Murphy – With 30.9 seconds left, Murphy head coach Ray Gutierrez waived the white flag. The Lady Bulldogs trailed Bishop McGuinness 45-35 in the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs on March 1, and time wasn’t on their side.
Calista Adams had checked out earlier in the quarter, and Amber Martin was already on the bench. Fellow senior Torin Rogers was still in the game. At the next whistle, Rogers checked out for the first time all game – and her last time as a Lady Bulldog.
As she checked out, the emotions that come with the end of a season hit with a thud. Tears started flowing on the Murphy bench, which was juxtaposed by the celebration on the Lady Villains’ bench. The Lady Bulldogs’ quest for a third straight state championship ended with a whimper, falling to Bishop McGuinness 45-35.
“I just felt we couldn’t run anything because of the defense they were running,” Gutierrez said. “Credit to them. We played bad, we shot it terribly. We just had too many missed opportunities,”
The Lady Villains (24-6) were the toughest team the Lady Bulldogs (26-4) played since Lumpkin County, Ga., in December. Bishop McGuinness’ smallest starter was 5-foot, 5-inches tall, and the other four were at least 5-foot, 9-inches or taller. That length bothered Murphy. The Lady Bulldogs shot 31 percent from the field, and just two for 12 on three-pointers. The only time Murphy led was at 4-2 in the first quarter.
“They were man (to-man defense) and trapping all the ball screens we set,” Gutierrez said. “They were trapping the ball screens and double-teaming Torin, which we’d seen doubles all year and been able to pass out of the double and hit shots. We did not do that well.”
On the other end, the Lady Bulldogs’ defense was generally solid. However, Bishop McGuinness had players who could score at all three levels. It took advantage of Murphy’s year-long weakness of struggling to close out on the ball, taking open shots when available.
Bishop McGuinness led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, then started the second quarter on a 7-2 run to push the lead to 20-10. Addie Johnson scored five straight points to cut the lead in half, but triples from Grace Harriman and Tate Chappell extended the Lady
Villains’ lead to 11. They had a chance to take a bigger lead going into halftime, but Johnson came up with a steal that led to an acrobatic finish by Rogers, sending the Murphy crowd and a student section waiting to erupt into a frenzy.
That jolt didn’t carry over to the second half. Murphy couldn’t hit shots and started to rush on offense. Bishop McGuinness stayed patient and led 38-23 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs held Bishop McGuinness’ leading scorer, Adelaide Jernigan, to 11 points after she scored 33 points along with hitting eight 3-pointers against North Rowan in the third round, but she was one of five players who scored six or more points as part of a balanced effort. Jernigan also only hit one three in this game, but Bishop McGuinness hit seven 3-point shots on the night compared to Murphy’s two. Rogers scored 20 points for Murphy to lead all scorers, while Johnson chipped in nine.
Rogers would score every point for Murphy in the fourth quarter, including five straight in the first minute of the frame that cut the Lady Villains’ led to 10. That glimmer of hope died quickly. Adams fouled Charley Chappell on Bishop McGuiness’ next possession and she hit one of two free throws. Then Jernigan came up with a steal and scored, and another Murphy turnover led to a Harriman bucket. Just like that, the lead was back to 15 at 43-28.
After losing three starters from last year’s state championship team, Murphy wasn’t as dominant as the previous two years but continued to pass the tests thrown their way. The team beat Georgia AA powers Fannin and Rabun County as well as NCHSAA 3A West Region champion Enka in non-conference play.
The Lady Bulldogs also won the Big Smoky Mountain Conference regular season and conference tournament, something last year’s team wasn’t able to do. By the time the state playoffs started, Murphy had put itself in a position to make a run at a third straight state title.
Unfortunately, the Lady Bulldogs picked the wrong night to go cold offensively, scoring their second fewest points in a game this season. It’s the end of the road for three seniors, including two four year varsity players in Martin and Rogers.
They helped Murphy win two state championships, as well as three conference regular season and tournament crowns. Adams was on the team as a sophomore, and didn’t play last year before returning for her senior season.
“You go back and watch the first film to the last, and we see so many bright spots and so much improved and I’m so proud of it,” Gutierrez said. “This is a special year, a lot of people didn’t think we’d be here, but we believed and we worked. I’m so proud of the 10 girls in that locker room.”