Robbinsville falls to Murphy in conference showdown
Robbinsville – The Lady Knights had the Bulldogs on the ropes Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, some late heroics for the visitors proved costly.
In the second pairing between the top two teams in the Smoky Mountain Conference, Robbinsville (12-5, 5-2) continually nipped at the heels of Murphy (17-3, 7-1), but came out on the wrong end of a low-scoring affair, 48-44.
“I felt like defensively – especially in a half-court set – we were pretty spot on,” said Lady Knights head coach Lucas Ford. “We felt like if we held Torin (Rogers) under 20 and Amber (Martin) to 10-12, we felt like we could win the game by 10-plus points.
“But we didn’t know we were going to shoot 32 percent from the field, 17 percent from the 3-point line and 56 percent from the foul line. We did not shoot the ball well. We went to the foul line 18 times and made 11. We’ve had 5-6 games consecutive in the 70-percent range."
Rogers had 18, while Martin recorded 12.
Ford contends that the Knights have still yet to play their best basketball, but flashes of their brilliance were on display. Robbinsville seized the lead quick, with Halee Anderson dropping a layup and Desta Trammell draining a trey to open a 5-0 advantage.
Murphy later surged back to pull ahead 12-7 by the end of the segment – and even led by six in the second – but a late basket from Zoie Shuler and a pair of free throws from Anderson trimmed the deficit to 24-23 at the break.
The programs traded the lead early in the third, with the Bulldogs pulling away, before Anderson hit another late basket to leave Murphy clinging to a 34-33 nod.
Back-to-back inside buckets from Trammell in the fourth temporarily gave Robbinsville a 37-34 advantage, but Murphy went on a 8-2 run to pull back ahead. Trammell hit a three in the waning minutes to pull the deficit to 46-44, but a full-court toss from Amber Martin into the unguarded hands of Calista Adams for a basket– which came after a timeout – proved to be the Knights’ undoing.
“Big games like this prepare you for the playoffs,” Ford noted. “We lacked some intensity and hustle – at times – that you need to win these kind of games. Most of the time, when we hold an opponent to under 50 points, we’re going to win.
“We had a breakdown at the end on that pass (from Martin to Adams). That was a killer. We’re in man (defense) and I don’t know what happened; we didn’t have anybody around her. Murphy is very disciplined in what they do and to beat them, you can’t have breakdowns like that.”
Trammell’s 16-point night led Robbinsville. Others to score were Shuler 10, Anderson 9, Yeika Jimenez 4, Kensley Phillips 3 and Delaney Brooms 2.
Mustangs tamed
Sylva – Dominant from the opening tip, Robbinsville’s press held the opposition to a mere 16 first-half points, as the Knights swept the season series against the 3A Smoky Mountain Lady Mustangs (8-9), picking up a 68-42 road victory Jan. 26.
Trammell’s night ended with 24 points, five assists, one rebound and one steal. Phillips dropped 18 on the Mustangs, while mixing in four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Also peppering out the scoreline for Robbinsville was Shuler 8, Anderson 6, Jimenez 4 and Brooms, Montana Buchanan, Liz Carpenter and Aubrie Wachacha adding two each.
Junior varsity
After leading 20-8 at halftime, Robbinsville (0-9) seemed destined to get its first win of the season at Smoky Mountain, but a late foul and a pair of free throws doomed the Lady Knights’ chances, as the Lady Mustangs edged out a 34-33 win.
Jozlyn Garland led Robbinsville with 15 points and five steals. Memory Frapp had five points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Anna York added six points and eight rebounds.
Also scoring for the Knights was Helen Ward 3, and Kadence Howell and Karlee Stewart with 2 each.
Despite a flurry of 3’s in the second half, the Knights fell to Murphy on Tuesday, 44-16.
Olivia Stewart finished with six points and two rebounds.
Others to score for Robbinsville were Ward 5, Frapp 3 and York 2.