Polk County’s boys basketball squad finally got back on the court Thursday night – and finally got back to winning ways as well.
Jamal Tanner scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, fueling a determined Polk County rally as the Wolverines fought for a 54-50 win over Madison in Western Highlands Conference action at Polk County.
On the court for just the second time since Jan. 17 and only the sixth time this month, Polk County (5-10, 1-6) snapped an eight-game losing streak, winning for the first time since a Dec. 11 rout of East Henderson. That streak started with a heartbreaking 77-76 loss at Madison. Perhaps it was only fitting the Patriots were present to see its end.
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“I’m as happy as you can be,” said Polk County head coach Josh McEntire. “We kept fighting. We had a chance to give up and quit right there. We got down 13 at one time and we fought right through it.
“We came out and changed defenses. We went to a man, then went to a press and sped them up a little bit and got some things to go our way. That’s the way the game of basketball is. It’s a game of momentum. We got the momentum swung our way and it never went back their way.”
Tanner gave Polk County its first lead of the game with 2:41 remaining, drilling a long 3-pointer from the right wing. The two teams then missed four straight one-and-one opportunities before Tanner made a spinning, driving, whirling layup to give Polk a 53-50 edge with 31 seconds left.
Madison trailed Polk by three in the closing seconds of the teams’ first meeting before Madison’s Tyler McDevitt buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. The Wolverines did not forget that, harassing McDevitt on the perimeter after a Madison timeout and forcing him to pass to a teammate in the corner. Jordan Smith moved over to help trap the ball, allowing Tanner to sneak in behind and steal the ball away with seven seconds left. He was fouled with four seconds remaining and hit one of two free throws to seal the win.
“I told Jamal in the huddle, here’s a chance for redemption,” McEntire said, “We told then that when it gets under 10 seconds and (McDevitt) has the ball, the nearest big guy, go trap. Jordan did it perfectly. He never saw it coming. We got in the trap and it led right to the steal. Jordan did an unbelievable job of coming right off his man and double-teaming, and he never saw him coming.”
Madison turned a 31-25 halftime edge into a 13-point margin in the first three minutes of the third quarter. Tanner scored on a rebound and 3-pointer to break the Patriots’ run, but Madison still led by nine, 42-33, at quarter’s end.
Jaron Bontrager opened the final period with a 3-pointer, Tanner hit two of three free throws after being fouled while also attempting a three and Wes Mullis scored on a layup as the Wolverines quickly pulled within two. Madison pushed the lead back to five, 46-41, with 5:12 left, but a Tanner 3-pointer and a driving basket by Anthony Carson evened the game with 4:44 left.
Madison scored its last basket at the 3:19 mark for a 50-46 edge before Tanner scored the final eight points of the game. That, and Polk County’s swarming defense, meant the night would end with Polk the victor.
“He’s a playmaker, an energy guy. He can make things happen when things aren’t happening,” McEntire said of Tanner. “He did that a couple of times tonight and spurred our runs.”
Polk County Scoring
Jamal Tanner 27, Jaron Bontrager 10, Wes Mullis 6, Anthony Carson 5, Daniel Painter 3, Saquan Miller 2, Jordan Smith 1
