For most of three quarters on Tuesday, Polk County withstood everything that Patton could throw at them.
For a couple of stretches, though, the Wolverines went as cold as the weather outside. Those droughts allowed the Panthers to pull away to a 78-62 win as both teams returned to action after the Christmas break.
“These guys play with tremendous heart,” Polk County coach Josh Money said. “All year long, the effort is there. We just have stretches where we can’t put the ball in the hole, and that’s been the difference in every game we’ve played.”
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Polk led throughout the first quarter, pushing the advantage to 19-14 after one quarter thanks to a five-point run from Blake Anderson, who hit a 3-pointer and a bucket in the closing seconds of the opening period. They pushed the lead to 24-18 on Khalil Austin’s triple with just more than 4:30 to play in the opening half.
Then they went cold, allowing Patton to rally for the lead as the Panthers scored eight straight, including a 3-pointer by Nate Waters that made it 26-24 Patton.
The Wolverines answered immediately, but trailed 31-30 at the half. It would stay nip-and-tuck until midway through the third, when the Wolverines would go cold again. Aaron Jackson’s basket cut the Patton lead to 39-38 with just under three minutes to play in the third, but Polk wouldn’t score again from the field for the rest of the quarter. The Wolverines did get four free throws from Khristian Littlejohn and two from Nate Fagan, but couldn’t manage a field goal as Patton used an 18-6 run to take a commanding lead at 57-44.
The Wolverines made one more run, cutting the lead to 10 on Jackson’s free throw with 4:16 to play. But Patton would score seven points in a row to stretch the lead back to 17 and put it away for good.
“I thought we commanded the first half really well,” Money said. “But that four-minute stretch turned all the momentum to their side, and we couldn’t get anything to go and we had a couple lapses on defense, and that was the difference in the game.”
Littlejohn scored 21 to lead the Wolverines, with Jackson adding 13.
