Murphy – The Murphy girls varsity basketball team played three games in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference tournament, falling in the championship game to Cherokee.
The Lady Dogs were the only Cherokee County team to play three tournament games. En route to the championship, they faced Swain County and Hayesville before losing to Cherokee.
Dogs down Devils
In the first round of the Big SMC tournament, the Lady Dogs defeated Swain County 61-27 in the first game of the tournament on Feb. 16.
Emma Laney hit a 3-pointer for Murphy’s first points, then the Lady Dogs went on a run to score 20 points in the first quarter and hold Swain to only two points.
The Lady Dogs extended their lead in the second quarter to lead 40-11 at halftime.
In the third quarter, both teams added points with Swain getting back into the game with a 12-point quarter. Despite having their highest scoring quarter, the Lady Maroon Devils were too far behind to catch the Lady Dogs.
With 1:20 left in the third quarter, Ilie Smith made two free throws to give the Lady Dogs a 35-point lead to trigger a running clock for the rest of the game.
After a low-scoring fourth quarter, the Lady Dogs defeated Swain 61-27 to advance to the second round of the tournament.
Girls beat Jackets
The Lady Dogs were back in action on Feb. 20, where they defeated Hayesville 50-39 to advance to the conference championship.
Murphy scored the first five points of the game, then the Lady Yellow Jackets fought back to take the lead. Hayesville maintained the lead and were ahead 13-11 after the first quarter.
The Lady dogs had a big second quarter to grab the lead from the Jackets. At halftime, Murphy led 30-23 heading into the second half.
Despite a low-scoring third quarter from the Lady Dogs, they stayed ahead and led 35-31 after the third quarter.
Murphy followed up the low-scoring third quarter with a high-scoring fourth quarter to secure the 50-39 win.
With their win, the No. 3 seed Lady Dogs defeated No. 2 Hayesville to become the first of only two games where the lower seeded team won.
Dogs fall to Braves
In the Big SMC championship game, the Lady Dogs fell to No. 1 Cherokee 89-25 on Friday night.
Cherokee started the game with its signature aggressive play where they scored early and often, as well as full-court pressed on defense.
The Lady Braves jumped out to a 33-5 lead through the first quarter, which they extended to 54-15 at halftime. With the big lead, the entire second half was running clock.
In the third quarter, Cherokee continued to extend its lead. The Lady Braves led 76-21 after the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Braves added 13 points to secure the win and conference championship.
Up next
The Lady Bulldogs got the No. 7 seed in 2A West and a first round bye.
They will host the winner of Highland School of Technology vs. Alleghany on Thursday night.