DUANE SHERRILLSports Writer

The Lady ‘Cats went from a share of the district lead to a tie for third in just a week after they lost their second straight nail-biter, falling 44-40 to district-leading Lincoln County Tuesday night in Fayetteville.

Defense ruled the night between the squads as they played for the top spot in the district. Tullahoma was coming off a close loss to Page, their first in district play, while Lincoln County had yet to be challenged in the district as they sported a 19-2 overall record.

Things looked good early for the Lady ‘Cats as they jumped on their hosts with a 14-point barrage in the first. Nyjah Gibbs led the charge with seven in the opening period. She led her squad with 17 on the night. Morgan Carr got in on the scoring act early with a three while Eleanor Fults canned a pair of field goals to help Tullahoma to a slim 14-12 advantage after one. Gibbs put up six in the second frame and was joined in the scorer’s book by Lucy Nutt and Fults, both with deuces. For Lincoln County, Abby Bryan posted the only points of the second period as she had nine, including seven from the foul line. She led all scorers on the night with 19.

The Lady Wildcats held a 24-21 lead going into the half but forgot to bring their offense out of the locker room for the beginning of the third quarter. In a turnabout from the Page game just days before, where the Lady ‘Cats had come screaming back after the half to erase a 14-point deficit, Tullahoma was unable to find the basket during the third as they were literally shut out from the field. Their only points were three free throws, two from Gibbs and one from Nutt. However, Lincoln County wasn’t setting it on fire either as they managed just 10 third quarter points but that was enough to put them up 31-27 going into the final period.

That lead proved to be enough as the fourth saw a free throw shooting contest in which 15 free throws were taken between the squads. Alivia Bowen made the most of her opportunities as she went three-for-three from the stripe and added a 3-pointer to the mix, helping put Tullahoma to within a basket in the final minute. However, they were not able to make the next step as Lincoln County held on to keep their district record perfect.