The Murphy Bulldogs are coming off their best season under head coach Erik Laney. They probably surprised a few fans around the conference by slipping into second place. They are looking to build off that performance from last season. Because of their great playoff run in football they are getting to a bit of a late start this year. That could make for a slow start but the Bulldogs have plenty of talent. By the time they get some games under their belt they could make a run at the conference title.

Last Year’s Team:

Making the playoffs last year as just one of two teams in the conference in a condensed playoff was a huge accomplishment. The Bulldogs, the conference runner up team, did lean on several seniors that will be missed. None more than Abram Abling who it seemed like every time they needed a big performance or a clutch shot. Abling would provide it and more. Also gone are 8 other seniors from the team several of which were big contributors like Dawson Hensley and Jesse Kephart. 

This Years Team:

The Bulldogs will have plenty of new faces and contributors after graduating nine seniors from last year’s team. The good news is they have Dillian Brown, a Junior who should be a steady and strong point guard for the Bulldogs. They will also look to have senior Hunter Laney to take a big step Forward and have his best season as a Bulldog. He will often be the guy tasked with Guarding the other team’s best post player and providing rebounding for the team. They will also look for some others to step up and play larger roles this year. It could be one of the coaches’ sons Cole or Ty Laney, or possibly a new face like Juan Allen. 

Conference:

1. Hayesville (12-0) 2. Murphy (8-4) 3. Swain (7-5) 4. Robbinsville (6-6) 4. Cherokee (6-6) 6. Andrews (3-9) 7. Rosman (0-12)

With Rosman no longer in the conference, the Big Smoky Mtn conference is now made up of 6 teams. Hayesville is the obvious favorite to win it again, but the rest of the conference could be a total toss up. Robbinsville and Swain both return a ton of players and could challenge Hayesville on any given night. Then you never know what players Cherokee may have brought in. Andrews has a lot of good athletes and could upset any team on the right night.

Schedule Notes:

-Home against Fannin Co GA on December 4th.

-Home against Enka on December 8th and away at Enka on January 14th.

-Away At Cherokee December 15th and home against Cherokee on January 25th.

-Away at Hayesville on December 17th (Live on fyntv.com) and home against Hayesville on January 28th.

-Home at Robbinsville on December 21st and away at Robbinsville on February 1st.

-Playing in the Towns Co GA Battle of the states December 28th,29th,30th.

Full Schedule can be found at:

https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/murphy-bulldogs-(murphy,nc)/basketball/schedule.htm

Preseason interview with coach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DxZmB91kaE

Expectations & Goals:

This season will be a big one in the tenure of head coach Erik Laney. The Bulldogs coming off a second place finish last year as their best year under Laney was a big step forward. Yet the sign of a program going from ok to good to great is what can they do after losing a large senior class. Can the Bulldogs pick up where they left off and fight for a conference championship or at least match what they did last year? The pieces are there, they still have plenty of talent but they will need some players outside of Brown and Hunter Laney to take big steps forward.