After a string of five wins, the Murphy Panthers's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell just short of Cottage Hill Christian Academy by a score of 54-51. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Murphy in their matchups with Cottage Hill Christian Academy: they've now lost four in a row.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Deangelon Johnson, who scored 13 points. Another player making a difference was Kinley Simmons, who scored 10 points along with 6 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Murphy were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cottage Hill Christian Academy only pulled down eight.
Cottage Hill Christian Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Shadrick Toodle led the charge by scoring 20 points. The match was Toodle's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Shadarius Toodle, who scored 12 points along with 9 rebounds.
Murphy's loss dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Cottage Hill Christian Academy, they have yet to lose a game at home this season, leaving them with a 8-2 record.
Murphy will take on Rain at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Rain will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Alabama Rankings (they are ranked 244th, while Murphy is ranked 50th). As for Cottage Hill Christian Academy, they will head out on the road to face off against Foley at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Foley comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
