Lady Bulldogs Cruise to Conference Tournament Final
Murphy Basketball, Sports, TeamFYNSports February 15, 2022
The Murphy Lady Bulldogs played as expected in the conference tournament semifinal Monday night. It did pose an extra challenge as they were matchup with the tournament host, the Swain Lady Maroon Devils. While as the higher seed, Murphy was technically designated the home team, Swain, their opponent, was playing on their home court in front of home fans. Murphy got another big night, though, from Torin Rogers and with that comfortably won 59-39 to advance to the tournament final.
Lailee Holloway finishes in traffic for two points.
1st Half:
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a quick start scoring 18 points in the first quarter. Nine of those points came from star senior Torin Rogers, who hit a three as time expired in the quarter. While off to a hot scoring start, the Murphy defense was stifling, holding Swain to single digits at just five points. The second quarter saw Murphy’s defense improve even more, holding the Lady Devils to a minuscule four points. A second straight quarter with a buzzer-beater three from Torin Rogers gave Murphy a 30-9 lead going into halftime.
Emma Ledford lines up a three point jumper.
2nd Half:
The Lady Bulldogs were seemingly on cruise control to open the second half with such a significant lead. This allowed Swain to make things exciting and cut the lead down, but they never truly challenged Murphy. The Lady Bulldogs saw their lead shrink slightly, but a solid fourth quarter put the game away. While Torin Rogers had done most of the scoring for the Lady Bulldogs, freshman Addie Johnson had a solid fourth quarter to help finish off the Lady Devils. Her six fourth-quarter points were a team-high as Murphy would win 59-39 to advance to the conference tournament final.
Murphy Leading Scorers:
Torin Rogers 25 points
Addie Johnson 10 points
Interview Murphy Head Coach Ray Gutierrez:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6i6XGyhpng
The Lady Bulldogs await the winner of tonight’s semifinal between Cherokee and Robbinsville to see who they will play in the tournament final Friday, February 18th.
Murphy Bulldogs Win Season Opener
Murphy Basketball, Murphy Bulldogs, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports December 5, 2021
The Murphy boys basketball team is finally on the court after a long run in the football playoffs. You could definitely see there was some rust with a large contingent of their team only having a few practices under their belt. Yet you could see the potential and that once they get into basketball form they could pose a problem for opponents. It wasn’t pretty at times but their athleticism and physical play was too much for Fannin Co. tonight. The Bulldogs bludgeoned the Rebels en-route to a 67-52 victory.
1st Quarter:
The 1st quarter was very fast paced tonight and had lots of good action. Both teams came out ready to play and looked to be locked in, early in the game. Murphy got scoring from five different players in the quarter. That balanced effort gave them an early 15-11 lead to end the quarter.
2nd Quarter:
Similar to the girl’s game the Bulldogs took control in the second quarter. It started with the defense only allowing seven points from Fannin in the quarter. While the offense once again was incredibly balanced, this time getting scoring contributions from seven players. Murphy’s post players were a force all night long, their rebounding effort in the second quarter was a huge factor. By quarter’s end, the Bulldogs had stretched their lead to 32-18.
3rd Quarter:
Murphy took absolute control in the third quarter defensively this time only allowing six points. The offense for the Bulldogs in the third quarter was their lowest output of the game. They only scored thirteen points but because of their defense and rebounding, they extended their lead even further. The quarter ended with Murphy leading 45-24.
4th Quarter:
Fannin finally came alive for the first time all night, but it was too little too late. Even though they put up 28 fourth-quarter points coming into the quarter trailing by 21 was too much to overcome. Things did get ugly in the fourth quarter for Murphy as things started to get chippy. They had a player thrown out for back-to-back technicals and had two players foul out. It is easy to tell Murphy’s going to try to out tough and beat up on teams physically this year. They will have to find a balance though between being the more physical team and getting a little too sloppy at times. Tonight though Fannin Co. wanted none of it though as Murphy won 67-52.
Leading Scorers:
Dillian Brown 16 points
Dominick Rummler 11 points
Zack Skogen 10 points
Hunter Laney 9 points
Murphy Bulldogs Boys Basketball Season Preview
Murphy Basketball, Murphy Bulldogs, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports December 3, 2021
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:
- 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.
Murphy Lady Bulldogs Women’s Basketball Season Preview
Murphy Basketball, Murphy Bulldogs, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports December 3, 2021
Coming into the season the Murphy Lady Bulldogs have a bullseye on their back. That’s to be expected when Ray Gutierrez is your head coach and you win two straight state championships. Coach Gutierrez is simply put a winner, he has won every where he has been. For any girls team in the state that has state championship aspirations you know that it runs through the heart of Cherokee county. If you wanna get to the mountaintop you have to knock off the top dog. Or make that the Lady Bulldogs, but they have no plans to make that easy on anyone. They firmly have their eyes set on a third straight state championship.
Last Year’s Team:
Last year was a difficult season for everyone in the state and dealing with a Covid shortened season. Murphy actually lost the conference title last season to Robbinsville. Some may say that in a full length season with more non-conference games Murphy may have been able to win the conference. Yet by the time the playoffs rolled around the Lady Bulldogs were finally playing their best basketball. They capped it off by winning their second straight state championship. They did lose several key players off that state championship team. State female athlete of the year Sarah Pulium, and her other fellow seniors sharp shooting Kaiya Pickens and a starting forward Leah Moses.
This Years Team:
The Lady Bulldogs do bring back a lot of solid pieces from last year’s squad. First and foremost the Richmond signee senior Torin Rogers. Rogers will lead the way for Murphy this season, she can do it all, she is a great shooter, post scorer, ball handler and defender. What makes her so difficult for teams to gameplan for is her diversity. Take away her shooting and she will hurt you in the post or on penetration. Then even on the rare nights where she might not score a lot her defense and rebounding still make a profound impact on the game. She will have some young and inexperienced pieces around her but they are still very talented. Players like Calista Adams, Amber Martin, Lochlan Rogers and a couple of freshman with very bright futures in Julia Dockery and Addie Johnson.
Conference:
- Robbinsville (11-1) 2. Murphy (10-2) 3. Rosman (7-5) 4. Cherokee (7-5) 5. Swain (4-8) 6. Hayesville (3-9) 7. Andrews (0-12)
With Rosman no longer in the conference, the Big Smoky Mtn conference is now made up of 6 teams. Robbinsville and Murphy will once again probably fight it out for first place. While both are also state championship contenders. Cherokee is always strong and will look to fight their way into one of the top two spots. Swain returns quite a bit and could be a team we see take a big step forward. While Andrews and Hayesville have some solid pieces and could surprise anyone in the conference on any given 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 Lumpkin Co GA on Saturday December 11th.
-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 and open the tournament on the 28th against Coosa GA.
Full Schedule can be found at:
https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/murphy-bulldogs-(murphy,nc)/girls-basketball/schedule.htm
Preseason interview with coach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juq_Avhrc4Q
Expectations & Goals:
It’s already been mentioned that the goals or expectations are as high as they can get. That is to win their third straight state championship. Also though they would love to win the conference championship this year as well. They will face some very tough competition along the way whether it’s their non conference schedule or the conference schedule. The Lady Bulldogs play in the toughest girls conference in the state. It would almost be a surprise if the state championship winner wasn’t one of Murphy, Robbinsville or Cherokee. Yet if anyone is gonna do it you have to give a slight edge to the Lady Bulldogs they are the defending two time state champions.