Dogs bite Cats on Senior Night

  • Cannon Crompton/sports@cherokeescout.com Murphy High School honored its senior boys basketball players on Feb. 4. From left are assistant coach Michael Kernea, Camden Breazeale, Kyle Luke, Elijah Twiggs, Abram Twiggs, McKinnley Dockery, Aaron Harger, Cale Harger, Ryan Payne, Tyler Payne, head coach Heath Curtis and assistant coach Cody Allen.
    Cannon Crompton/sports@cherokeescout.com Murphy High School honored its senior boys basketball players on Feb. 4. From left are assistant coach Michael Kernea, Camden Breazeale, Kyle Luke, Elijah Twiggs, Abram Twiggs, McKinnley Dockery, Aaron Harger, Cale Harger, Ryan Payne, Tyler Payne, head coach Heath Curtis and assistant coach Cody Allen.

    Murphy – With double-doubles from seniors Abram Twiggs and Cale Harger, Murphy defeated Andrews 69-65 in a hard-fought second meeting of the season on Feb. 4, when the Bulldogs also celebrated Senior Night.
        Before the game, Murphy boys varsity basketball honored seniors Aaron Harger, McKinnley Dockery, Ryan Payne, Tyler Payne, Cale Harger, Elijah Twiggs, Abram Twiggs, Kyle Luke and Camden Breazeale.
        It was Murphy’s second win over the Wildcats this season. However, once the game got underway, it was Andrews that got off to a quick start. 
        Cale Harger opened the scoring with a layup before Gabe Clark answered with a 3-pointer. The Cats went on a run to extend their lead to 8-4 in the opening minutes of the game.
        Andrews was on a roll and extended its lead to 19-6 when Murphy called a timeout with 3:02 remaining. Out of the timeout, Murphy went on a run to cut into Andrews’ lead. 
        At the end of the first quarter, Andrews led 23-19. The Wildcats started off hot again to extend their lead past 10 points early in the second quarter.
        When Murphy began to cut into its lead, Andrews called a timeout with 2:17 remaining as they led 37-31. Both teams added late points, and the Wildcats took a 41-36 lead to halftime.
        Gabe Clark led the Wildcats with 17 points in the first half. The Bulldogs were led by Abram Twiggs with 15 points in the first two quarters.
        Murphy immediately began to cut into Andrews’ lead to start the third quarter. About halfway through, Harger hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 49. 
        They exchanged the lead in the final minutes of the third quarter, but Murphy took a 57-56 lead into the fourth quarter. With just under three minutes left, the Dogs pulled ahead to their biggest lead of the game with 65-61. 
        With one minute remaining in the game, the Dogs led 65-63. The Dogs pulled ahead to 67-63 when Andrews began to foul to stop the clock.
        Murphy then extended their lead to 69-65 in the final seconds. Andrews called a timeout with 7.6 seconds remaining as the Dogs led by four points.
        The Bulldogs were led by Abram Twiggs with 39 points and 18 rebounds for a double-double. Cale Harger also posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 
        Clark led the Wildcats with 22 points. Logan Shuler was also in double digits with 15 points, while Levi Clark scored 12.