Murphy, Cavaliers pull away from Tunstall in second half

CHATHAM — Patrick Murphy had no trouble scoring against Tunstall on Wednesday night in the season opener. As the Chatham senior guard kept filling the basket, it was a matter of time before his teammates got into a rhythm as well.

The Cavaliers finally found their team shooting stroke in the fourth quarter, pulling away from the Trojans for a 64-47 victory in the season opener for both teams.

Murphy, who returns as the Dogwood District’s leading scorer, scored 31 points — including 21 of the Cavaliers’ 28 points in the second and third quarters. The 6-foot-1 guard hit three of his game-high five 3-pointers in that stretch.

“It took a team effort,” Chatham coach Barry Mayo said. “We knew we had to make those adjustments defensively (at halftime). Offense, we had to get it clicking to where we were moving the ball, and finding open spots and open people. Coming out in the second half, we had to get one basket at a time and inch our way back in.”

Chatham (1-0) needed every point from Murphy as the Trojans (0-1) used a 16-0 run in a 6-minute span between the first and second quarters to take a 20-12 lead midway through the second quarter. Tunstall, which only dressed nine players, slowed the game down and came away with points on most of the possessions during the run.

Shawn Ferrell scored eight of his team-high 22 points during that stretch. Fellow guard Ben Cobbs finished with 16 points and hit four 3-pointers.

“The first half, we played the way we wanted to play,” Tunstall coach Eddy Lloyd said. “I really was not pleased with our play in the third quarter. Our shot selection was not good in the third quarter, we had some empty possessions where we turned the ball over in the third quarter. I told them in the locker room at halftime, I said the first four minutes of the second half would be extremely important to the outcome of this game. I don’t think we met the challenge there.”

Tunstall went 4½ minutes without scoring in the third quarter, allowing Chatham to tie the contest at 37 with 2 minutes left in the quarter. From there, Chatham was able to remain in control and use a strong fourth quarter to put away its Pittsylvania County rival.

After Chatham was able to take a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers were able to exploit the Trojans’ lack of depth, getting easy transition baskets and wearing down Tunstall inside. Cam McClellan scored 12 of his 14 points in the final period and Marcus Waller added 11.

“I knew when we were going up, I saw that Tunstall was getting to the point they were getting tired,” Mayo said. “I knew when we got a pretty good decisive lead of at least five or six points, I knew I was going to work the clock and go to the spread.

“I think he understands the fact he knows he had to get the team to the point where everybody had to come together and dig down and get one basket at a time,” Mayo said of Murphy’s performance.

Chatham 64, Tunstall 47
Tunstall (0-1)
Hendrix 0 0-0 0, Huffman 0 0-0 0, Gore 1 2-2 4, Cobbs 4 4-4 16, Ferrell 9 3-7 22, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Jackson 1 0-0 3, Woodard 0 0-0 0, Holdness 0 0-0 . Team 16 9-13 47.
Chatham (1-0)
Russell 0 0-0 0, McClellan 4 6-7 14, Cunningham 1 0-2 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Murphy 9 8-10 31, Waller 5 1-2 11, M. Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Rogers 2 2-4 6, Irven 0 0-0 0. Team 21 17-25 64.
Tunstall 13 18 8 8 -  47
Chatham 12 14 14 24 -  64
3-point goals: Murphy 5, Cobbs 4, Ferrell, Jackson. Fouled out: None.