On Tuesday night January 21st, Hayesville hosted rival the Murphy Lady Bulldogs. This game last year Hayesville pulled off a big upset and were looking to do the same. Yet the Lady Bulldogs pressed for 4 quarters and made it very difficult on Hayesville. With too many turnovers and some missed offensive opportunities the Lady Yellow Jackets lost 54-34 falling 10-6 on the year and 4-3 in conference.

In the first quarter the Lady Jackets had some good chances that just rimmed out while the Lady Bulldogs capitalized on some transition opportunities. The quarter ended with Murphy leading 14-7 with Hayesville looking to make some adjustments.

In the second quarter Hayesville really frustrated Murphy by slowing the pace and making the Lady Bulldogs take contested shots. Murphy was trying to force it in but couldn’t get anything going early in the quarter. Hayesville actually held Murphy scoreless for the first six minutes of the quarter. It looked like Hayesville amy be able to cut the deficit to just a few points going into the half. Murphy answered in a big way with a 9-0 run in the last two minutes to extend their lead going into halftime 22-14.

Coming into the third quarter it was back and forth with Hayesville once again cutting the lead to under five points. Yet everytime Hayesville made a run Murphy would answer with a bigger run of their own. Hayesville got a great effort out of sophomore Lila Payne who hit big three after big three all night. She hit several with just inches to get it off, she had 22 points on the night to lead the way for the Lady Yellow Jackets. Yet the third quarter ended with Murphy on a run leading 40-25.

In the fourth quarter Hayesville kept playing hard until the final horn, but just didn’t have enough offense on this night to keep up. The game plan was great by head coach Chad McClure to slow the pace and frustrate Murphys offense. Yet the Lady Jackets just didn’t get enough done on the offensive side of the ball to pull of the upset on this night. The game finished with a lopsided score of 54-34 in favor of Murphy.

Hayesville leaders for the night:
Lila Payne 22 points
Lizzy Brusini 5 points

The game was much closer than the score indicated due to some late scoring with reserves in the game. This is the last scheduled game between these two teams this year, but could we see another matchup possibly in the conference tournament or even the playoffs, only time will tell.

Hayesville will next play on the road, at Robbinsville to take on the Lady Black Knights Friday January 24th. The last time these two teams played it was an overtime thriller with Hayesville pulling out the victory.

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