On top of the mountain: North Murray secures top spot in region with big senior night win

Published 12:02 am Saturday, February 2, 2019

CHATSWORTH — After setting numerous program firsts this season, North Murray High School basketball coach Tim Ellis said the work has only just begun.

“I knew if we stayed healthy this year we had the parts to have a great regular season,” Ellis said. “But that’s just it. It ain’t over.”

North Murray defeated Sonoraville, 54-27, at home on Friday night and with the win ended a regular season that set a new bar for boys basketball at the school. This year’s team is the first to win 20 games in the regular season, finish the regular season undefeated at home and earn a No. 1 seed in their region tournament.

Those facts were not lost in minds of the players on senior night.

“You always hear that you have to go through struggles to make success sweeter,” North Murray senior Thomas Petty said. “The last few years were a struggle. This year it’s really sweet.”

Sonoraville jumped to an early 11-3 lead in the first quarter as the Mountaineers came out lacking their usual aggressiveness. Junior point guard Ladd McConkey’s 3-pointer halted the run by Sonoraville and started a 20-0 run for North Murray. Sonoraville did not score for the remainder of the first quarter or at all in the second quarter and North Murray took a 23-11 lead into halftime.

“We played well tonight especially defensively,” Ellis said. “They hit 12 3-pointers on us at their place and beat us in double overtime. We didn’t want to allow that here at home.”

North Murray, as it has all season, played nearly its entire roster throughout the game. Eight players scored for the Mountaineers, who used their stifling defensive pressure and precision half -court offense to wear down Sonoraville. McConkey was the catalyst, setting up his teammates with five assists and finishing with six points. Out all last year recovering from injury, the difference has been tangible this year with McConkey back.

“He’s the glue, man. He’s the glue for the whole team,” Ellis said. “Always has been. That’s why we struggled so much last year.”

Luke Griffin led North Murray with 10 points, while Petty finished with nine points. With the lead in hand in toward the end of the third quarter, McConkey found fellow junior Chaisen Buckner on a backdoor alley-oop for a slam dunk. The Mountaineer bench erupted with elation after the play and the Mountaineers cruised to victory in the fourth quarter.

“Chaisen (Buckner) has been dunking since seventh grade,” McConkey said. “It’s always fun throwing him oops because it gets the crowd into it.”

Ellis said it’s been fun coaching this year’s team with all the different “toys” on his roster. The balance displayed throughout the regular season, both offensively and defensively, has paid dividends for North Murray. With the Region 6-3A tournament to begin next week at Ringgold, both players and coach are on the same page as far as goals and expectations.

“If we go through here and don’t win the region tournament, people will think it’s a letdown. Those players will think it’s a letdown,” Ellis said. “I won’t necessarily think it’s a letdown because of what they’ve accomplished. It’s what I love about basketball. On any given night anybody can beat anybody in a tournament atmosphere.”