Lady Toppers back on track with
69-43 win; Alyson Murphy notches 2,000 career points
[February 12, 2026]
There are two big stories out of Mount Pulaski from Wednesday
night.
First the Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers defeated the Class 2A St.
Joseph-Ogden Spartans 69-43 to get back in the win column and
improve their season record to 26-1.
Secondly, senior guard Alyson Murphy scored her 2,000th career point
in the fourth quarter to become only the third basketball player in
Mount Pulaski High School history to earn such an elite
accomplishment.
Murphy joins Jeff Clements and Skylar Hayes in the very rare 2,000
point club.
Clements scored 2,212 in his 1974-1978 career as a Hilltopper.
Hayes is the all-time leading scorer at MPHS. She scored 2,317
career points from 2015-2019.
Only time will tell where Murphy falls on the short list with one
remaining regular season game tonight at Decatur Eisenhower and the
postseason starting next week.
More on Murphy in a minute but first the highlights of the win.
First quarter
The Lady Toppers were off to a fast start on Wednesday night with
Alyson Murphy tossing in the first bucket within the first six
seconds of tip-off. Elayna Marten scored soon after and then it was
Addison Brown with the third basket of the game for Mount Pulaski ~
a three of course. As the crowd would soon witness, Brown was still
on fire from Monday night’s 20-point performance. After Marten drove
the lane and scored at the 3:36 mark the Mount Pulaski lead was a
steady 9-6.
At the 1:46 mark Brown was at it again. She hit a three and this
time she herself got hit. Brown was knocked clear to the ground,
falling backwards, as the ball sailed through the net. If there is a
close-up video of it, it will make a good meme. Brown gets extra
credit for the 4-point play because she knocked that free throw down
like a boss. What a beautiful play! The Spartans outscored Mount
Pulaski 5-2 in the final minute and twenty seconds but the Lady
Toppers held their ground with a 15-11 lead. Murphy’s two free
throws closed out Mount Pulaski's scoring in the first quarter.
Second quarter
The fans got to see some great scoring in the second quarter, along
with both teams playing solid defense. The Lady Toppers started the
quarter with a 9-0 run. Marten poured in a quick two points first
and then it was Brown from the top of the key, nothing but net. As
the 6:10 mark approached, Murphy dribbled around the screen and made
her move to the basket, losing her defender in the process.
Actually, as she spun around towards the basket in the paint, she
sent no. 4 flying out of bounds. However, a quick kiss off the glass
and Murphy had herself two more points. Great move! Thirty seconds
later it was Piper Tyson confidently shooting a short jumper that
glided through the net. Tyson needs to do more of that. At this
moment the Mount Pulaski fans were elated at the 24-11 lead.
Marten’s three-point basket at precisely the 4:00 mark set the score
at 27-14. The next two and a half minutes belonged to the Spartans
offense. The score was 27-21 when Marten stepped to the free throw
line to sink two much needed baskets. Timera Blackburn-Kelley would
sneak in a basket for the Spartans at the buzzer that made the Mount
Pulaski crowd a little anxious. Going into halftime the score was
29-25.
Third quarter
Fans on the Mount Pulaski side were about to get real anxious as the
third quarter started with a three from the Spartans. After a miss
at the other end by Brown, the Spartans took the lead on the next
bucket. Murphy then sank two free throws to fire a slim lead right
back to Mount Pulaski. After Audrey Cooper scored and then Brown hit
another three, the crowd seemed relieved with Mount Pulaski back in
front 36-30. Murphy and Brown continued to score and as the 4:00
mark drew near the lead was 40-30. That 11-0 run by the Lady Toppers
made things much better. Brown was really having herself a night and
after she added a long two she turned around to make a three after a
Mount Pulaski steal. It all happened in about twenty seconds and she
was already sitting on 20 points for the game. The lead was now
45-33 and the Spartans coach called a timeout. Things sure got out
of hand for his team quickly. Murphy finished the quarter with four
more points and Mount Pulaski was up 49-37 with the senior needing
just three more points to reach 2,000. The excitement was definitely
building inside Ed Butkovich Gymnasium.
