Murphy – The Murphy girls basketball team did it exactly what it needed to in the first round of the state playoffs. Facing No. 32 seed Elkin, the Lady Bulldogs shook off a few early jitters and rolled to a 72-22 win Tuesday.
“We shot it well tonight,” head coach Ray Gutierrez said. “Didn’t turn the ball over. … I think we had three turnovers the entire game and then of course most importantly we played lockdown defense.”
Sophomore Lailee Holloway led Murphy (24-3 overall) with a team-high 18 points after a fourth quarter surge, and was one of four Lady Bulldogs in double figures. Freshman Addie Johnson had a career-high 17 while Rogers had 16, with both doing all their scoring in the first half. Sophomore Emma Ledford chipped in 10.
With Elkin (8-16) struggling to shoot, Murphy jumped out to a 16-0 lead. The Buckin’ Elks had some scoring chances early with some hard fought offensive rebounds leading to free throws, but couldn’t convert. Elkin missed five free throws in the first quarter, and hit just two of 15 in the game.
The Lady Bulldogs started to wear down the Buckin’ Elks by the end of the first quarter. Murphy pushed the tempo whenever possible and got a forced some turnovers off the press that led to easy baskets. Elkin had no answer for Torin Rogers, and when they tried to box-and-one her, the Lady Bulldogs shooters made them pay. Murphy’s last five baskets in the first half were three-pointers, and the Lady Bulldogs hit 12 on the night.
“When they went box and one it seemed like the rim got bigger and bigger and bigger,” Gutierrez said. “Addie got hot and Lailee hit some shots. I understand why people do it but at the same time you’re giving up an awful lot when you have those two kids out there shooting.”
Leading 45-8 at halftime, a running clock came minutes into the second half. Everyone on the Murphy bench played, with eight of the 10 players scoring.
It’ll be a rematch of the last two 1A West Regional Finals on Thursday, when the Lady Bulldogs host No. 16 seed Mitchell (13-10) in the second round. The Lady Mountaineers beat No. 17 seed East Wilkes (19-9) 49-27 in the first round.
“We got to rebound better,” Gutierrez said. “I think we gave up six offensive rebounds in the first quarter. We got to make sure that we’re keeping the ball in front of us. We can’t give up dribble-drive penetration and get beat off the dribble. Those are definitely things we’re going to work on tomorrow.”