Thursday night, Feb. 27, the undefeated Murphy Lady Bulldogs tipped off against the Union Academy Lady Cardinals in the second round of the Class 1-A NCHSAA state playoffs.

Senior Sydni Addison takes a jump shot.

The Lady Bulldogs (27-0), the top seed in the tournament, were without one of their leading scorers in Torin Rogers. Rogers is day-to-day as she recovers from an injury sustained during

Murphy girls head coach Ray Gutierrez.

the opening tip of the first-round playoff game against the Pine Lake Prep Pride. However, much like the first-round game, the Lady Bulldogs were able to take this one easily from the Lady Cardinals, 61-36.

Things were tight at the end of the first quarter as the Lady Bulldogs led 17-8, but they were able to stretch the lead to 15 going in to halftime, 31-16. Murphy came out of the locker room hot and shut Union Academy down, which enabled them to pull away and close out the game with ease, saving any late game theatrics for a later date.

Murphy will face Big Smoky Mountain Conference rival Cherokee in the third round of the NCHSAA 1-A state playoffs at home Saturday, Feb. 29. This will be the fourth time these two teams have faced each other this year, with the most recent being in the conference championship where the Lady Bulldogs won in a thriller, 59-56. Cherokee (18-9) is the ninth-seeded team in Murphy’s side of the bracket.