Hiawassee, Ga. – After a tough 65-40 loss against Franklin to open the 28th annual Battle of the States tournament, Murphy girls basketball followed it up with a demoralizing 65-35 loss to Polk County, Tenn. Not only did the Lady Bulldogs not play well. but the Wild Kittens hit 12 three-pointers and punished Murphy for four quarters.
So after getting back to Cherokee County and getting the team fed, head coach Gary Thompson put 50 minutes on the clock in the gym for practice. The Lady Bulldogs needed to get back in the right frame of mind for another opportunity the next day against Coosa and did, getting their second win of the season, 61-43.
“They went hard for 50 minutes, and it showed today,” Thompson said. “They’re willing to work, they’re willing to listen.”
Once Murphy (2-9 overall) got into the flow of the game, they took advantage of Coosa’s (2-12) sloppy ball handling and poor shooting, getting plenty of easy baskets in transition. The Lady Eagles led 14-10 early in the second quarter before the Lady Bulldogs went on an 18-0 run to take control of the game, Murphy led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter.
Coosa would not get closer than 13 in the second half. Lailee Holloway led the team with 18 points, while Addie Johnson and Emma Laney both had 15. Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team.
“When you practice like that right after, it’s fresh on your mind and you just get those kinks out,” Holloway said, “Going into today, all the things we worked on after yesterday were kind of on the forefront on our mind.”
With a rotation that features only one senior and two juniors, the Lady Bulldogs have struggled to keep things going in the right direction this year, and haven’t always had consistent personnel from game to game. But they’ve gone 2-2 over their last four games, which could be a sign of growth for a team that needs to find a way to keep working that way to be successful since it lacks a go-to-scorer.
“We’re slowly playing as a team more and more,” Holloway said.