A good bit of resilience, a few what-ifs – so went Thursday afternoon for Polk County Middle’s boys basketball team.
At one stage of the fourth quarter, Hendersonville Middle owned an 11-point lead. At another stage, Polk Middle had a shot to tie the game. That one didn’t fall, though, and the Bearcats eventually held on for a 43-38 victory in a Blue Ridge Conference matchup at Polk.
The loss left Polk Middle with a 5-7 mark to end the season and a tie for fourth place with Apple Valley in the BRC East Division. How that tie will be broken, and which team advances to the BRC playoffs, will be determined Friday.
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Hendersonville Middle (9-3) grabbed thelead midway through the second quarter and never relinquished it. Yet any time the Bearcats seemed poised to explode its advantage, the Wolverines immediately put together a run to remain close.
Hendersonville led 26-18 at the half, but Kayden Pressley and Hollis Williams scored back-to-back baskets to open the third periodm and Williams hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 28-25. The Bearcats responded with eight straight points and took a 36-25 lead into the final quarter.
The margin remained at 11, 38-27, when the Wolverines mounted a charge. Williams drove for a layup, forced a steal and hit another layup before Brennan Oates theived a Bearcat pass and raced downcourt for yet another layup to make it a 38-33 game.
Hendersonville steadied itself and led 41-34 with 1:22 remaining. But Williams drove the lane for a basket, and another Polk Middle steal led to Oates hitting from the lane to make it 41-38 with less than a minute remaining.
The Wolverines regained possession and Williams had a long 3-point attempt just miss. Polk had two more shots to score, but couldn’t get a shot to fall, and Bentley Park hit two free throws with seven seconds left to secure the win.
Williams finished with 18 points, with Oates adding 11. Carter Wood had five points, with Pressley and Jackson Blotner each adding two.
