Raiders take first step in state tourney

Shane Worthey shoots past Eagleville's Khameron Lillard. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

MURFREESBORO -- Moore County held a 24-point lead during the first half and held on late to take down former district rival Eagleville 71-63 in the first round of the Class A state tournament at Middle Tennessee's Murphy Center.

A 9-0 third-quarter run and an early fourth-period spurt of 10 unanswered points helped get the Eagles back into it.

"We came out a little jittery," Eagleville coach Joey Reed said. "We let them dictate tempo, obviously. We took a lot of quick shots and led to them getting out in transition."

A 3-pointer by Jay Paul Lenker closed their gap to 62-58 with 1:49 to play but they would get no closer and their bid to win their first-ever state title came up short.

"The third quarter we wanted to try to put them away," Raider coach Lavon King said. "They were doing some good things against our press as far as breaking it and getting some easy baskets. We backed up out of it and lost a little bit of our aggressiveness defensively."

The Lynchburg boys held on by scoring seven straight points in the last 1:29.

Moore County, seeking a partner for 1999's gold ball, advances to face top-ranked Union City (35-0) on Friday morning at 10:30.

Moore County's Tyler Jean finds room to get off a shot attempt in traffic. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"Basically everything was closed down today and especially on Friday in the semifinals with an opportunity to get to the finals," King said. "I guarantee you that you can probably steal anything you wanted to (in Lynchburg)."

Shane Worthey was 10-for-12 from the field, grabbed 11 rebounds and led all scorers with 20 points for Moore County (29-4). Tyler Jean hauled in 11 boards as well and totaled 16 points. Justin Hill and Georgio Alexander contributed 13 points each.

Khameron Lillard and Jared Wilson netted 12 for the Eagles. Lenker, Jo Jo Wilson and Jimbo Porter scored 11 apiece.

Eagleville's season comes to a close with a final record of 26-8. They carry with them championship plaques from District 9 and Region 5.