Madison County (13-7, 3-1) defeated the Lady Hurricanes 68-32, a win sparked by a third quarter outburst in which the Lady Raiders outscored the Canes 23-6.
Macy Rutledge’s three first-quarter three-pointers and a stout Madison County defense helped the Lady Raiders pull ahead 30-20 at halftime and 53-26 after three quarters.
Macy Rutledge was second in scoring with nine points followed by eight each from Nekeia Brown and Samiah Bush.
The Lady Raiders will be back in action Friday night hosting Lanier at 7 p.m. and North Oconee on Saturday.
North Oconee 51 Lady Raiders 44
Madison County’s Lady Raiders faced what might have been the slowest offense this season in a 51-44 Saturday afternoon loss to North Oconee.
The Lady Titans were slow but big and often able to beat Madison County’s pressure defense with long “Hail-Mary” passes down court. On the receiving end of most passes was Brooke Hubbard, who scored numerous times on layups.
The turning point of the game came early in the final quarter. Leading by just 8 points entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Titans opened the quarter with a three-pointer from Amelia Dye that started an 8-2 run pushing the score to 41-27.
It was a low scoring night for the Lady Raiders as they managed just 12 first quarter points. Due to North Oconee’s size, the Lady Raiders were unable to find their “go to” players in the paint, Nekeia Brown and Mya Moss. Both Moss and Brown finished the night with four points each.
The Titans took a 20-12 lead to the halftime break. Elise Coberly’s three points accounted for all of the Lady Raider scoring in the second quarter.
A Coberly basket then pulled Madison County to within two midway through the third period, capping an 11-2 Lady Raider run. But the Lady Titans followed with an 8-2 at the close of the quarter to push the lead to 33-25.
Hubbard’s five unanswered points early in the final period proved to be all North Oconee would need to extend their record to 16-2 with a sixth-straight win.
Coberly finished with a team-high 28 points for Madison County, followed by six from Macy Rutledge. The Lady Raiders will again face North Oconee Saturday night at home in a makeup game from earlier in the season. On Friday, the Lady Raiders will host Lanier at 7 p.m.
