The Trojans’ 14-year postseason drought is over.
Troy dominated Miami Valley League rival Sidney 55-39 in a Division II district quarterfinal at Vandalia-Butler’s Student Activity Center to earn the program’s first tournament victory since 2012.
“I thought about it when I was a kid all the time. I would go to Troy basketball games and think about winning a playoff game, and it means a lot. Just want to keep winning and do it one game at a time,” Murphy said.
Murphy, a guard, led a balanced scoring effort with 16 points. His last basket — a 3-pointer from the right wing — put the squad up by 17 points with a little under four minutes left, and the margin stayed around that the rest of the way.
Aiden Luis added 12 points for the Trojans (12-11) while Ethane Atkins scored 10, including two 3’s in the first quarter to help the squad take an early 17-11 lead.
Sidney went on a 9-5 run late in the first quarter to pull within three points. Atkins’ second three of the quarter sparked Troy heading into the second, in which it outscored the Yellow Jackets 17-9.
Troy won both MVL matchups in regular season, each in overtime. The Trojans won a season opener 51-49 on Dec. 1 and won 57-54 on Jan. 9 in Sidney.
“We had a great week of practice,” Murphy, who averages about 10 points per game, said. “We were really locked in. Our scout team did a really good job, and our coaches did a really good job of game planning. We watched a lot of film and just made our shots this time. The previous two games, we didn’t hit our shots. We did today and stayed positive.”
Troy coach Mark Hess, who is in his seventh season, said the squad’s shot selection was suspect at times, but he was pleased with the overall effort and the way the squad finished.
“The guys were really committed with, ‘let’s execute, let’s move the ball, let’s get great looks,’ and we did a good job,” Hess said. “I thought Kardel (Winfield) and Max (Gifford) were really good inside. We want to get some paint touches and easy ones for our post players.
“… This was about the first time since Christmas we’ve had everyone healthy. We’ve just been banged up, and it’s been key guys that have been banged up.”
Troy is the No. 2 seed in the northern D-II district and will face No. 3 Miamisburg (5-17) on Monday at Butler. The Trojans won a nonconference matchup against the Vikings 60-52 on their home floor on Dec. 20.
“Miamisburg is really well-coached. They’re going to be physical, they’re going to be tough,” Hess said. “I think Kardel was out the first time, and Josh (Murphy) got hurt that game. So we’ll look a little bit different, and I think we’re playing better here at the back half of the year.”
Troy advanced to a district final in 2012, the last time it had a postseason run. If victorious Monday, it would advance to a final.
“That would mean everything for Troy. We’d do it for everybody,” Murphy said. “Our goal was to win the MVL. That didn’t work out, so the playoffs are what we’ve been waiting for. We’re just going to take it one at a time.”
Junior forward Kaleb Lee led Sidney with 22 points.
“Troy’s good, they’ve got some good guards,” Sidney coach John Willoughby said. “We just looked slow. I thought our feet were slow, our reactions were slow.”
The Yellow Jackets finish 5-18 overall. They lost six seniors to graduation off last year’s 17-win campaign, including two 1,000 point scorers. The program has finished atop its MVL division four times since 2020, but it struggled this season with a young roster.
“We’re not as big as other teams and we’re not as tough, and that’s not a good combination,” Willoughby, who has been at Sidney for 10 seasons after a 30-year career at Houston, said. “The effort around the post isn’t there. That’s all on me. Somehow we’ve got to get quickness in our feet and the toughness.”
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