DUANE SHERRILLSports Writer

The Moore County girls enjoyed a short-lived lead in their hardwood tilt against Tullahoma this past week until Lady ‘Cat Olivia Bowen lit up the scoreboard with a tsunami of long balls in the second quarter to lift her squad to a 55-43 road win and bragging rights in the annual border clash.

Bowen went on to lead all scorers with 19 on the night, edging out Moore County’s Ellie Graham for the honors as the Lady Raider went for 16 in the loss.

Graham and fellow Lady Raider Paisley Morgan both hit shots from beyond the arc to give Moore County a 10-7 lead after one. Morgan Carr had three of her seven in the first for the Lady ‘Cats and was joined by Lily Melton who popped for two of her night’s four in the opening stanza.

However, the tide changed dramatically in the second frame as Bowen came out like a house afire, bombing four threes from long range to spur her team’s 25 point showing in the second. Lucy Nutt contributed seven in the second on the way to going for 11 for the game. McLayne Bobo, coming off a career game last week, added three in the second and was bride’s maid in scoring for the Lady ‘Cats as she registered 12 on the night.

Ellie Graham was the counter for Moore County as she led her team during the second with five points, three of those coming from the charity stripe as she was three-for-five from the line in the second. Graham actually found herself toeing the line quite a bit during the tilt as she was hacked several times and went seven-for-nine from the stripe during the contest. Anna Harder had four in the second on her way to posting six on the night.

Moore County found itself suddenly down 32-19 at the break thanks to the Bowen onslaught. While they were able to limit Bowen to just one 3-pointer during the third, the Lady Raiders were not able to cut into the Tullahoma lead as they were outscored 13-to-10 in the third. Macey Fletcher and Ellie Graham shared scoring honors in the third for Moore County with four apiece while Nutt led Tullahoma with four points in the third.

The curtain call saw the Lady Raiders made a late run, outscoring Tullahoma 14-to-10 down the stretch. Moore County had four girls in the scorer’s book with Paisley Logan, Macey Fletcher and Ellie Graham all posting four while Audrey Holder had two from the line.

On the opposite side, Bobo was the Tullahoma offense as she hit a three and then went four-for-four from the line. She was a perfect six-for-six at the charity stripe on the evening. Her scoring along with a final three from Bowen made for the winning margin.

The difference in the game came down to the long ball as Tullahoma outperformed Moore County with nine shots from beyond the arc to just two for the Lady Raiders. Moore County also was outgunned at the charity stripe as Tullahoma was 14-for-16 with its free throws compared to the Lady Raiders who were 13-for-18.