Next Opponent is Mitchell County Lady Mountaineers

By Brandon Stephens

(Murphy)  – – Murphy’s Lady Bulldogs are cruising to the second round of the 2022 NCHSAA 1-A Girls Basketball Playoffs with a solid 72-to-21 win over Elkin High’s Lady Elk.  Murphy (24-and-3) will host the Mitchell County Lady Mountaineers (13-and-10) on Thursday night (February 24^th – time to be announced).  While details have not been confirmed, there is a possibility Murphy will play all of its games at home, with the exception of the Championship game.  Let’s play them one at a time and tell you about the first game.

From the moment the ball tipped off to the final buzzer, Murphy played smooth as silk.  Elkin did not shoot well through the first half, ending up trailing the Lady Bulldogs 45-to-8 at the break. Elkin turned the ball over a number of times to help the Lady Bulldogs build its lead even more.  While Murphy’s Torin Rogers set the pace with 16 points inside, Addie Johnson and Emma Ledford hit the outside shots.  After the half, Torin Rogers, Addie Johnson, and Amber Martin took a rest and enjoyed the remainder of the game watching Murphy’s substitutes.

Somewhere in this article we usually mention Torin Rogers was the leading scorer.  Tonight Laliee Holloway melted the nylon as the point leader with 4 three-pointers to keep the Lady Bulldogs moving toward the win and an eventual rolling clock in the second half.  Earlier in the first half, Addie Johnson kept the nets hot with 5 three-pointers.  Laliee, Emma Ledford, Lochlan Rogers, Calista Adams, Sage Kent, and Charli McDaniel created an impressive team effort that was fearless and challenging.

Post-Game Comments

Not a bad way to start the game and the playoffs.  That is how Murphy Lady Bulldogs Head Coach Ray Gutierrez felt after the game.  “Shot it good.  Played good in the first quarter.  Got a good start in the first quarter 21-to-2.  Seemed like it was to the 6 or 7 minute mark until they (Elkin) scored.  So that is where we needed to be.  Lock in defensively and try to get into transition.  I thought that was the game plan tonight.  I thought we did a good job executing that,” Coach Gutierrez said after the game.  His complete interview can be heard at the link in this story.

The Murphy Lady Bulldogs were en fuego (on fire)!  Elkin didn’t have much luck stopping Murphy.  “It was a great first game.  We went out (on the court) and did big things.  We saw different defenses and we were able to score.  We shot the ball well.  It was an exciting night,” Senior Torin Rogers said after the game.  She would be right.  Eklin eventually had to run into Murphy a number of times to break the Lady Bulldog press which placed the Lady Elkin the foul line a number of times.  The full interview with Torin Rogers can be heard at the link in this story.

Scoring

Murphy

Lochlan Rogers – 4 Points

Calista Adams – 2 Points

Charli McDaniel – 2 Points

Torin Rogers – 16 Points

Addie Johnson – 17 Points (5 3-Pointers)

Amber Martin – 3 Points (1 3-Pointer)

Laliee Holloway – 18 Points (4 3-Pointers)                   

Emma Ledford – 10 Points (2 3-Pointers)

Elkin

Ayla Ford – 3 points (1 3-Pointer)

Ayla Summers – 1 Point

Kyleigh Price – 7 Points (1 3-Pointers)

Chandler Beals – 9 Points (3 3-Pointers)

Pressley Baker – 2 Points

The Second Round – Mitchell County

No matter the game or contest, meeting Mitchell County’s Mountaineers usually brings some excitement and drama to the game.  Mitchell earned the number 16 seed in the playoffs and took down the East Wilkes Lady Cardinals 49-to-27.  Leading up to the playoffs, Mitchell has won 5 of its last 6 games.  The loss was a 53-to-49 game to the Mountain Heritage Lady Cougars, who earned the number 2 seed and will face #15 Cherokee on Thursday in Burnsville.  #9 seed Mount Airy will face 8^th seed Albemarle on Thursday, a game Murphy will need to keep watch.  Let’s not get ahead and play one game at a time, correct?  Mitchell is a little concerning because it is a team that tends to play to the level of talent it faces.  Regardless, the Mitchell game will be good.  FYNTV.com will stream this game with Jake West and Brandon Stephens on the call of the game.  The game betwen Murphy and Mitchell will tip off at 6PM.  Team FYN Sports will be begin streaming around 5:30PM at fyntv.net