GRAY DEYOSports Writer

In what has been an up-and-down year for the Tullahoma girls’ basketball this season, there was no bigger high for them than their 39-37 win Friday night against Moore County. Moore is one of the better teams currently in TN and is coming off a state championship appearance last year. And despite the Lady Wildcats knowing this about Moore, they laced their shoes up just as the Lady Raiders did before the game, walked on the hard court unfazed, and got the win.

“I think the biggest factor for us vs Moore County was that we simplified our defense and made sure we emphasized our defensive standards,” head coach of Tullahoma Chad Hibdon said regarding what led to his team’s win.

“We worked on our offensive execution and understanding of what we are looking for from our offense heading into the game. Our focus was quality shots over quantity to be a more efficient offensive team. It was our best offensive efficiency rating of the season.

The team did such a better job of playing good basketball and making the next right decision.”

The Lady Wildcats were without starting junior guard Aubrey North, which forced players to play in different roles, but despite that the scrappy defense of Tullahoma stayed unaltered. They held the Lady Raiders to their lowest-scoring output of the season at 37.

On the offensive side of the ball, it was all McLayne Bobo, as she finished with a game-high 24 points–including a twelve-point outburst in the first quarter where she outscored Moore County on her own 12-10.

“She played with great pace and poise early while asserting herself in the flow of our offense. It was her best game of playing with and without the ball, especially when they went to the box and 1. She played smart and with great leadership from start to finish,” said coach Hibdon regarding Bobo’s play.

The star junior guard’s dynamic offensive play paired with the gritty collective defense of Tullahoma as a whole has shown up in the team’s last two wins.

In their last “W” marked on their schedule they held opposing Westmoreland High School to 34 points, and Bobo went on to score an identical output in her game against Moore, as she scored a game-high 24 in that contest. It seems this team is starting to find a formula to win again.

They will look to put that formula in play once again on Jan. 7, when they take on the fourth-ranked team in the state–Coffee County Central–who has not lost a game since April 3, 2024.