By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Eastern Alamance’s Mason Murphy converted a three-point play with 4.8 seconds remaining as part of a wild game-closing sequence as the Eagles beat visiting Williams 85-84 in overtime in Tuesday night’s Mid-Carolina Conference boys’ basketball game.
“It’s a crazy game we played,” Eastern coach Parrish Walker said. “It was just anybody’s game.”
And Murphy, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward who racked up 38 points, moved to the forefront.
“I try to stay calm,” Murphy said. “I just stayed zoned in and I didn’t let the crowd get to me.”
With 22 seconds left, Murphy went to the free-throw line with the Eagles trailing by one. He airballed the first attempt before sinking the second shot.
“I needed to collect my breath and got it,” Murphy said.
Amarion Richmond put Williams ahead at the 12-second mark before Eastern raced in the other direction. Murphy headed toward the lane from the right side and was off balance, switching the ball to his left hand for an acrobatic shot as he was fouled.
“I worked on that,” Murphy said of the maneuver.
Williams’ last chance ended when Kyrian Fuller’s 3 bounced away at the buzzer, sparking a court storming from Eastern fans.
The game was full of twists, though tied throughout (11-11, 18-18, 27-27, 55-55, 67-67, for example). Williams led 61-57 when Bulldogs guard Bubba Sims was called for an offensive foul on a fastbreak with 25.9 seconds left in the third quarter. His reaction drew a technical foul that counted as his fifth personal foul, so he was disqualified.
In the last minute of regulation, Richmond’s basket put the Bulldogs up 73-71 before Murphy countered at the 42-second mark. Colby Elliott’s shot off a drive missed at the buzzer for Williams.
“We calmed each other down and picked each other up,” Eastern guard Hunter Eichmann said.
The Bulldogs used an 8-0 run in overtime to go up 81-77. The Eagles pulled even on Christian Hester’s bucket off a Williams turnover. Isaiah Long’s foul shot gave Williams the lead before the final sequence.
“It happens,” Williams coach Jimmy Lloyd said. “We grew a little bit even though we lost.”
Kamaal Smith posted 14 points and Xavier McPherson had 10 points for Eastern (10-2 overall, 4-1 Mid-Carolina Conference).
Elliott led Williams (9-3, 3-2) with 19 points, while Isaiah Long and Sims each had 15, Richmond scored 13 and Fuller added 12.
“I’m proud of the kids and how they shared the ball,” Lloyd said. “Kids stepped up and that’s all I ask.”
Eastern has overtime victories in back-to-back games.
“We like this one better,” Eichmann said.
Other results
- Eastern pulled out a 75-68 overtime triumph at Western Alamance on Friday night, with Murphy’s 28 points, McPherson’s 16 points and Jamarious Toney’s 13 points and 15 rebounds leading the way.
For the Warriors, Jayden Jones had 22 points, Drew Cohn scored 12 points, and Camden Oliviera and Jacob Long both notched 10 points.
- Western won 50-35 at Cummings on Tuesday night behind 15 points from Jones and 14 points from Oliviera in the Mid-Carolina Conference.
When Western edged visiting Northeast Guilford 71-65 last week, Cohn scored 32 points and Jones and Oliviera each had nine points.
- Southeast Alamance racked up a 93-78 victory at Graham on Tuesday night.
- Roxboro Person edged visiting Southern Alamance 51-48 on Tuesday night in Mid-Carolina Conference action, outscoring the Patriots 8-5 in the fourth quarter. A would-be tying 3-pointer missed at the buzzer for Southern, which received 27 points from Jasiah Allen.
Last Friday, Allen scored 23 points and won 72-60 at Graham. The Patriots feasted on Graham turnovers for fastbreak baskets, but the lead was in single digits for most of the game. Sincere Thompson’s 13 points and Garrett Ledbetter’s 11 points also boosted the Patriots. Allen had nine rebounds.
Micah Woods with 28 points and Ladario Johnson with 14 points and 14 rebounds led Graham.
- Clover Garden bounced back from last week’s 57-47 loss at Chatham Central in the Central Tar Heel 1-A Conference to defeat visiting River Mull 53-36 in Monday’s league game.
- The Burlington School lost 91-75 at Caldwell Academy on Friday before nipping Forsyth Country Day School 52-51 the next day.
Geren Holmes had 28 and Drew Johnson notched 25 points in the first game. Karon Watlington scored 16 points and Julian Lowe had 13 points in the victory.
- Burlington Christian Academy fell 67-44 to Trinity Academy and 83-44 at Concord Academy last week.
