Andrews – As Hunter Laney rose for the slam dunk, the Murphy bench rose with him Saturday night.
As the ball passed through the rim and bounced on the ground, euphoria set in. Not just for an awesome play, but because it put the game away for the Bulldogs.
The dunk came after Murphy and then Andrews gave the ball away after a Ty Clark floater cut the Bulldogs lead to 46-35. After the Wildcats turned it over, Laney caught the outlet pass with about a minute remaining and slammed it home. Murphy took the lead in the second quarter, then held off Andrews the rest of night for a 50-40 win, its first in Big Smoky Mountain Conference play.
Following a 78-64 loss to Swain County on Jan. 4, Murphy beat Highlands 68-33 the next day and then Andrews.
“It makes it feel way better,” junior guard Dillian Brown said of his team’s first conference win. “Instead of just beating Christmas tournament teams, we actually won a conference game, and it matters to us a lot.”
Laney led the way for the Bulldogs (6-8 overall, 1-4 Big Smoky Mountain Conference) with 21 points, who took advantage of the size mismatches down low. Murphy controlled the glass, and sophomore Zach Skogen actually had the first dunk of the night, a put-back slam during the Bulldogs’ 15-0 second quarter run.
The run turned a 16-13 deficit at the end of the first quarter into a 28-16 lead, and Murphy never trailed again. Andrews (5-8, 1-4) couldn’t get going from the perimeter, hitting just four three-pointers tonight after hitting nine in a 56-53 win over Robbinsville on Jan. 4.
“With Isaac (Weaver) shooting it well, Donovan (Bateman) coming back, Kegan (Ellis) and Ty (Clark) shoot the ball well, they all got free range to shoot the basketball,” Wildcats head coach Matt Maennle said. “It was one of them nights when the shots weren’t falling.”
Following a tough layup down low by Skogen to start the third quarter, the Bulldogs led by double digits the rest of the night. Andrews, however, never quite went away but didn’t hit enough shots to put a scare into Murphy.
Both teams head into the second half of the season with a 1-4 record in conference play and a lot of important games remaining. With Hayesville and Swain County a cut above the rest of the Big Smoky Mountain Conference, the Bulldogs and Wildcats will be fighting with Cherokee and Robbinsville not just for conference tournament seeds, but also for wins that can boost a team’s RPI rankings. New this year, the N.C. High School Athletic Association will be using the RPI to determine playoff seeding.
Murphy will have just one game this week, on Friday at class 3A Enka, which beat the Bulldogs 90-63 on Dec. 8. Andrews will be busy, having already played at Blue Ridge on Tuesday, which took place after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. The Wildcats travel to Highlands on Thursday, host Hiwassee Dam on Friday and travel to Franklin on Saturday.