When Polk County head coach Josh McEntire saw Mitchell elect to play Jamal Wheeler man-to-man in the waning seconds Tuesday night, he had a good idea what was about to happen.
For that matter, so did nearly everyone else in the gym.
That group likely included the five Mitchell defenders that Wheeler dribbled around and through to score the game-winning basket with three seconds left, lifting Polk County to a crucial 74-73 victory in a Western Highlands Conference battle.
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Just like that, the Wolverines (5-12, 3-4) are back solidly in the WHC playoff picture. Polk County travels Wednesday to face an Owen team that, thanks to winter weather and Buncombe County policies, hasn’t officially been on a court in nearly a week. A win would move Polk into a tie with Owen for the WHC’s second automatic 2A playoff slot, with the two teams scheduled to meet again next week in Columbus.
“It’s a huge win for us,” said Polk County head coach Josh McEntire. “It got us back into the conference race. Now we’re just trying to get back into the middle of it and have a chance at a playoff run.”
That opportunity didn’t come without ample drama.
Mitchell (3-16, 3-4) trailed by 10 early in the fourth quarter, but used a 3-point barrage to catch Polk and take a 67-63 lead. Wheeler answered with a 3-pointer at the 4:05 mark before the teams swapped baskets and foul shots until the Mountaineers led, 72-70, with 1:19 left.
Mitchell stull clung to that lead, and took possession of the ball after a Polk turnover, with 47 seconds remaining. With the Wolverines preparing to foul, Mitchell’s Justin Greene had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left and decided to take it. The shot missed, and Wheeler drew a foul shortly thereafter. He hit both free throws to make it 72-72 with 27 seconds left.
Mitchell’s standout sophomore, Max Spurling, then hit one of two free throws with 11.5 seconds left to give the Mountaineers a 73-72 edge. Polk called timeout, and McEntire designed a play with two options, one if Wheeler drew a double team, one if he didn’t.
Wheeler took the inbounds pass, weaved past two Mountaineers by the halfcourt stripe and split the remaining three, his shot falling through the basket with three seconds left. Officials then blew their whistle with 1.5 seconds left and awarded the Mountaineers a timeout, the clock running down to 0.6 seconds before stopping. After a conference, those officials put 3.5 seconds back on the clock.
Mitchell managed a long 3-point try at the buzzer that missed.
“We felt good about our game plan and executed it, for the most part,” McEntire said. “We just kept fighting and didn’t give up. We kept fighting and kept playing and did enough to win at the end.”
Polk County raced to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, then extended the margin to 31-14 with 6:24 left in the second period. But the Mountaineers began to click, rallying to cut the Wolverine lead to 39-34 at the half.
The Mountaineers got within two late in the third period before baskets by Daniel Painter, Davis Derkach and Wheeler in the final minute gave the Wolverines a 59-51 edge at quarter’s end. Dillion Overholt opened the fourth with a basket to make it 61-51, but that’s when the Mountaineers got hot from outside, hitting 3-pointers on three straight possessions, and set the stage for the dramatic ending.
“The first quarter was probably the best quarter we played all year,” McEntire said. “We hit on all cylinders. We were moving the ball, making the right passes and knocking down shots.”
Wheeler scored 33 points to lead Polk County, with Overholt scoring 13, Painter scoring 11 and Wes Mullis scoring 10. Holden Owens added three points and Derkach and Jaylon Bontrager each had two. Spurling had 20 points to pace Mitchell.
