Cherokee – Dominick Rummler scored 30 points and Murphy had two more players in double figures, but it wasn’t enough as Murphy (16-9) fell to Cherokee (16-8) 75-70 in the second round of the Big Smoky Mountain Conference basketball tournament.
Cherokee started off strong in the first period, as the Braves jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Dogs stormed back when Ryan Payne hit a field goal and Xander Wachacha hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at the five-minute mark of the first. The lead changed hands a few times, but Rummler took over the inside game and scored nine points to give Murphy to a 20-14 first-quarter lead.
Murphy led by as much as 14 halfway through the second quarter, but Cherokee stormed back. The Braves outscored the Bulldogs 8-2 in the final half of the second quarter to close the score at 37-29 at halftime. Rummler scored 17 points in the first half alone.
Cherokee outscored Murphy in the next two quarters. Murphy had led by as much as 12 points in the third quarter, but Cherokee exploded to score 14 points in the last three minutes of the quarter. The Braves closed the margin to three points by the end of the third period.
The teams exchanged the lead several times in the final stanza, with the score being tied much of the quarter. The score was tied at 65 with a little over two minutes to go. Michael Driver scored eight of Cherokee’s 10 points as the Braves outscored Murphy 10-5 in the final two minutes for the win.
Rummler finished the game with 30 points, leading all scorers. If Rummler gets 15 more points in postseason play, he will eclipse the 1,000-point mark. Wachacha had 16 points and Ryan Payne had 12 to round out the Dogs in double figures. Zack Skogen led the Dogs in rebounds with 10.
Driver led Cherokee with 23 points. He got 14 of those 23 in the paint and what makes that amazing is that he is only listed at 5-foot-6 on the roster.
The one thing the young man does have is speed. The Cherokee Scout asked him what his 40-meter dash time was after the game, and he said it was 4.4 or 4.5 seconds. Driver took Cherokee on his back and led them to this win.
Murphy hosted Sugar Creek in the first round of the 1A state playoffs after the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday. Cherokee will host Christ the King in the first round on the same day. If both win, they will face each other again for the third time in three weeks.