Robbinsville, NC- This past Saturday we were lucky enough to experience Murphy vs Robbinsville part 3; Only this time it was in the Elite Eight of the NCHSAA Playoffs.

The stars were aligned for the Black Knights more so than ever this time around, with more fans allowed than there had been all year, the fact that they had beaten Murphy pretty handily twice already this year, and they came in carrying the momentum from a dominant win over Easy Surry in their previous game.

Yet no matter how high the odds were stacked, this time around it was different. The Lady Bulldogs of old showed up and put the Lady Knights in their place, dominating the game from start to finish and winning 49-37 while advancing the their fourth straight Final Four.

Murphy came in with their head down and went to work early, building a 32-15 halftime lead and never looked back, making sure the Knights would remember that the road to the Western Regional Championship runs through Murphy.

Torin Rogers was a force to be reckoned with, dropping 19 points and collecting 21 rebounds on the night.

Kaiya Pickens and Sarah Pullium also notched 10 points a piece, while Pullium added 11 boards also.

Tuesday the Bulldogs will travel to undefeated Mitchell to compete in their 4th straight Final Four. Mitchell is coming off of a 55-54 win over Bishop McGuinness in their previous game.

If I was a Mitchell Mountaineer fan, I’d be a little worried. Ever since the start of the NCHSAA Playoffs, these Lady Bulldogs have flipped the switch. Head Coach Ray Gutierrez has his girls playing a dominant style of basketball right now and I would not want to be the team standing between them and the State Championship.

These Playoff Bulldogs are different.