MTCS girls climb to 10-1

MURFREESBORO – MTCS picked the perfect time for perhaps its best defensive night of the season.

The Lady Cougars held rival Moore County to 22 points through the first 24 minutes to whip the visiting Raiderettes 57-40 Friday night.

The Lady Cougars (10-1 overall, 4-1 in 9-A) broke open a tight game after the first six minutes with a 16-0 run to take a commanding 25-11 lead after sophomore Abby Buckner's 3-pointer with 5:15 left in the first half.

Buckner, a southpaw, finished with three treys and scored 11 of her 16 points in the first half.. Teammate Ashlynd Wilkerson, a junior, tallied 14 of her 19 points in the first half.

"We came out slow at first," Buckner said. "We were kind of timid. Then we finally came out and played our game."

MTCS has won four straight games since a 48-45 setback to 9-A rival Forrest on Dec. 5. The win over Moore County (10-3, 2-3) culminated a week of midterm exams heading into the semester break.

"One told me this week, 'Coach, my brain is fried,'" MTCS third-year coach Lynn Burkey said. "Our exams are pretty challenging. They've all had five or six (exams). They've spent a lot of time studying."

But the recuperated quickly. MTCS held Moore County to shooting just 33 percent from the field in the first half. The Raiderettes turned the ball over six times in the second quarter to help MTCS grow its lead to 16 at halftime.

"Maybe two-thirds of our practices total have been defense," Burkey said. "It was really nice to see it pay off.

"I thought it was our best defensive effort of the year."

Wilkerson and Buckner combined to score 25 of the Lady Cougars' 32 first-half points.

"We've had a lot of practices together," said Wilkerson who was honored during halftime of the boys game for becoming the school's 10th girls player in school history to go over the 1,000-point career mark. "We're pretty good on working together. She's on the left, and I'm on the right.

"We just kind of click when we play."

Jordan Faulkner added eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Mary Claire Dutton had six points and nine rebounds off the bench. And Emma Self took three charges.

Moore County's Kirsten Hawkins led all players with 26 points. However, 12 of those points came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

MTCS 57, Moore Co. 40

Moore Co. 11 5 6 18 – 40

MTCS 14 18 9 16 – 57

Moore Co.: Katie Thomas 3, Taylor La Cook 2, Kirsten Hawkins 26, Makayla Ray 3, Faith Cauble 2, Grace Cauble 4.

MTCS: Jordan Faulkner 8, Erin Mullins 2, Cammie Adams 4, Abby Buckner 16, Ashlynd Wilkerson 19, Mary Claire Dutton 6, Emma Self 2.