BOYS BASKETBALL

Scoring at Murphy Center isn't always easy

Michael Odom
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

MURFREESBORO - One thing that teams from West Tennessee have learned over the past two weeks is that scoring at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University isn't as easy as scoring at home.

The girls basketball teams from Huntingdon and Dresden experienced it last week, and Humboldt got a taste on Thursday.

Humboldt senior Jarred Walker manned up and said that fault for the loss rests on the players.

"My shot wasn't affected by the arena," Walker said. "We just didn't play our best game and didn't come away with the win."

Talking with coaches over the past couple of seasons, and many will tell you that a team needs to make the state tournament once before a run to the title is a possibility.

Humboldt's Kortland Martin attempts a steal from Grace Christian's Grant Ledford during their Class A quarterfinal game, Thursday afternoon. Humboldt fell to Grace, 62-59.

Shooting can be affected with the bigger arena. The floor at MTSU is four feet longer than most high school gymnasium floors, and the goals are floor-mounted with the student sections set up behind the goals.

So for many, playing in the bigger arena can create problems.

Unless you are Clay County senior Tyreke Key, who set the state tournament record for points in a game with 52 in a win over Loretto in the Class A quarterfinals on Thursday. He passed South Fulton's Trey Pearson, who had 50 points in a win over Ezell-Harding in 2001.

But even Key needed a chance to play on the floor last year, when Clay County lost to Hampton in the quarterfinals, to get a true feeling of the court.

Humboldt's Jarred Walker goes up for a shot while being defended by Grace Christian Academy players during their Class A quarterfinal game, Thursday afternoon. Walker scored 6 points in their 62-59 loss to Grace.

Humboldt boys didn't shoot as bad as Huntingdon girls did last week with 11 percent in the first half.

Humboldt shot 39.3 percent from the field with a 5-of-15 mark from 3-point range and a 6-of-13 mark from the free throw line.

But many of the shots that normally go in for the Vikings weren't going in. The area isn't to be blamed for all of that though as Knoxville Grace did have a 6-foot-8 and a 6-foot-7 player on the court most of the game.

"Last year, the guys lost in the first round and learned how to handle this situation," Knoxville Grace coach Mike Doig said.

Michael Odom is the preps writer for The Jackson Sun. Reach him at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.