Highlands – In a scrimmage at Highlands this summer, Torin Rogers remembered having an excellent day from the three-point line. Before Murphy’s game at the Highlanders on Jan. 19, she joked with her sister, Lochlan, that maybe that luck will be there again if she decides to let it fly.
Luckily for the Lady Bulldogs, the luck was. On a night where nobody else could get going, Rogers most certainly did. She scored a career-high 42 points, including eight three-pointers, in a 63-58 win.
“As a team, we were struggling,” Rogers said. “I knew I had to pick it up a little bit more, and luckily my shots were falling. It was kind of a green light for me.”
Rogers got going from the jump, hitting two early three-pointers. She scored Murphy’s first 12 points and 17 of its first 19.
Unfortunately for Rogers, her fast start did not mean an early Murphy lead. Highlands came to play, hitting open and tough shots, while causing trouble for Murphy with a full-court press.
The Highlanders (6-7 overall) jumped out to a 15-9 lead and seemed to be a step ahead of the Lady Bulldogs (14-2) for much of the night, getting a balanced effort on offense. While Rogers carried Murphy, Highlands had four players with double figures, led by Reese Schmitt with 15, and another player finished with nine points.
That balanced attack allowed the Highlanders to stay in the game. They led 30-28 at halftime.
“Defensively for us, it just seemed like our full-court stuff was really ineffective,” Murphy head coach Ray Gutierrez said. “Our rotations were bad, and we got people matched up that we didn’t like and they exposed that. They are so much better playing at Highlands, they shot it really good, and we did not shoot it well.”
Despite taking advantage of Murphy’s struggles, Highlands had no answer for Rogers. After scoring 21 in the first half, the senior showed no signs of slowing down in the second half. She hit two threes early in the third quarter to give the Lady Bulldogs a 34-30 lead, their first since early in the first quarter.
It looked like Murphy was about to pull away, but Highlands always had an answer. The Highlanders retook the lead at 37-36 on a three by Ava Schmitt, who then split a pair of free throws a minute later to push the lead to two. After a bucket by Lailee Holloway, a Rogers three-point play gave Murphy a 41-39 lead, and the Lady Bulldogs would never trail again.
That didn’t mean it was smooth sailing the rest of the way, though. Murphy never led by more than seven, and Highlands always kept the pressure on. Rogers never went away in the fourth quarter, but started to get other players involved.
With about five minutes to go and leading 53-50, she came sprinting down the court after a steal and, off a behind-the-back dribble, passed the ball to Addie Johnson on the left side of the lane for an easy layup. Bella Wilson responded with a three, and Rogers answered back with her final triple of the night. After a defensive stop, Rogers corralled an offensive rebound off a missed three, then found Johnson again for a layup to push the lead to 60-53.
“It’s good to have th(e)se games, though,” Rogers said. “It pushes you and makes you find a way to win.”
There were a few more tense moments in the final minutes, but Murphy did enough to come away with its 10th straight win. Conference play resumed for the Lady Bulldogs this week, as they hosted Cherokee on Tuesday, which took place after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. Murphy hosts Hiwassee Dam on Thursday, then travels to Hayesville on Friday.