By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy) – – The Murphy Bulldogs and the Hiwassee Dam Eagles split the double header of basketball. Murphy’s Lady Bulldogs captured their win with some ease, while the Hiwassee Dam boys’ basketball team had to survive two over time periods to win.

Girls: Murphy 68 Hiwassee Dam 45

Good shooting from the floor was key for this game.  Murphy’s Lady Bulldogs worked its way through the game shooting just under 50% from the floor and making 40% of its shots beyond the 3-point arc.  The same is true for Hiwassee Dam, except for the second quarter where you have to factor in a zero.  The Lady Eagles can point to the second quarter as its stumbling point where they made no shots from the floor and only four points from the free-throw line.  During the second half, Hiwassee improved on its shooting and pick the defense.  The Lady Eagle effort was matched by Murphy’s Lady Bulldogs and seemed to cancel out each other’s shots to maintain a comfortable lead through the remainder of the game.

Scoring Leaders

Murphy – Torin Rogers 29 points (3 3-pointers)

Hiwassee Dam – Kiera Taylor 23 points

This past week was not all cheers and excitement.  Murphy was coming off a loss to Cherokee’s Lady Braves by a close margin at home.  Murphy Coach Ray Gutierrez says the team has some things to work out and rebuild, but it’s feels good to get a win.  “It’s tough playing them (Hiwassee Dam).  They are a rival of ours.  The gym was full, it was loud.  They played really hard against us.  To come out away with a 20 point win we are really proud of our kids.  We are in a funk right now and we are not shooting the ball very good, and defense is kinda breaking down.  But some things we worked on over the course of the week that I did see some improvement on tonight,” Coach Gutierrez said after the game with Hiwassee Dam.  You can see his full comments and remarks on the upcoming game with Hayesville, scheduled for Friday night (January 28, 2022) at the link in this story.

Boys:  Hiwassee Dam 85 Murphy 83

If you thought this game was going to be a cakewalk for the Murphy Bulldogs because the lead was lopsided at the half 32-to-17 and left the game, you missed out on one of the best basketball games in the area.  The Murphy Bulldogs may not agree with that introductory sentence, after letting go of a 21 point lead in the second half.  The first half and most of the third periods belonged to Murphy and it seemed that the game would go as a “W” for the Bulldogs.

The Hiwassee Dam Eagles decided to not let the game go without a fight to the finish.  Trouble for Murphy, who led 63-to-52 at the 5:00 mark left in the game. The Bulldogs went a 3-minute scoring drought to allow the Eagles to tie the game with 1:51 to go on a 3-point jump shot from Preston Hyde. A few seconds later Hyde added another 2-pointer to take the lead for the first time in the game. The Bulldogs down by one point with 28 seconds to go stole an in-bound pass and went to the line with Dillian Brown, who tied the game on his second free throw. Tied at 70, the Eagles threw the ball away and Murphy had 1.6 seconds to get a final shot.  No, we go to the first overtime.

So, we are in overtime.  The lead seemed like it changed a dozen times with 3-pointers, steals, and true grit in basketball. With 21.3 seconds remaining in the extra period, Will Carringer hit a crucial 3-pointer that would appear to give the Bulldogs the win with a few seconds remaining at 77-to-75. Hiwassee Dam’s Leo Hixson rushed back up the floor to tie the game with an easy lay-up. Murphy with 7.8 seconds to go, facing full court pressure missed a last second shot.

Hiwassee Dam Eagles land big shots on the Murphy Bulldogs to stay in the game and take the win

Now we go to the second overtime!  The lead see-sawed with the change of each possession.  Good defense, poor decisions, cool 3-point jump shots, determination, loud screaming fans, and student sections jeering at one another made the scene for one of the best basketball games.  Down the waning moments, it appeared Murphy may take the game with 30 Seconds remaining the Bulldogs steal and send Ty Laney on a fast break to tie the game at 83-to-83. With 26.4 seconds remaining, the Eagles call timeout to set its game plan. The Eagles maneuver around the Bulldogs long enough to allow the clock to wind down to 3.7 seconds left as Hiwassee Dam’s Tanner Taylor hits a 3-pointer to give the Eagles an 85-to-83 lead. The Bulldogs could not hit a last second 3-pointer from Hunter Laney.

Scoring Leaders

Murphy:

Dillian Brown – 23 points (4 3-Pointers)

Hunter Laney – 12 Points

Zack Skogen – 14 Points

Will Carringer – 16 Points

Hiawassee Dam:

Sam Bradford 29 Points

Preston Hyde 23 Points (4 3-Pointers)

Jon Raper 13 Points

Next for the Bulldogs

The Murphy Bulldogs will travel to Hayesville for its second meeting with the Yellow Jackets on Friday night, January 28^th.  Team FYN Sports will stream this game over on FYNTV.com.  Stay connected to our Facebook and Twitter posts should there be a need to reschedule.