Chris Tipton was hired in July to head a Murray County girls' basketball program that was in the midst of a nearly two-decade playoff drought. Seven months later he has the Lady Indians one win away from ending that run.
Murray (17-4, 11-2) defeated Ringgold 63-55 Tuesday night, completing a Region 6-AAA regular season sweep of the perennial playoff program and cementing Tipton's team as one of the area's top Cinderella teams.
"It's really kind of special for our girls to be this close to clinching a playoff spot," said Tipton, whose team can secure the region's No. 2 spot behind Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and a bye into the region tournament semifinals with one win in its final three games. By reaching at least the semifinal round the Lady Indians would automatically qualify for the GHSA Class AAA state tournament.
"They haven't won more than 15 games since 2003, so it's a really big deal to be 17-4 and it means even more to get this win against a team coached by Margaret Stockburger, who is one of the best around," added Tipton, whose team also received 17 points from junior Ella Dotson. "We're walking on new ground, which is very exciting for our program."
After host Ringgold (17-6, 10-4) came out hot with a 21-17 lead after one quarter, Murray rallied behind junior forward Mattie Nuckolls, who scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the period as the Lady Indians outscored the Lady Tigers 18-7.
Though Murray would never trail again the game wasn't without late drama. Ringgold, behind senior Baileigh Pitts (19 points) and point guard Rachel Lopez (16 points), closed within three in the final two minutes before Murray's Kiersten Hixson hit a 3-pointer to silence the rally.
"The biggest improvement here is really just our culture," Tipton said. "One thing I've been harping on is we expect you to play hard every night, whether the shots fall or not. That's what we hang our hat on and the girls do a good job of it.
"The neat thing about it is we're still improving and I think we're 10 games away from hitting our stride."
GIRLS' RESULTS
> Calhoun 56, Woodland-Bartow 31: Sa'Niah Dorsey led the Lady Yellow Jackets (15-7, 5-2) with 14 points in the Region 7-AAAAA win, followed by Kat Atha with 13 and Lauren Watson with 10.
> Trion 70, Bowdon 34: The Lady Bulldogs (16-6, 11-0) remained perfect in Region 6-A public as I'ziah McCutchins had 16 points, with Anna Edge adding 15 and Jenna Mosley 13.
> Notre Dame 50, Chattanooga Christian 47: Maliyah Maples hit a game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds left in overtime to help the Lady Fighting Irish improve to 20-8 overall. Notre Dame's Kenzie Campbell scored 17 points and made four 3-pointers while Dayonna Perryman tallied 10 points. CCS was led by Maddy Zidan's 14 points.
> East Hamilton 55, East Ridge 21: Niya McGhee dominated with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals for the Lady Hurricanes (14-9, 10-0 6-AAA) who also received double figure scoring efforts from Morgan Bone and Tristin Sutton with 12 and 11.
> Hixson 37, Central 26: Lauren Fuller dished out five assists while Anna Johnson scored 12 points and had four steals to help key the Lady Wildcats' victory.
> Whitwell 52, Silverdale 48: Addie Colvard scored 18 points and Jamie Rollins added 14 to lead a tough road victory. Silverdale's Bentlee Stiner led all with 20 points.
BOYS' RESULTS
> Red Bank 62, Soddy-Daisy 42: With under two minutes until halftime a brawl broke out between the Lions and Trojans in what was a chippy first half. Red Bank was left with only five players after ejections and had one of those players foul out early in the fourth quarter. Reco Trimble, Kendrick Lloyd, Kris Clay and Haden Spurgeon managed to help Red Bank (18-4, 9-1 6-AAA) extend its lead in the final quarter.
> East Hamilton 79, East Ridge 51: Senior 6-foot-8 forward Cade Pendleton took over scoring 21 points while Zach Harris added 20 points and made four 3-pointers to spark the Hurricanes (14-10, 9-1 6-AAA). Cadion Harris made three 3s and scored 15 points for the Pioneers.
> Baylor 60, Knox Webb 50: The Red Raiders (15-5, 3-2 D II-AA East) scored 22 fourth quarter points to seal a key region victory at home. Senior Al Peciulis scored 16 points while freshman Cam Sparks added 15 in the win. Eli Sparkman also made three first quarter 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
> Polk County 63, Marion County 54: Alex Armstrong led the way with 19 points and Kolten Casson stepped up big with 13 points and three 3-pointers in the district win for the Wildcats (16-5, 4-3 District 4-2A).
> Northwest Whitfield 81, Pickens 57: The Bruins (19-3, 8-3) ran out to a 30-11 lead after one quarter and never looked back in the Region 7-AAAA win. Will Anderson had eight 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 25 points, including 12 in the first quarter. Payton Baker had nine of his 21 points in the opening stanza and Collin Hall finished with 14 for Northwest.
> Bowdon 71, Trion 57: Ben Allen and Jase Mason led Trion with 14 and 11 points, respectively, in the Region 6-A public loss. Kolton Drummond topped Bowdon with 21 points.
> LaFayette 71, Sonoraville 54: Aidan Hadaway led a trio of double-figure scorers with 24 points, followed by Junior Barber with 19 and Jaylon Ramsey 11 for the Ramblers (21-0, 14-0 in Region 6-AAA).
> Calhoun 85, Woodland-Bartow 72: Dylan Faulkner and Peyton Law each had 20 points as the Yellow Jackets (15-5, 6-1) rolled to the Region 7-AAAAA win.