Andrews – Murphy entered Andrews looking for their first win of the season and second Smoky Mountain Conference win of the week.
Neither would find what they were looking for. The Lady Bulldogs would fall in overtime, while Murphy’s boys couldn’t tame the Wildcats on Jan. 5.
The Lady Bulldogs (0-9) led most of the game in regulation only to see Andrews (6-5) tie the game in the final period. The Lady Wildcats went on to win the game in overtime 44-36. The Bulldogs (8-4) were outscored 23-10 in the first period and could never mount enough runs to get ahead as they fell 66-54 to the Wildcats (11-1).
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first period, with Murphy having five different players contribute to the score. The Lady Wildcats stormed back in the second quarter and closed the lead, with Murphy ahead 20-18 at halftime.
The Lady Bulldogs came out on fire in the third period, when they outscored the Lady Cats 14-8 to build their lead to 34-26 at the end of the third period. Murphy only scored on two free throws in the fourth period, while Andrews scored 10, to push the game into overtime. The Lady Wildcats dug deep and came away with a 44-36 win.
The Lady Dogs had two players in double figures, Kennedy White with 11 and Marley Blackwell with 10. Andrews also had two players in double digits, Kylie Donaldson with 17 and Hannah Talkington with 14, but she saved six for the overtime period, where she came through in the clutch for the Lady Cats’ win.
The Murphy boys ran into a scoring buzzsaw in the first quarter that saw them trailing 23-10 at the end of the first stanza. They could never catch up from that deficit and fell to the Cats 66-54.
Andrews’ leading scorer, Cam Rattler, didn’t have any points in the first period. Jailen Powell had eight points in the first quarter, Landon Greene had seven and Gabe Clark had six as the Wildcats’ scoring was spread out through the lineup.
Murphy closed the gap to within 10 points several times in the first half, but could get no closer. Every time Murphy would get on a run Andrews would answer. Dominick Rummler poured in 12 of his 18 points in the first half for the Bulldogs, who trailed 32-22.
Wildcat Ty Clark saved most of his scoring for the second half, when he scored 14 of his 18 points. Andrews increased its lead to 46-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Jailen Clark hit two of his five 3-pointers in the second period to finish with 17 points on the night. Cam Rattler went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to help the Cats increase their lead in the fourth period.
To make matters worse for the Bulldogs, their leading scorer, Rummler, got into foul trouble midway through the third period, which limited his play inside, where he was getting most of his points. Murphy had two other players in double figures, with Will Joyner and Zach Skogen scoring 10 apiece.