Murphy – The Hiwassee Dam Lady Eagles took the win against the Lady Bulldogs 51-36, while in the boys game the Dogs easily dispatched the Eagles 81-46 on Thursday.
Although the Lady Eagles (10-2) only shot 39 percent from the floor, they still outscored Murphy (0-8) in every quarter. The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Murphy was getting several steals but were unable to convert them into points in the other end.
Murphy was living and dying in the three-point territory, but were only able to hit 6 of 33 tries – 19 percent – from long range. One of the main reasons was that the Lady Eagles had a height advantage in the paint, and perimeter shots were the Lady Bulldogs’ best chance pulling off an upset.
The Lady Eagles held a 27-18 halftime thanks to Oliva McNabb’s 10 first-half points. McNabb led all scorers with 22 points, shooting 59 percent from the floor and going 4-7 from the free-throw line. Brinkley Payne was also in double figures with 14 points.
Murphy closed the gap a few times in the second half, but could get no closer than a 10-point margin in the second half. Cayla Greer led all Murphy scorers with eight points, six of those points coming off two 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Boys game
Will Joyner is used to making three-point plays for the Bulldogs, but it wasn’t usually on the basketball court. The senior was a four-year starter as a kicker for the Murphy football team.
However, Joyner made four 3-pointers in the first quarter of this basketball game. His performance gave the Bulldogs a 12-2 lead, with just under three minutes gone in the first period.
The Eagles would not score another point until under the 3:22 mark, and the Bulldogs led 29-5 at the end of the first quarter. Murphy went on to build a 55-19 halftime lead behind Xander Wachacha’s 13 first-half points.
Wachacha led all Murphy scorers with 15. The Dogs had three others in double figures – Joyner had 14, Cale Harger 14 and Zac Skogen 13 to round out the Dogs’ top trio.
Coach Eric Laney got a lot of his younger players game time in during the fourth period, when the Dogs were up 75-37 at the end of three and went onto win 81-46. Hiwassee Dam had two players in double figures – Jonah Hamby with 16, and Kyle Taylor had 13.