Murphy leads Mount Pulaski Lady
Toppers in 49-32 win over Athens
Hoops for Hope game a huge success with $17,000 raised for the Matt
Olson family
[January 09, 2026]
Alyson Murphy just knows how to win. On Thursday night the senior,
who has been playing basketball for as long as she’s known how to
walk, poured in 20 points as her team defeated a very talented
Athens team 49-32.
Mount Pulaski remains perfect on the season with a 16-0 record.
And what also might be a record is the $17,000 raised for the Matt
Olson family. Olson had emergency open heart surgery last fall and
he still has ongoing medical bills. He will likely be monitored for
the rest of his life. He is a husband and a father to five children.
Year after year the kindness and generosity of the MPHS community is
simply incredible.
Also incredible is the Mount Pulaski head coach, Ryan McVickers, who
mid-way through the fourth quarter was still running the sidelines,
arms and legs dancing in the air, with a hoarse voice, yelling “time
out, time out!”
McVickers has an abundance of positive energy and while he talks
about his team being pumped up, that vibe definitely starts at the
top and trickles its way down the bench.
After the win, McVickers offered his thoughts.
“The shots weren’t falling early,” said McVickers. “Sometimes on a
special night like tonight (Hoops for Hope) or Senior Night, the
girls seem to come out a little too pumped up. I try to tell them to
relax but it’s probably kind of tough for them when I never relax
either.”
“At halftime we told them to just keep playing our game that shots
were going to fall,” he continued. “I told Addy Brown throughout the
entire game, “Keep shooting, I believe in you.” And she had a huge
fourth quarter.”
McVickers summed up Murphy to a tee.
“Alyson is just Alyson. That’s what she does during big games. When
the team needs her most, she shows up! She won’t let us lose!”
As for the volleyball standout, Olivia Smith, who took last year off
from the basketball court, well, she has not missed a beat and her
impact on the team has been huge.
“Liv was an absolute beast on the boards,” said McVickers. “Eleven
tonight! We knew from the start of the year she was going to be a
game changer for us and she has not disappointed.”
Finally, the last two starters, who play quietly but make a ton of
noise with their heart and hustle, are Elayna Marten and Audrey
Cooper.
“I can’t ever talk without Elayna and Coop, too. Coop handles the
ball so well and Elayna does all the little things. She’s always
boxing out, she’s always making great decisions and she’s probably
our best on-ball defender.”
“I can’t say enough about this team!”
McVickers added, “That’s a really good Athens team that beat us last
year and returned four starters.”
Great crowd, great energy, great performance and Mount Pulaski is
16-0. Keep up the great work, girls!
First quarter
Mount Pulaski won the tip and three seconds later Audrey Cooper was
tossing in the first basket on the assist from Alyson Murphy. Elayna
Marten drove through the lane for Mount Pulaski’s next basket and it
was a quick 4-0 lead for the Lady Toppers. Lydia Hart would score
her first three just under the six minute mark to put the Warriors
on the board. Murphy’s bucket in the lane extended the lead to 6-3
but the Warriors fought back to a 7-6 lead. Addison Brown tied the
game on a free throw after she was fouled shooting a three. Free
throws were traded the rest of the quarter with Ella Martin and
Murphy each making one to settle the first quarter score in Mount
Pulaski’s favor, 9-8.
Second quarter
Murphy owned the second quarter. She hit her first three of the game
at the 7:01 mark, hit another one at precisely the 5:00 mark and
finally dropped the third one in with 3:07 on the clock. She added a
free throw for ten points in the quarter and Mount Pulaski was up
21-15 with three minutes to play. Olivia Smith also added a bucket
in between a couple of those 3s by Murphy. Cooper finished the
scoring in the quarter as she muscled her way to the basket and
scored, drawing the foul. She sank the free throw and Mount Pulaski
was on top 24-18 at the half.
Third quarter
The Warriors scored the first five points of the third quarter and
with the score 24-23, Mount Pulaski was really struggling on
offense. Shots were not falling at all for the Lady Toppers. In
fact, Murphy would score the only four points in the quarter for
Mount Pulaski and that left the Lady Toppers clinging to a 28-26
lead.
[to top of second column] |
The Matt Olson family is surrounded by the Mount Pulaski Lady
Toppers and the Athens Warriors prior to the start of the game on
Hoops for Hope night at MPHS. Photo by Teena Lowery
Fourth quarter
Murphy got her team and the crowd pumped up when she hit a three
from the top of the key with 7:26 on the clock. Murphy now had 20 of
the team’s 31 points. The girl is a baller, and that is the word
that even local legendary coach Kari Froebe uses to describe Murphy.
If Murphy owned the second quarter, then Brown owned the fourth
quarter.
With 6:43 on the clock, Brown was fouled shooting a three but this
time when she went to the line she swished each and every shot. That
pried the lid off the basket for Brown, who had been struggling
offensively earlier in the game. But the Warriors came back with a
three from Hart and with the score 34-29 the game was still up for
grabs.
A huge shift in the momentum of the game came after Athens was
called for an over and back and Mount Pulaski got possession of the
ball. After some great ball movement, it was Brown who found Smith
wide open on the baseline and she fired a quick pass to her for the
shot. It was a huge basket for Mount Pulaski at the time and it
really seemed to ignite a spark in the Lady Toppers.
Smith’s defense had been outstanding all night long so it was nice
to see her light up the scoreboard, especially since she spends a
good portion of her time literally on the court fighting for the
ball. But hey, there would be another game changing moment at the
4:36 mark when Brown connected for a three after what seemed to be a
long dry spell from beyond the arc for her. This three-pointer gave
the Lady Toppers a 40-29 lead. After Brown hit another three at the
3:14 mark the lead was 46-31 and between the five Mount Pulaski
girls on the court and the fantastic MPHS student section, there was
a level of confidence that a win was in sight. Mount Pulaski
definitely had the edge with the home court advantage and also
nothing rattled these Lady Toppers on the court. They just play with
poise and consistency and thankfully enough patience to see the
shots start to fall again.
After Elayna Marten took a layup for Mount Pulaski, the lead grew to
48-31 with just over a minute to play. The 49-32 final was settled
at the free throw line.
Honestly, it was a game where the refs just let the girls play.
There will always be questionable calls but regardless the ten girls
on the court played really hard, giving it their all until the very
end.
Addison Brown joined Alyson Murphy in double-figures, finishing with
11 points.
Olivia Smith was a huge factor in the win with her defense and she
pulled down 11 rebounds while tossing in five points.
Lydia Hart led Athens with 12 points. She scored a three in each
quarter.
Athens won the JV game 20-17 over Mount Pulaski.
Mackenzie Johnston led Mount Pulaski with 13 points in the JV game.
Mount Pulaski will play at Warrensburg-Latham on Monday night. The
JV game will start at 6:00 p.m. The Varsity will tip-off at 7:30
p.m.
Mount Pulaski 49
Murphy 20
Brown 11
Marten 6
Smith 5
Cooper 5
Martin 1
Bobell 1
Athens 32
Hart 12
Bee 5
Derringer 4
Dierker 3
Rhoades 3
Harris 2
Womble 2
Curry 1
Mount Pulaski 17
Johnston 13
Killion 2
Bender 1
Titus 1
Athens 20
Lewis 6
Cunningham 5
Curry 4
Hayes 2
Cooper 2
Womble 1
[Teena Lowery]
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