Murphy – For the fourth time in the first six games of this season, Hiwassee Dam girls basketball found itself in a close game. They beat Towns County in a double overtime thriller to start the season, then lost back to game to Tellico Plains, Tenn., and Swain County by a combined eight points.
On Friday night, the Lady Eagles made enough plays to come out on top over Murphy 59-54, beating the Lady Bulldogs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
“Our girls are learning what’s going on and having to process a lot right now,” Hiwassee Dam head coach David Payne said. “To be in those ball games we encouraged them to keep their head up, we’re right there, we could win, it we could lose it. Tonight was another battle.”
Besides it being a rivalry game for both sides, it was battle of two coaches who know each other inside and out. Payne and Murphy girls basketball coach Gary Thompson are very good friends, and Thompson was one of Payne’s assistants when he was the head coach of the Murphy boys team.
“We run a lot of similar stuff, and it showed in the game,” Thompson said. “Close game, they made a few shots, a few less turnovers than we did. So that was the difference in the game.”
It looked like a back-and-forth contest after the first few minutes before the Lady Bulldogs (0-4 overall) got hot from three-point range. Murphy hit seven 3’s in the first half, building a 27-17 lead. But Kiera Taylor kept the Lady Eagles (3-3) in it with sophomore post player Olivia McNabb on the bench with foul trouble, scoring 17 of her game-high 26 points in the first half.
The two teams went shot for shot down the stretch of the second quarter, with Taylor beating the buzzer to cut the Lady Bulldogs lead to 34-29 at halftime.
“My coach was telling me that I’m hot and I need to be shooting,” Taylor said. “So I just figured I was open, just shoot the ball.”
After Addie Johnson hit a three on Murphy’s first possession of the second half, the Lady Bulldogs didn’t hit another 3 until the final minute of the game. Murphy struggled to find consistent offense from there, and the game was neck and neck for most of the second half.
The Lady Bulldogs did enough to keep the Lady Eagles at bay for most of the third quarter, but Kiera Taylor found Sky Taylor for a fast-break layup to put Hiwassee Dam in front for the first time since the first quarter, and a second-chance layup by Allison Stiles pushed the lead out to three. However, the Lady Bulldogs responded with back-to-back steals and scores by Julia Dockery and Emma Laney, giving them a one-point lead heading into the final frame.
After the two teams traded buckets to start the frame, a layup by Olivia McNabb put the Lady Eagles in front 48-47, and they never trailed again.
That doesn’t mean the final few minutes weren’t stressful. After a fast-break layup by Brinkley Payne pushed the lead to 50-47, Hiwassee Dam missed five straight free throws. But the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t convert, missing two open three pointers and committing a turnover. A bucket by Katie McNabb gave the Lady Eagles a 57-48 lead with about a minute remaining, though Johnson answered with a 3-pointer for Murphy to make it a fight until the final whistle.
“It’s a good reassurance that we do have some things working in our favor and working well for us,” David Payne said of the win. “It’s not where it needs to be yet, but hopefully they continue to do it and see that it’s going in the right direction.”
The loss was a familiar story for the Lady Bulldogs, who have led by double digits in the first half in losses to Gilmer, Union County and Hiwassee Dam. Thompson said his team needs to start playing a little more team basketball, as Murphy doesn’t have a scorer they could rely on like in year’s past to make a difference in close games.
“We’re learning and getting better at that,” he said. “Right now, it’s one practice and a game. So it’s hard to keep getting better. They need a win because I don’t want them to get discouraged, because they’re working their tails off for me.”