County—47-41.

Tullahoma has lost three games in a row and has hit a rough spot in the schedule, facing exceedingly talented competition. The Lady Wildcats latest stretch has seen them face 4A school Rockvale, 4A State Runner up and undefeated so far this season Coffee County, and now 6-2 Lincoln County. The Lady Falcons’ two losses this season have come against Stewarts Creek and an elite program—Bradley Central. Bradley Central has won the 4A state title in back-to-back seasons.

It has just been a tough slate of competition the last couple of weeks for Tullahoma, and despite that, they continue to compete and did so Friday night.

The Lady Wildcats were well within reach to upset the Lady Falcons, as they had a lead of 42-37 heading into the fourth quarter. Tullahoma Isabella Lidstrom was a big part of them being in that spot, finishing as the team-leading scorer with 14 points.

There was a big emphasis in the head coach of the wildcats Chad Hibdon’s game plan, in getting Lidstrom the ball in the low post. The senior, when given the ball near the painted area, often bullied her way past defenders, leaving the Lady Falcons looking like deer in headlights.

Her play in the post was vital, along with the teams’ overall defense, which performed well throughout nearly the whole contest, until a flurry of threes from a Lincoln guard leapfrogged the game into the hands of the Lady Falcons.

The Lady Wildcats got great looks in the final period; it was just a matter of the shots not falling. For guard Grasen Tipps however, she couldn’t get a shot not to land in the basket—scoring nine points in the fourth, all from deep, after being held scoreless in the previous three quarters.

Lidstrom fouled out with 2:02 left in the contest at a 40-37 Lincoln Co. advantage, after an offensive foul. Two of Tipps’ threes followed the fouling out of Lidstrom, leaving a sour feeling of what could have been, after an ambush of threes from the Lady Patriots in the fourth—scoring four of their seven threes in the period—and a lapse of scoring from the Lady Wildcats despite generating a surplus of good looks.

Tullahoma continues to play hard, it’s just a matter of the ball bouncing their way a few more times late in games. They will look to rebound from their loss against Lincoln, against Shelbyville on Dec.17, who they beat earlier this year, on Dec.3 44-29.