Post Photo by Chris Siers Annabelle Mulliniks and the Lady ‘Dawg bench erupts after Anna Wood hits a layup, draws the foul and hits the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play to give Cornersville a four-point lead with 1:43 left in regulation.
Post Photo by Chris Siers Anna Wood goes up for two in the fourth quarter. She posted a game-high 19 points in Monday night’s region semifinal against Moore County.
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
LYNNVILLE — Lady ‘Dawg coach Hayden McMahon wanted his team to leave it all on the floor in Monday night’s Region 5-A semifinal against Moore County.
Did they ever.
Cornersville (16-10) fell behind at multiple points, battled back and took a lead late in regulation, but a handful of missed chances and an untimely turnover allowed No. 1 seed Moore County (23-8) to escape in overtime on a buzzer-beater, 45-43.
“I told them to leave it all out there. They came back to the locker room and could have been, “what if, what if,” and they didn’t. They left it all out there in an absolute battle,” McMahon said.
There was no quit in the Lady Dawgs, who trailed for the majority of regulation.
After a brief lead with 4:16 left in the first, Moore County took an 8-7 lead off a 3-pointer by Ellie Graham and didn’t trail again until a steal by Jayli Childress and a layup by Abigail Finley put the Lady ‘Dawgs up 37-36 with 2:59 left in regulation.
Cornersville stretched its lead to four points off a 3-point play by Anna Wood, who hit a layup, drew the foul and hit the ensuing free throw to bump the Lady ‘Dawgs lead to 40-36 with 1:43 left.
A layup by Katy Fletcher brought the Raiderettes back within a basket at the 1:27 mark and 30 seconds later, a Cornersville turnover allowed Moore County to tie the game at 40.
With time dwindling, Cornersville was eventually awarded possession following a jump ball with just over one second left on the clock.
The ball eventually found its way into the hands of Ady Gentry, who fired a baseline jumper, which missed just short off the iron.
She corralled her own rebound and attempted a reverse layup that again missed just short as time expired, forcing overtime.
In the overtime period, Cornersville took an early lead with Finley again answering the bell on a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Lady ‘Dawgs up 43-40 with 3:24 left on the clock.
Graham answered at the 1:51 mark on a 3-pointer to again tie the game at 43.
Like Cornersville at the end of regulation, Moore County was awarded possession under its own rim with :00.7 left on the clock and on the in-bound pass, it was Fletcher who caught the pass and scored off the block to escape a valiant effort by the Lady ‘Dawgs.
Cornersville trailed by as many as eight points against Moore County, but found ways to scrap and claw back into the game every time the Raiderettes appeared to have a comfortable lead.
“We got down in a few spurts here and there and we battled back every time,” McMahon said.
Graham scored the first 10 points of the game for the Raiderettes, but was held to just six points through the remainder of regulation.
For Cornersville, Wood was timely in her shots and led the way with three made treys, while Childress buried a pair of 3-pointers.
Gentry added 11 as well.
Following Monday night’s loss, McMahon had nothing but praise for his senior class, who have helped build a winning culture of Lady ‘’Dawg basketball over the past several seasons.
“My four seniors, I’m going to really miss them. They laid the ground work for this program. They gave me, a new coach, a shot from Day 1. I couldn’t be more proud of that group of girls,” McMahon said.
Cornersville closes the season with a 16-10 overall record.
Cornersville 9 9 12 10 3 — 43
Moore Co. 10 11 10 9 5 — 45
Cornersville: Anna Wood 19, Ady Gentry 11, Jayli Childress 8, Abigail Finley 5.
Moore Co.: Ellie 19, Madison Dingler 13, Katy Fletcher 6, Emma Sazonov 4, Anna Harder 3.
3-Point goals: Cornersville (7): Wood 3, Childress 2, Gentry, Finley; Moore Co. (5): Graham 3, Dingler 2.
Halftime score: Moore Co. 21, Cornersville 18.
