Murray County stopped Signal Mountain's second-half run behind leading scorers Tad Stone and Carson Weaver in a 51-43 win in their first game of the 2021 Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic.
Stone was the Indians’ leading scorer as he finished with 16 total points. The 6-foot-3 guard capped his performance with a standing dunk in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Weaver registered 13 rebounds and 12 points for a double-double.
Murray Co.
was not reliant on the 3-pointer, with only three field goals being scored from behind the arc. Signal Mountain’s Andrew Matukewicz and Chris Kennedy combined for six treys, as they finished with 13 and 14 points respectively.
All 12 of the Indians on the roster received playing time in the win, with seven players scoring.
Likewise, the Eagles had seven players score, with most players receiving minutes on the court.
After a struggle to pry the lid off the basket, the first bucket came around three minutes into the game. The two teams competed with aggressive defensive play, with a score of 14-12 in favor of the Indians in the first quarter.
Murray Co. began to find more of an offensive rhythm in the second quarter and played lock-down defense against Signal Mountain. Holding the Eagles to only 10 points in the second quarter, the Indians went into the half with a five-point lead, 27-22.
To open the third quarter, Signal Mountain changed their defensive scheme as they began to trap the Murray Co. guards. As they hustled out to a lead after a 9-4 run, the momentum was in favor of the Eagles.
“We did not come out of the gates in the second half like how we wanted to, and we seemed like we were a step slow, and they got after us,” said Indians Head Coach Greg Linder. “But, they found some motivation and began playing again. It started on the defensive end. We forced quite a few turnovers and bad shots, once that happened we were able to rotate guys in.”
That is exactly what happened as Murray Co. started a run of its own. They were down by four points at one point in the third quarter—Signal Mountain would not score again in the third quarter—but concluded with a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Indians’ run was spearheaded by Stone and Weaver.
“Those are the two guys we depend on every night,” said Linder. “Most of their rebounds and some of the points came on that run.”
After a layup alley-oop and a dunk by the Indians, they pulled away to a comfortable lead. The final buzzer sounded and the Indians secured their second win of the season.
“We are starting to come along and guys are finding their roles. That was evident tonight,” said Linder.
Murray Co. will be back in action on the final night of the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic against Northwest Whitfield on November 24. Signal Mountain will face the same foe tomorrow, November 23, in hopes of picking up their first win of the season.
SUMMARY
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 12 10 9 12 - 43
MURRAY COUNTY 14 13 11 13 - 51
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN (43) - Chris Kennedy 14, Andrew Matukewicz 13, Wolfard 6, Timblin 4, Ottley 4, Sveadas 2
MURRAY CO. (51)- Tad Stone 16, Carson Weaver 12, Hooker 8, Bennett 7, Hernandez 4, Stanley 4.
3-POINT GOALS: Signal Mountain 6 (Kennedy 3, Matukewicz 3); Murray County 3 (Hooker 2, Weaver 1)