The streak stops here

Robbinsville – It had been two years, 26 consecutive division wins and 42 regular-season wins in a row since the Murphy Lady Bulldogs had fallen.

But long after the Bulldogs suffered a 34-29 road loss at the hands of Hayesville on Jan. 10, 2019, Robbinsville eyed redemption. After all, it took a game-tying, buzzer-beating 3-pointer and overtime to stop the Lady Knights from picking up a win in Murphy last season.

Everything changed Tuesday night. 

Everything came together at just the right time. The full-court press. Shots from outside and in. Smart passes to set up scoring chances.

So by the end of the 67-53 conquering of the defending co-1A state champions, the Lady Knights (5-1, 5-1) had earned the right to celebrate. The shrieks of joy from the locker room echoed across the Robbinsville High School gymnasium, even as the varsity boys warmed up for their showdown with the Bulldogs (6-1, 5-1).

Redemption had finally arrived.

“That was a tough loss, but our kids walked out of the gym that night with their heads high,” Knights head coach Lucas Ford pointed out about the slim 2020 defeat. “For them (Murphy) to go on and finish 30-0 – and be state champions – made that game sting a little more. 

“We just beat a very good basketball team. I’m not gonna lie; our gameplan changed. We worked on a zone defense – which we’re going to continue to work on – but we’re a man (defensive) team. I didn’t know going in if we could do that or not, but we settled into man and put ball pressure on them. I felt like we kept them out of sync and that really helped us. 

The offensive effort received an early spark. After Murphy’s Kaiya Pickens hit a 3 to begin the contest, Robbinsville’s Halee Anderson cranked up the intensity on the boards, displaying a hustle that Ford made note of in the aftermath. 

Coupled with back-to-back trey’s from Kensley Phillips – which gave the Knights a 10-9 lead – Robbinsville never looked back. 

Anderson finished the game with 14 points; Phillips had 10.

“This is honestly the best win I’ve ever had,” Anderson stated. “Everybody went in and did their job. This definitely shows how good we can be and that we can play with anybody, whether it be in the conference or in the playoffs.”

Point guard Desta Trammell dropped 22 points on the Lady Bulldogs, including a trio of 3’s in the second quarter alone that helped construct a 36-26 Knights advantage at halftime. 

By the end of the third segment, the lead had expanded to 52-41.

“We just went out there and played the hardest we could,” Trammell said. “We had a couple of good practices before this game and we definitely came out ready. 

“This definitely boosted our confidence, but we’re not satisfied. We know we can be so much better, but now we have a lot more momentum for the games ahead.”

Jackets, Wildcats fall

The Lady Knights started the homestand with lopsided victories over Hayesville (3-4, 2-4) on Jan. 20 and Andrews (0-6, 0-6) on Friday.

Robbinsville’s full-court press stifled any hopes the Lady Jackets had of getting their offense rolling. Though Hayesville’s Lila Payne hit a 3-pointer to begin the game, the Knights shut out the Jackets for the remainder of the first, opening a sizeable 20-3 advantage by the end of the segment.

Payne would hit another long-distance shot to start the second, but Robbinsville kept the pressure on, only allowing Hayesville to net 9 more points for the remainder of the contest. 

Meanwhile, a pair of trey’s by Phillips – who finished the game with a perfect 100-percent shooting percentage from the floor – ushered in a running clock during the third quarter.

Andrews also fell victim to Robbinsville’s stout defense, as the Lady Cats were shut out for the entire first quarter of Friday’s outing. To help the effort, the Knights had opened up a 46-2 lead by halftime.

Robbinsville welcomes Hiwassee Dam for a make-up game today, before traveling to Rosman on Friday and Hayesville on Tuesday.