One bad quarter is becoming a trend that Polk County has seen too much of this season.
In all five of its losses, Polk County has had one quarter in which it failed to score at least 10 points while giving up at least 12. It happened Friday night in the second period, Mountain Heritage outscoring the Wolverines 18-7 in the quarter to key a 63-54 Western Highlands Conference victory at Polk.
The second-quarter differential Friday night looked much like the slow periods in the Wolverines’ earlier losses:
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- A 12-5 second quarter against East Henderson
- A 21-7 third quarter against Landrum
- A 16-5 fourth quarter at East Henderson
- A 17-7 second quarter at Mitchell
- The 18-7 second quarter Friday night
“The second quarter seems to be our problem this year,” said Polk County head coach Josh McEntire. “Last year it was the third.”
Mountain Heritage (4-3, 2-0) held Polk County without a field goal in the second quarter Friday, in part due to solid defense (Polk had just four field-goal attempts in the quarter) and in part due to a lot of fouls (the Wolverines did score seven points from the foul line).
Polk County (3-5, 1-2) didn’t hit the first of those free throws until 3:43 remained in the quarter, a stretch that allowed the Cougars to build a 10-point advantage. Mountain Heritage led by 12 at the break, leaving Polk County facing another uphill fight in the second half.
“The game turned in the second quarter and we had to play from behind the whole game and fight like crazy,” McEntire said. “I told them after the game that I was proud of the effort.
“We’ve got to make free throws and make shots around the basket. That was the difference in the game.”
After struggling at the free-throw stripe in the first half, the Wolverines did finish 25-of-38 at the line and did rally in the fourth quarter. Polk County’s full-court trap began to cause problems for Mountain Heritage, producing enough turnovers to help Polk County cut the deficit to five, 54-49, with 2:59 remaining.
But the Cougars kept Polk from getting any closer, doing enough at the free-throw line to keep the Wolverines at bay.
“(The trap) worked really well. Maybe we should have gone to it earlier,” McEntire said. “But we had a seven or eight-man rotation with some injuries and everything and I thought it might wear us out. It seemed to give them fits at times.”
Jamal Wheeler had 17 points to lead Polk County, which also got 13 from Dillion Overholt, 11 from Wes Mullis and 10 from Jaymes Wingo. Davis Derkach added three points to round out the scoring.
Polk County is back in action on Monday, opening three days of play in the Holidays on the Hardwood tournament in Cherokee. The Wolverines face Asheville at 5:30 in their tourney opener.