Fourth quarter
Fifteen seconds into the quarter Murphy collects a pass from Olivia
Smith and takes off towards the Mount Pulaski basket for a layup.
The crowd erupts, knowing Murphy needs just one more point. After
Cooper’s two free throws the score was 53-37 and everybody was
paying attention when Mount Pulaski regained possession of the ball.
Only this time as Murphy was heading towards the basket, she was
called for a charge. The crowd let out a small sigh, evidence of
their disappointment, but no worries. As soon as the Spartans tossed
up a miss at their end, Smith grabbed the rebound again and fired a
pass over to Murphy, who was already on the run. Murphy outran all
but one player up the court. That one player tried to stop her but
Murphy knocked her down and tossed the ball up high off the glass
for points number 2,000 and 2,001. The Mount Pulaski lead was now
55-37.
There was a quick timeout called by Mount Pulaski Coach Ryan
McVickers and the crowd and Murphy’s teammates and coaches took a
few seconds to recognize her achievement. Teammates on the bench
also held up a 2,000 point banner in her honor.
Then it was back to business, finishing off a win.
A major highlight the rest of the game was when the Lady Toppers
reached the score 6-7 again. The girls reached that score thanks to
some free throws and shots from the field by Murphy and Brown. Brown
was the one who made the kids go crazy with her three at the 2:03
mark. At that moment the score was 67-41 and in the eyes of the
little kids in the stands, nothing else mattered. History had
already been made and well, it was history now.
Claire Bobell made the score 69-43 as she hit a nice shot on a
baseline drive just under the one minute mark.
No one else scored and that was the ballgame.
A great crowd was on hand once again for the game and the Mount
Pulaski student section was electric from the tip-off. Some of the
students dressed up and sat at a table with the words “ESPN”
displayed. They “called” the game all night long and kept their
fellow students in the game. Tremendous energy by the students and
the girls went over and recognized their efforts as soon as the
handshake line was complete after the buzzer.
What a night for Alyson Murphy!
She finishes with 23 points and that brings her career total to
2,006 points.
Addison “Boo” Brown continues to shoot like she’s Azzi Fudd and she
dropped in 23 points too.
Elayna Marten is as solid as they come and she scored 14 points.
Audrey Cooper had four points and four assists.
Olivia Smith can battle the boards with the best of them and she
pulled down eight rebounds.
Mount Pulaski forced 12 turnovers and “We take care of the ball,”
said stat man, Steve Nichols, who credited Mount Pulaski with just
five turnovers.
According to Nichols, Mount Pulaski also shot 14-for-18 from the
free throw line.
Mount Pulaski improves to 26-1 on the season.
Kayla Osterbur led the Spartans with 15 points. The Spartans fell to
18-10 on the season.
Mount Pulaski lost the JV game 37-18 to the Spartans.
Tonight the Lady Toppers travel to Decatur to take on the Class 3A
Eisenhower Panthers in the last regular season game.
[to top of second column] |
Alyson Murphy (far right) gets a hug from Piper Tyson as teammates
Elyssa Marten and Eva Leonard are quick to hold the banner. Photo by
Teena Lowery.
The 26-1 Lady Toppers posed with MPHS student section and the ESPN
crew immediately after the win. Photo by Teena Lowery.
The JV game will start at 5:30 p.m. with the Varsity to follow at
7:00 p.m.
The Lady Toppers will open regional action on Monday night at home
with a game at 6:00 p.m. The opponent is yet to be determined based
on Saturday’s game between Cerro Gordo and Neoga.
Coach Ryan McVickers feels like his team is ready for the postseason
and looks forward to what lies ahead for his team.
“We tried to schedule back-to-back really tough 2A teams down the
stretch to really get us prepared for the postseason. After our loss
on Monday I really didn’t know how we’d come out tonight, but we
came out really well,” McVickers said with a smile. “So I am very
excited about that.”
“Another good thing about this win is they (St. Joseph-Ogden)
actually beat us by about fifteen points at their place last year so
it was really nice to get revenge. They had four starters back from
last season so to win the way that we did tonight was really good
for us. We had two people in foul trouble in the first half. Aly was
in foul trouble and then Liv was in foul trouble. We were up by
eleven and then we let that lead dwindle by a little bit. But the
rest of the team is not too used to playing with those two off of
the floor this year so once we got them both back in the second half
it was just a whole new ballgame and it was our ballgame.”
