Basketball Recap: Murphy Picks Up Fifth Straight Win on the Road

It was a proper cat-fight when Murphy faced off against Greene County on Friday. The Murphy Panthers secured a 60-56 W over the Greene County Wildcats. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 50th in Alabama, while the Wildcats are ranked 168th in Mississippi), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Murphy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Cordairus Dixon, who went 9 for 17 on his way to 21 points and five steals. Dixon has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last ten times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryan Jackson, who went 5 of 11 on his way to 21 points and three steals.

Jase Matthews and Cordarius Molten certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Matthews went 8 of 12 on his way to 18 points in addition to seven boards and five steals, while Molten went 8 of 14 on his way to 16 points in addition to six assists and six boards. The dominant performance gave Molten a new career-high in assists. Another player making a difference was Tylan Blackston, who posted nine points and five boards.

Murphy pushed their record up to 11-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.2 points per game. As for Greene County, they now have a losing record at 7-8.

Murphy will take on Central in a tournament on Thursday. Murphy is facing Central at the right time seeing as Central is stuck on a three-game losing streak. As for Greene County, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 61-58 victory against Presbyterian Christian on the 21st.