Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' is here. Let's discuss the collaborators, track list and more
SPORTS

Indy spreads the wealth in semifinal win over Summit

Michael Murphy
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

FRANKLIN — Independence’s Grayson Murphy scored his 2,000th career point Tuesday at Centennial High School, but it took more than the 6-foot-1 senior's scoring prowess for the Eagles to secure a second consecutive Region 6-AAA championship appearance.

Independence's Greg Miller (1) shoots past Summit's Demontay Dixon (20) during the second half at Centennial High School in Franklin on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.

Murphy, the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, finished with 15 points in Tuesday's 66-63 win over rival Summit, and, more importantly, the senior Belmont signee got his teammates involved — a common theme throughout the team's 10-game winning streak.

“I believe we got our confidence back,” said Murphy, whose Eagles endured a six-game regular-season losing streak last month. “We’re making easy buckets and pushing it outside, and we’ve gained the confidence to believe we can make the shot. At the end of the day the ball goes in.”

Teammates Mac James and Greg Miller each finished with 18 points to lead the Eagles (21-10), who'll take on Brentwood in Thursday's Region 6-AAA title game. The backcourt duo also combined to knock down five of Independence’s season-high 10 3-pointers.

“Coach just told us to be aggressive and shoot the ball when we were open,” James said. “That’s what we had to do to win.”

Independence's McKyan "Mac" James (0) shoots past Summit's Tai Carter (2) during the second half at Centennial High School in Franklin on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.

“If we had to pick our poison — let Grayson get loose or take our chances with (James and Miller) shooting 60-70 percent from 3 — we’d probably choose the same thing again,” Summit coach Josh Goodwin added. “They made plays and made shots down the stretch, and they deserved to win.”

Summit junior Jaden Lewis tallied a game-high 21 points to lead the Spartans (23-7), while brothers John and Tai Carter combined to score 29 in the season-ending defeat.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Eagles senior Joe Holdeidi said. “We had a stretch where we lost some games and we were playing one on one and just trying to push the ball, feeling like we need to take it on ourselves to win games. The past couple games we haven’t had the same person be the top scorer, it’s always a different person.

"As long as we play as a team I think we have a good shot of making it to state.”

ReachMichael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter@Murph_TNsports