The Murphy Lady Bulldogs are headed to the NCHSAA Class 1-A state title game after a narrow, 63-62, win against Mitchell in the Western Regional Championship game Saturday, March 7, in Hickory. With the win, the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs (30-0) will face off with third-seeded Weldon (27-1) for the championship Saturday, March 14, at Reynolds Coliseum at North Carolina State University. Tip-off for the game is slated for 12:05 p.m.

Senior Sydni Addison takes a jump shot for the Lady Bulldogs.

Despite a 40-27 lead at halftime, and pretty much dominating the whole first half of basketball, Murphy allowed Mitchell to claw their way back into the game in the third. Heading into the fourth, Mitchell cut the Bulldogs lead to 52-41.

Thanks to some very stingy defense, they were able to force three turnovers in the final 25 seconds and put senior Hannah McMahan at the line with .02 seconds left in the game, down 63-61. McMahan was able to nail the first free throw, but with the pressure mounting she missed the second and Murphy escaped with the win.

Murphy showed some signs of panic late in the Regional final game, but thanks to leaders like senior Sydni Addison they were able to compose themselves enough to walk away with another mark in the win column.

Addison finished the game leading her team with 23 points. Torin Rogers was also a vocal leader during the game and filled up the stat sheet to back it up, dropping 16 points, six rebounds, and three blocks.