Hiwassee Dam – It wasn’t always pretty, but for the fourth straight game the Murphy girls basketball team came away with a win. The Lady Bulldogs never trailed against Hiwassee Dam, taking down the Lady Eagles 57-29.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight,” Murphy head coach Ray Gutierrez said. “But it’s a hard place to play. Very passionate fan base down here, so to come away – we didn’t play great, but to win by (28), I’m proud of our kids.”
After losing to Buncombe County 4A school AC Reynolds, the Lady Bulldogs have figured out ways to win. They cruised past a below-average Copper Basin, Tenn., team, then put together a solid win against Georgia 2A power Fannin County. Next was a 52-31 win over 3A Enka on Dec. 8, in which Murphy jumped out to an early lead before pulling away late.
Against Hiwassee Dam (2-4), the Lady Bulldogs led 15-5 at the end of the first quarter and stayed in front by double digits the rest of the way.
“If you told me with our schedule at the beginning of the year that we were going to be 4-1, I’d probably (take) it,” Gutierrez said. “We had some tough games, and so we’re getting better.”
Murphy travelled to Lumpkin County the next day and fell 49-29 to the top-ranked 3A team in Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
There have been some good wins, but like any team early in the season, there’s room for improvement. As a mostly young team, Murphy is still learning how to play together and how the pieces fit offensively.
The Lady Bulldogs do not have the same post presence they had last year, when Sarah Pullium was going to work inside. They’re also missing the consistent ball handler and sharp shooter they had last year in Kaiya Pickens.
With Rogers running point guard at times and not being a traditional back-to-the-basket-player, Murphy has had to go with five out looks at times. While that has led to open shots, they haven’t always been falling.
“We always want to start inside,” Gutierrez said. “But it’s kind of hard to do that now with Torin running point. If we’re open, we’re going to shoot it.”
The defense has been stingy so far, with the Lady Bulldogs giving up only 36.8 points per game. However, Gutierrez thinks his team needs to focus on not fouling and allowing as much penetration to the basket.
“We don’t do a good job guarding the ball,” Gutierrez said. “We foul a lot and allow a lot of deep penetration. So just thinking about it as a whole, we’re pretty good defensively, but that’s one thing we gotta do better at is guarding the ball better.”
Murphy will open the team’s Smoky Mountain Conference schedule at Cherokee today and will host Hayesville on Friday.