Mount Pulaski had three solid offensive efforts tonight from the
trio of Murphy, Brown and Marten. The three combined for 60 of the
Lady Toppers 69 points.
“Oh my gosh, Elayna was great, too. And that is what is just huge
for us,” said McVickers. “It’s going to be big for us going forward.
It’s gotta be a three-headed monster, or if not a four-headed
monster, for us going forward so that way people cannot just key on
Aly or key on Addison. We have to try to get everybody going.”
But it’s definitely appropriate to key on Alyson Murphy right now at
this moment. She deserves it. She’s earned it.
When asked about his senior star guard, McVickers asked, “Well, how
much battery life do you have on your phone because I can talk all
night about Alyson Murphy.”
“She has started for me, every single game, even as a freshman,”
said McVickers. “Not too many kids can say that in their career. She
stepped in and from day one, started every game. And it wasn’t like
“Oh, we’re a bad team so we’re starting a freshman.” No. We’ve had
really good teams. We’ve won 20 games every single year. So she’s
been a part of some really good teams and she is just that kind of
player. She is just that special.”
McVickers and anybody who has ever coached Alyson Murphy would have
to agree that Murphy is a special player and she’s worked hard to
achieve success on and off the court and believe it or not, her
drive to achieve certain goals started at home with her brothers.
Her initial reaction to joining Jeff Clements and Skylar Hayes was
still somewhat surreal following the win over St. Joseph-Ogden.
“It’s definitely crazy but none of this would’ve been possible if it
wasn’t for my family, my friends, my coaches especially, and my
teammates,” said Murphy. “I am super thankful to have my teammates
with me and thankful for the support of the community.”
As far as chasing Skylar Hayes and her record, Murphy admitted that
wasn’t even a thought even four years ago.
Her idea of chasing anything actually started in the driveway at
home when she was really little and playing basketball with her
older brothers, Dustin and Lane.
“My only thought in my mind was to beat my brother Lane’s record,”
Murphy laughed. “I give him crap every now and then but, I mean, him
and Dustin both are the reasons that I have come this far. They have
pushed me ever since I could walk so it’s all because of them.”
“My goals have always been to one-up Lane and Dustin,” Murphy
continued. “Lane went out and scored a career-high of 42 points and
he said, “You’ll never get higher than that.” So last year I went
out and got 43. It’s just a whole circle moment.”
You have to admire the brotherly love and the friendly sibling
rivalry here. From now on though, moving forward with future
conversations at the Murphy family dinner table, it’s Alyson who
owns the family bragging rights.
And she’s not done tallying those points just yet.
Bring on the postseason! But first, make a trip to Decatur tonight
to see the ladies one last time during the regular season as they
play Decatur Eisenhower.
Word is really getting around about the dedicated Mount Pulaski fans
who love to travel. Coach McVickers and his coaching staff and the
girls really appreciate the support, as noted in his following
comments.
“Our fans and this community are just absolutely unbelievable,” said
McVickers. “From Monday night at Clinton to again tonight, the fans
have been absolutely unbelievable. I’ve said it before, but we’ve
had more fans, even on the road, than the home teams have had all
season. I can’t say enough about this community. I can’t say enough
about Alyson Murphy. And I can’t say enough about this team. This
team is just a special group.”
Final note: Alyson is daughter of Tommy and Heather Murphy. Heather
teaches junior high at Chester-East Lincoln. Alyson's grandma, Donna
Vaughan, is also well-known to Lincoln people. She worked for many
years in Lincoln at Logan-Mason Rehab and she is also known as
"Donna Vaughan, the Cake Lady" around Logan County.
Congratulations, Alyson!
Varsity scoring
Mount Pulaski 69
Murphy 23
Brown 23
Marten 14
Cooper 4
Tyson 2
Bobell 2
Martin 1
St. Joseph Ogden 43
Osterbur 15
Blackburn-Kelley 8
Dahl 8
Brooks 3
Beyers 3
Atwood 2
Miller 2
Dirksmeyer 2
[Teena Lowery]
 |
