Murphy-Things were not pointing in No. 13 seed Murphy’s favor heading into its first round playoff game against No. 20 Winston-Salem Prep. After an incident during the final seconds of Friday’s conference tournament final against Robbinsville, seniors Dillian Brown and Wyatt Simmons were suspended for the game, while fellow senior Cole Laney and junior Hunter Carson were suspended for the first half.
Brown and Laney have started every game this season, while both Carson and Simmons see time off the bench. While the Phoenix were not at the level they were last year when they fell to Hayesville in the regional finals, they had two talented scorers in Armaan Benitez and Arieon Matthews, and some athleticism that Murphy struggled with at times.
But there the Bulldogs were with a 63-60 lead with 11.3 seconds. After Laney missed a free throw, Winston-Salem Prep pushed the ball up court and Matthews had an open look at a three-pointer on the left wing. As Matthews shot went up, senior Dozer Mashburn got a piece of the ball, and Laney came up with the rebound.
Laney would hit one of two free throws with 4.9 seconds left to basically put the game on ice, and send Murphy through to the second round. The Bulldogs overcame their absences to beat Winston-Salem Prep, 64-60, for their first playoff win in 12 years.
I just knew he was going to pull it,” Mashburn said. “I could tell from the way he was gathering his feet. So I pretty much jumped it in and tipped it just a tad. It was enough for it to not go in so that was great.”
Because of the four suspensions, the Bulldogs (17-9 overall) got big minutes from players who had rarely seen the court at the varsity level outside of garbage time. Junior Will Joyner started the game, while freshmen Cale Harger and Ryan Payne had some big minutes after being primarily junior varsity players this winter.
Joyner and Payne both hit threes late in the second quarter when Murphy wasn’t finding much offense, and Payne was on the court in the final minutes of the fourth quarter with the season on the line.
“To come into a playoff game of this caliber and this many stakes, possibly the last game of the season and to show up and hit a few big shots, it was really big,” Mashburn said. “That’s why they’ve been practicing all year and they’ve been prepared for that.”
The Bulldogs led the entire way, but the Phoenix (14-11) were always right on their heels due to some ball pressure and offensive rebounding. After leading 19-13 at the end of the first quarter and 38-32 at halftime, a Mashburn layup late in the second quarter put Murphy up 50-40 for their largest lead of the game. Winston-Salem Prep immediately went on a 9-0 run.
But the Bulldogs continued to make the key plays in the fourth. Laney and Mashburn both took charges on possessions when the Phoenix could take the lead or tie. Mashburn also came up with a key steal when Murphy led 57-55 with about three minutes remaining. Then when Ty Laney missed the second of two free throws with the Bulldogs up 58-55 with 1:57 left, Mashburn got the rebound and finished a second-chance layup.
It was little things like that that allowed Murphy to overcome some of its own mistakes in the fourth quarter, including a 5-for-12 mark from the free throw line. Skogen would end up leading Murphy with 17 points as one of four Bulldogs in double figures, while Matthews had 29 to lead Winston-Salem Prep.
Now, a full strength Murphy heads to No. 4 Bishop McGuinness (22-5) for the second round.The Villains sent Murphy home last year, 65-55 in a game in Kernersville that was close until the final minutes. Both teams are improved this year, and the Bulldogs will likely have to play their best game of the season in order to beat one of the favorites in the 1A West.
“We know what to expect going up there,” Rummler said. “We know they’re a good basketball team and we know it’s going to be better than how (Winston-Salem Prep) played tonight.”