Gary Ayers
ayers5315@bellsouth.net
A record-setting first half for Murphy by hitting nine 3-point buckets was just too much for the Maroon Devils to overcome Tuesday night, Feb. 11 at Swain. Led by Connor Golden's six made 3-point shots on the night,Murphy won the contest 87-62.
The game opened with a fast back-and-forth with Golden hitting his first 3-point bucket of the night while Maroon Devil Druw Cody scored 4 fast points aided by Sylas Stanberry's basket for a 7-6 Murphy lead. But an 11-0 Murphy run led by 6'5" Abram Twiggs of Murphy, who scored six points in the run, gave Murphy the lead at 18-6.
Jaden Wade got the Devils on the board but Golden got red-hot for Murphy by hitting three-straight 3-point baskets for a 27-10 advantage. Rowan Ellis hit a bucket for Swain but Cale Harger scored the final five points of the quarter with another 3 for Murphy for a 32-10 lead after the first stanza. Murphy hit an incredible six 3-point shots in the first quarter.
Golden hit yet another 3-point shot for the Bulldogs early in the second quarter, but Swain fired back with Cody and Stanberry baskets before a crowd-pleasing dunk by Wade put Murphy up 35-16.
It was a back-and-forth battle the remainder of the quarter with Wade scoring five to lead Swain with Cody hitting a shot and Owen Medlin contributing a basket. But Brady Grant, Tyler Payne and Harger
kept Murphy in front heading to half-time 49-25.
A Twiggs’ dunk opened up the third quarter along with another Golden 3-pointer but Cody, Jon Stephenson and Medlin answered for the Maroon Devils for a 54-31 Murphy lead. Then, another Bulldog run, 12-0, led by Payne, Twiggs and Harger gave Murphy the lead at 66-31 that never got threatened. Cody, Brendan Lanning and Zeke Glaspie all scored for Swain to end the quarter with Murphy up 70-40.
Harger scored four fast points to open the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs, but Dhruv Patel nailed a Swain 3-pointer. Stephenson, Wade, Cody fired back for Swain as J.T. Schuler and Abraham Palmer
also got in on the Swain scoring for the final 87-62 score. Swain was led by Cody with 16 points, six assists and six steals while Cale Harger led the Bulldogs with 19 points and 10 rebounds and
Golden lived up to his name by hitting 6 3-point shots for all his 18 points.
Swain stands at 7-13, 0-8 in conference play as Murphy is now 12-9, 4-5.
Four Swain seniors played their last game in the Maroon Devils gym as Jaden Wade, Brendan Lanning, Rowan Ellis and Dhruv Patel were honored in pre-game ceremonies. All four seniors scored in their final home game.
The Maroon Devils close out the regular season on the road at Andrews Feb.11 and at Cherokee Feb.13 before the SMC tourney is played Feb. 17-21 at Hayesville.
Robbinsville has clinched a share of the SMC regular season title and can win the #1 seed with a win this week. Swain lost to Robbinsville by only three points last week, so the SMC tournament should be interesting and wide-open for the boys.