By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Hayesville’s varsity boys hit Murphy between the eyes with an impressive comeback late in the fourth quarter before time ran out and the Bulldogs prevailed, 44-41, Friday in the Yellow Jackets third game of the week.
It was the second Smoky Mountain Conference skirmish Hayesville was in position to win, but lost during the week. Andrews clipped Hayesville, 58-50, on Tuesday. In between the defeats, the Yellow Jackets leveled Nantahala.
“They’re there, they’re there, the just have to jump the fence and win one,” Hayesville Coach Mike Cottrell said. “They’re trying as hard as they can.”
Murphy, 7-2 conference, 12-5 overall, clung to a 5-point advantage midway through the final quarter until Landon Hughes lit the fuse for Hayesville — 1-4, 11 with a three-pointer off an Asher Brown feed.
Free throws by Brown, Isaac Chandler and Slade Crouch – one apiece – reduced the lead to 42-41 and things looked absolutely positive when Murphy’s 6’ 6” Superman Dominick Rummler fouled out with 1:22 remaining after scoring 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and dunking twice.
A turnover with :47 left hurt the Yellow Jackets, but hope remained when Hughes pressured a Bulldog into the throwing the ball away.
Hayesville had an open look for a three-pointer with :15 on the clock, but the try bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Murphy.
“Sometimes, right now we just have to make one more play down the stretch,” Cottrell said. “They made some and we didn’t and that was the difference. We did have chances.”
The Yellow Jackets not only had opportunities; they had momentum. Hayesville held the lead for a little more than 11 during the second and third periods.
Murphy led 13-12 after a see-saw first quarter, but the Yellow Jackets controlled the second period and earned a 22-18 halftime lead on a Chandler basket, followed by a three-pointer by Brown, a free throw by Chandler, Jackson Sellers muscling in for 2, Brown drawing an offensive foul, Chandler deflecting the ball to Cooper Matheson, and Brown earning a rebound and feeding Chandler for a back door bucket.
Hayesville extended the lead to 27-22 early in the third period on a hit by Chandler and a three-ball by Hughes, but Murphy surged at the end to reclaim the lead 33-31.
Bulldog backers were beside themselves when Rummler dunked to increase the advantage to 35-33, but Sellers answered with two free tosses and Crouch hit a spinning drive to close the gap to 38-35.
Next, Rummler threw down a reverse dunk, but Hughes answered with the Hughes three of Brown’s dime mentioned earlier.
Hughes was 4-of-8 from downtown for 12 points and took down two rebounds. Brown tallied 8 points, five steals and five rebounds.
Hayesville stayed within striking distance with great defense that held Murphy 7.6 below its average. First and foremost, Chandler did a yeoman’s job on Rummler, making the big man fight for every inch of position.
Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds, scored 10 points and blocked two shots.
Crouch totaled 5 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Sellers scored 4 points — 1-of-1 from the field and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
Jacob McClure scored 2 points.
Hayesville dropped to 11-8 overall, 1-5 in the Smoky Mountain Conference standings.
Hayesville 84, Nantahala 44
Hayesville romped for 56 first half points and the bench outscored Nantahala 11-7 in the fourth period as the Yellow Jackets dominated.
Brown went for 14 first-half points, including 4-of-4 from the line and finished with 16.
Matheson tallied 15 points with three three-pointers. Crouch totaled 13 points, including 9 in the first quarter. Chandler went for 12 points and led the team in rebounds. Sellers scored a season-high 10.
Hughes and McClure finished with 5 apiece.
Riley Rogers added 4, Michael Colandrea 3.
Andrews 58, Hayesville 50
The Yellow Jackets spent much of the night playing catch-up, but couldn’t get over the hump.
“We had another chance to win on the road. They made two big shots on us late when we went to a zone. That was my fault,” Cottrell remarked. “They made two big threes on us in that zone. They got a six-point lead on us late in the game and it’s hard to come back from that late in the game.”
Lee led Hayesville’s balanced scoring attack with 13 points. Crouch and McClure had 12 apiece.
Chandler scored 7 after getting in early foul trouble.
Brown tallied for 4 and Sellers added 2.