Dogs had ‘Raid’ ready for Jackets
By J.R. Carroll
Staff Correspondent
Murphy – Hayesville came
into Murphy looking to sting
the Bulldogs in their final regular-season game on Feb. 13, but
it didn’t happen on Senior
Night.
Xander Wachacha hit a big 3-pointer on Murphy’s first procession and although Hayesville (11-13) got close in the first quarter, they could not catch up to Murphy’s scoring. Dominick Rummler scored six points, all coming from inside the paint and Wachacha added a field goal to give the Dogs an 11-7 first-quarter lead.
Murphy (15-8) pulled away in the second quarter. Wachacha popped for two more 3s, Hunter Carson added three field goals and Murphy outscored the Jackets 21-10 to take a 32-17 lead into the half.
They played Hayesville to a draw in the third period. Slade Crouch kept the Jackets in the game, as he hit for seven of the Jackets’ 14 points.
Wachacha hit two of his six 3-pointers in the third period. Hayesville cut the deficit to 11 midway through the third period, but Murphy came back to extend their lead to 45-31.
Skogen helped the Dogs pull |away in the fourth period as he hit for eight of his 12 points in the fourth period. Isaac Chandler helped the Jackets’ effort as he popped for 10 fourth-quarter points, but the Jackets came up short 63-46. Chandler led all scorers with 21 points.
Zack Skogen had been quiet on the scoring in the first half, although he did account for several rebounds. That changed in the second half. Skogen hit for all his 12 points in the second half. Skogen also added 12 rebounds for the night to end with a double-double.
Wachacha added two more threes in the third and another in the fourth to go 75 percent from 3-point range. He ended the night leading all scorers with 20 points.
Dominick Rummler got into foul trouble early in the game and had to sit much of the second and third period, but still scored 12 points and had seven rebounds.
With the win, Murphy earned the No. 5 seed in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament, which will wrap up this week.