The Andrews Wildcats will venture away from home to challenge the Murphy Bulldogs at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Andrews will be strutting in after a victory while Murphy will be coming in after a loss.
Andrews will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Swain County, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Andrews walked away with a 64-52 win over Swain County on Tuesday. The victory was nothing new for the Wildcats as they're now sitting on three straight.
Gabe Clark
| 02/11/25 vs Swain County | 24 |
| 02/07/25 vs Hayesville | 15 |
| 02/04/25 vs Murphy | 27 |
Andrews' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gabe Clark, who went 8-for-18 to rack up 24 points in addition to seven boards and five assists. The contest was Clark's third in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ty Clark, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Murphy was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 58-53 to Hayesville.
Andrews will have to contain Cale Harger as he made an impact in Murphy's last game. He dropped a double-double with 18 points and 16 boards. Harger has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last four times he's played. Ryan Payne was another key player, putting up seven points along with nine assists and six boards.
Even though they lost, Murphy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.
Andrews' victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-6. As for Murphy, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-10.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest-scoring teams around. Andrews hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 68 points per game. However, it's not like Murphy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 65.4 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can put up more.
Andrews was able to grind out a solid win over Murphy in their previous meeting last Tuesday, winning 55-45. The rematch might be a little tougher for Andrews since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
