A Grayson County win streak that dated back to March of 2004 and spanned 40 games was broken last Friday night in Whitesville as the Lady Raiders beat the Lady Cougars 56-53.
Behind freshman Cassidy Morris’ 33 points, the Lady Raiders built a 15-point lead with 6:31 left to play, then had to stave off a furious Grayson County rally that brought the Lady Cougars to within a point of the lead with 17.7 seconds left in the game.
When Morris buried a three-pointer at the 2:39 mark of the first period, it marked her 1,000th point and the game was halted for a brief ceremony at center court as she was presented with the game ball.
A Kaylee Masden 15-footer with 24 seconds left in the period gave the Lady Cougars a 13-12 lead heading into the second quarter.
A short jumper from Rachael Snyder at the 3:51 mark gave the Lady Cougars a three-point edge, 21-18, but the Lady Raiders responded by scoring ten unanswered points to lead by seven, 28-21 with 45 seconds left in the half. Bailey Snyder then closed out the first-half scoring by hitting her fourth three-pointer of the night to make it a four-point game, 28-24 at the half.
A Laura Vincent lay-in at the 3:42 mark of the third period brought the Lady Cougars to within a point of the lead, 34-33, but Whitesville closed out the period by scoring the last seven points to lead by eight, 41-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
When the Lady Raiders opened the final period by scoring the first seven points, they had built a 15-point lead, 48-33 with 6:31 left to play.
The Lady Raiders still led by 14 points, 52-38 with 4:44 left to play when the Lady Cougars began coming back. Eight straight points cut their deficit to six points, 52-46 with 1:57 left. Nina Wathen then broke the string with a 15-footer, but the Lady Cougars responded with seven straight to close to within a point of the lead, 54-53 with 17.7 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Morris was fouled and went to the line in the double bonus with 11.7 seconds left and hit both shots. The Lady Cougars then had a couple of opportunities, but could get nothing to fall.
Bailey Snyder led the Lady Cougars with 16 points, while her younger sister, Rachael, had 13 and seven rebounds. Kenzie Renfrow and Laura Vincent both scored eight points, with Renfrow pulling down 10 rebounds to lead the team and Vincent grabbing seven.
Masden finished with five points and Ella Robinson added three to close out the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
