Murphy – Just days after wrapping up the football season, the Bulldogs were on the basketball court.
Murphy varsity basketball hosted in-county rivals Hiwassee Dam in the season opener. The night kicked off with a four-quarter fight between the Lady Dogs and Eagles, then wrapped up with the Bulldogs boys team putting on a show.
Thursday night was the first time since the 2023-24 season that the Bulldogs have swept the Eagles.
Girls
It was a four-quarter fight Thursday night as the Murphy girls varsity basketball team opened the season against in-county rivals Hiwassee Dam.
For the second season in a row, the Lady Bulldogs opened with a win as they defeated the Eagles 51-50.
Lady Bulldog Ellie McClure scored the first bucket of the season for Murphy and got the team rolling. They made it 6-0 before Abby Harris hit a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game.
The Lady Dogs then answered with a 3-pointer of their own to make it 9-3. Murphy drove down the court for another score to make it 11-3, prompting a Hiwassee Dam timeout with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.
Out of the timeout, the Lady Eagles closed the gap to 11-8 on another Harris 3-pointer. Harris did it again from beyond the arch to tie the game at 11 with 3:30 left in the first quarter.
Just over a minute later, Harris drained yet another 3-pointer to give the Lady Eagles their first lead of the night.
The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 16-11, then Charlie Stalcup hit a three-pointer to bring it to 16-14 heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles continued to extend their lead in the second quarter. They took a 26-19 lead with 5:10 left in the second quarter.
Out of the timeout, the Lady Dogs began to close the gap. They tied the game when McClure made a layup, making the score 26-26.
Brinkley Payne went to the free throw line to make it a three-point game late. Then Amelia Joyner went to the line and make one shot with 4.1 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles held onto their lead and went to halftime ahead 29-27.
Both teams stayed close early in the third quarter, including the Lady Dogs taking the lead but then losing it.
With less than three minutes left in the third quarter, the Lady Eagles began to pull away and headed to the fourth quarter leading 43-37.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, Emma Hensley made a layup to tie the game at 43. Ilie Smith then made a free throw to give the Lady Dogs the lead.
Neither team led by more than a few points down the stretch. Murphy led 49-48 and took the ball down the court, moving it around to chew time off the clock.
After a ball was tipped out of bounds, the Lady Eagles got possession with 20 seconds left.
Lady Eagle Kinley Stiles drove down and made a layup to give them a one-point lead.
Then the Lady Dogs took it down and Emma Laney made jump shot to give them the one-point lead back with less than 10 seconds left. The Lady Eagles drove down but missed a deep shot.
The Lady Dogs prevailed to get the win in their first game of the season 51-50.
Murphy was led by Laney with 13 points. Hensley was also in double digits with 10 points. McClure and Smith both had eight points.
The Lady Eagles were led by Harris with 26 points, including five three-pointers. Harris was responsible for 14 of the 16 points the Lady Eagles scored in the first quarter.
Brinkley Payne was also in double digits with 19 points. Kinley Stiles had four points and Brooklyn Orton had one point.
This was the Lady Eagles’ last game of 2025. They take a 6-4 record into winter break.
Boys
For the first time since the 2023-24 season, the Bulldogs got a win in their season opener. The Dogs defeated the Eagles 73-37.
After a close first half, the Dogs pulled away in the third quarter en route to the season opening win.
Ryan Payne scored the first bucket of the season for the Dogs to give them an early lead, but the Eagle Jonah Dockery went down and made a layup to tie the game early.
They tied again at four before the Eagles got out to a 8-6 lead late in the fist quarter. The Dogs tightened the gap late and the Eagles headed to the second quarter leading 8-7.
The Eagles extended their lead in the second quarter thanks to points from Dockery and Jimmy Kelly.
After leading for most of the first half, the Dogs took the lead with just under two minutes left in the second quarter.
They tied again at 21, but the Dogs immediately scored to regain the late lead. Ryan Payne then hit a late bucket to give the Dogs the 25-21 lead heading into halftime.
The Dogs exploded in the third quarter to pull away. Early points from both Aaron and Cale Harger helped extend the Dogs lead.
Aaron Harger drained a 3-pointer to extend their last past 10 points. Kelly scored the Eagles’ first points of the quarter with 5:40 left.
Late in the third quarter, points from Grayson Hall and Camden Breazeale helped extend the Dogs’ lead. Murphy took a 52-34 lead to the fourth quarter after they scored 27 points in the third.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter as the Dogs continued to extend their lead and hold the Eagles to minimal points.
A shot from Ryan Payne extended the Bulldog lead past 20 points, then a free throw from Hall extended their lead to 30 points.
In the fourth quarter, Abram Twiggs landed a dunk that sent Bulldogs fans into a frenzy as they knew they had the game secured.
Murphy went on to win the season opener 73-37 over Hiwassee Dam.
The Dogs were led by Ryan Payne with 18 points. Also in double digits were Hall with 15 points and Cale Harger with 14 points.
Tyler Payne had eight points, Abram Twiggs had six points and Aaron Harger had five points.
Dockery led the Eagles with 18 points. Kelly had nine points, Dalton Kester had six points and Xavier Johnson had four points.
This was the Eagles last game before winter break and they take a 6-4 record to the new year.