By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
Cherokee's Rayna Davis (#14) finds herself wide open near the foul line during Thursday's semi-final game against the Murphy Lady Bulldogs. Davis scored 16 points on the night to lead the Lady Braves. (Photo by Scott McKie B.P./One Feather)
After crushing Andrews the night before, the Cherokee Lady Braves couldn’t find their shooting range on Thursday, Feb. 18 as they lost by 10 to the Murphy Lady Bulldogs in the semifinals of the girls Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament. Despite four Cherokee players scoring in double digits, the Lady Braves fell 76-66.
Murphy’s center Katrina Evans scored 28 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs and proved a threat in the middle all night.
Both teams played a fast paced first period and ended up tied at 14 after the first eight minutes. The Lady Braves committed several key turnovers in the second period and trailed by five at halftime (36-31).
The third period started out as a nightmare for Cherokee. They didn’t score until the 2:49 mark when Paige Jackson made a foul shot. They were able to get it going after that and scored 11 in the final two minutes to only trail 56-43 going into the fourth period.
The Lady Braves outscored Murphy in the final period 21-20, but they couldn’t overcome the third period deficit.
Rayna Davis led the way for Cherokee with 16 points followed by Tahnee Arkansas and Elizabeth Wahnetah with 12 each. Celine Lambert added 11 points, and the rest of the Lady Braves scoring included: Trae Crowe 1, Jackson 4, Alexis Maney 1, Tashina Martin 3, and Jordyn Thompson 6 (both three-point shots).
For more photos of this game, please visit:
https://www.nc-cherokee.com/onefeather/photo-galleries/?album=58&gallery=60
