Matthew Murrell leads Whitehaven to league win at White Station
Before the start of the game, Matthew Murrell went to his coach, Faragi Phillips, and told him that he wanted to guard White Station senior forward Brandon Brown. At first, Phillips was, sort of, hesitant because Murrell does so much…
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Continue ReadingBefore the start of the game, Matthew Murrell went to his coach, Faragi Phillips, and told him that he wanted to guard White Station senior forward Brandon Brown.
At first, Phillips was, sort of, hesitant because Murrell does so much for the Tigers on the offensive end, but Phillips ended up allowing Murrell to take the challenge he asked for.
And it all worked out just fine for Whitehaven.
Murrell had 22 points and was a big reason why the Tigers were able to get the 64-57 win over the Spartans Friday night on the road. The combo guard got hot in the third quarter, scoring seven straight points to put Whitehaven up 45-36. Murrell had help from this teammates, Ragi Phillips and Jesse Payne Jr. Ragi scored nine points – all from deep – in the quarter and Payne Jr. connected on a deep 3 to end the third period, giving the Tigers the 51-42 advantage.
Whitehaven kept pouring it on in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Murrell scored six straight points before Ragi tackled on another 3-pointer, which put the Tigers up 60-44.
Whitehaven did all of this offensive damage without junior big man Jordan Wilmore, who was on the bench for most of the game because of foul trouble. Wilmore picked up two fouls in less than a minute at the start of the third quarter and had to come to the bench, where he sat until the 3:18 mark of the fourth quarter.
Wilmore quickly came in and scored for the Tigers, then quickly picked up his fifth foul, ending his night in frustration. Wilmore finished with just seven points.
Luckily, Whitehaven didn’t need him since the guard play was magnificent from start to finish.
“Obviously, we had some guys that went down for us last year, and we had some young guys to step up, and that’s exactly what they’re doing now,” coach Phillips said. “This is normal for us, and I say that as humbling as I can.
“But, when we raise our game to another level, it shows you the type of perseverance and the type of resiliency we have, but it also shows you what level we can go to when we raise our game to the next level.”
Phillips’ team played tenacious defense.
The Tigers took away Brown’s sweet spots, which are mainly from 3-point range. Murrell, who’s 6-foot-3, made sure he wouldn’t have the 35-point performance he had against Memphis East nor the 34-point performance he had against Memphis Central last week. Murrell was all in his face, refusing to give up any space for Brown to get nice looks at the basket.
The shots that usually fall for Brown didn’t fall whenever Murrell or a couple of his teammates harassed him off the 3-point line. Murrell’s defense on Brown was the difference maker in the game.
“He does so much for us offensively, we try to preserve him as much as we can and try to let him not be so occupied on the defensive end,” Phillips said. “But, he took the challenge tonight and wanted to guard the team’s best player, which was obviously Brandon Brown, and I think he did a phenomenal job.
“Then, Jesse came in midway through the third quarter and finished the job off.”
Brown finished with 19 points to lead White Station (13-10, 2-2) and didn’t make a single 3. Sophomore guard Davon Barnes had 11.
3 takeaways
- With Alvin Miles and Simmie Jones III no longer with Whitehaven, it has opened up opportunities for Ragi Phillips, Jesse Payne Jr., and Kavion McClain. Phillips finished with 17 points, and Payne Jr. added 12. McClain was the facilitator for the Tigers, finding Murrell and company open for nice looks.
- If Brown can’t get going offensively, White Station’s offense becomes stagnant.
- Murrell is a one of a kind basketball player. He’s one in a few guards in the state of Tennessee that can get hot out of the blue.