Murphy – In the first Smoky Mountain Conference matchup of the season, the Murphy varsity basketball teams hosted Cherokee.
Fresh off of their sweep of Hiwassee Dam, the Bulldogs returned home to face the Cherokee Braves Friday night. The boys secured their first conference win and moved to 2-0 overall, while the girls fell to 1-1 overall.
Girls
The defending state 1A champions Cherokee – now in 2A along with Murphy – came to town for Murphy’s first conference game of the season.
The Lady Braves defeated the Dogs 69-24, with a running clock in the second half.
Cherokee opened the game with 26 consecutive points. They generated scoring chances on steals and by winning fouls.
In the first quarter, the Lady Braves made eight free throws on 12 chances.
Ilie Smith scored Murphy’s first points of the night when she drained a 3-pointer with 2:20 left in the opening frame. Ella Howard had the Lady Dogs’ other basket in the first quarter.
Cherokee took a 34-5 lead into the second quarter, when they only continued to score.
The Lady Braves had 18 more points in the second quarter. Murphy had another five-point quarter with points on a Charlie Stalcup 3-pointer and a Ellie McClure field goal.
Cherokee led 52-10 at halftime. With a lead over 40 points, the remainder of the game was played with a running clock.
With the running clock, the Lady Braves still managed to put up 13 points in the third quarter. Murphy had four points on field goals from Emma Laney and Emma Hensley.
In the final frame, Murphy outscored Cherokee 10-4. They were led by Howard with four points and Gracie Hall with three points. Smith also made two free throws, and Ansley Roper converted one from the free-throw line.
The Lady Braves went on to win the game 69-24 for Murphy to start the conference schedule with a loss. Howard led the Lady Dogs with six points, while Smith had five.
Boys
It was a different story for the boys, as Murphy beat Cherokee to start conference play with a 81-61 win.
The first three quarters were close, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter for their second win in as many days. It was back and forth in the opening minutes of Friday night’s contest, then Murphy pulled away momentarily.
The Dogs led 12-5 about midway through the opening quarter, but then Cherokee began to close the game with about two minutes left.
Murphy maintained their lead and headed to the second quarter up 23-19. They were led in the first quarter by the Paynes, as Ryan and Tyler had five points each.
A minute into the second quarter, Cherokee tied the game at 23. The next few minutes were back-and-forth as both teams exchanged the lead.
With one minute remaining before halftime, they tied at 39. Elijah Twiggs then went to the free throw line and gave the Dogs a one-point lead. Tyler Payne hit a buzzer beating layup to send the Dogs to halftime leading 42-39.
It remained close through the third quarter before Cherokee tied it at 53 with 2:40 left. Murphy then broke the tie on a series of fast breaks to take a 59-53 lead, which prompted a Cherokee timeout.
The Dogs extended their lead late in the third quarter to head to the fourth leading 63-55. Cherokee was still in the game, but Murphy immediately took them out of it by extending the lead to 10 points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
The Dogs continued to score and increased their lead over 20 points with less than three minutes left in the game. In the final two minutes of the game, Braves fans began to clear out the gymnasium, knowing the Dogs had it won.
The Bulldogs closed out their 81-61 victory to secure their first conference win.
The Dogs were led by Tyler Payne with 17 points Friday night. Not far behind was Abram Twiggs with 16 points, five points in each of the final two quarters.
Also in double digits was Cale Harger with 15 points and Grayson Hall with 11. Aaron Harger had nine points, while Ryan Payne had eight points Friday night.
After the game, head coach Heath Curtis said they’re happy to start the season with wins over quality teams.
“We understand that we are playing a game of catch up right now and we are working hard to improve on a day to day basis,” he said.
Curtis said their guards and bigs stood out to him Friday night.
“Our guards tonight did an outstanding job staying composed under pressure,” he said.
“Our bigs took advantage of opportunities around the rim, made good decisions with the ball in their hands and flew around defensively. We’re proud of the effort we consistently played with for four quarters tonight.”
Up next
The Bulldogs will head to Towns County, Ga., for the Battle of the States tournament. They will play the first game Saturday, then play again Monday and Tuesday.