Wolverines hampered by point guard problems in key stretch of loss to East Henderson

A point without a point made it hard Wednesday for Polk County to score any points.

Threatening to climb back into the game in the third quarter after trailing by 11 at halftime, the Wolverines encountered a stretch in which the team’s top two point guards, Jamal Wheeler and Holden Owens, were forced off the floor. That slowed Polk County’s comeback bid and allowed East Henderson to pull away for a 59-44 victory in a non-conference game at Polk County.

Make no mistake – the Eagles (5-2) more than deserved the win. East effectively ran its motion offense throughout the game and knocked down a number of outside shots. Senior point guard Lane Justus finished with 27 points, nearly all from the perimeter, where he seemingly couldn’t miss.

But accustomed to having either Wheeler or Owens on the floor leading the attack, Polk County (0-8) found itself struggling to get into its offense with both sidelined in the third quarter, Wheeler in foul trouble with four, Owens suffering a lower leg or ankle injury late in the period. His status was unknown after the game.

“We had it down to seven or eight points and we lost both of our point guards,” said Polk County head coach Josh McEntire. “With neither one of them available, we were going to struggle. They’re the only two who have played the position.

“Honestly, I’m very pleased with what we’re doing defensively. But we’ve got to get better offensively. Offense can come over time as these kids work together and get better. Our defense is where it needs to be be. Offense is going to come next.”

East Henderson took command of the game late in the first period, scoring the final eight points of the quarter, capped by a Justus 3-pointer, to take a 17-5 advantage. Polk County began to chip away at the margin, with Wes Mullis scoring five straght points and Wheeler hitting a layup to make it a 19-13 game with 5:20 left in the half.

Justus hit another 3-pointer, and East soon edged back ahead by double digits, building a 34-23 lead at the half.

Wheeler and Arnie Twitty each had 10 points to lead Polk County, with Mullis adding nine.

Polk County Scoring
Jamal Wheeler 10, Arnie Twitty 10, Wes Mullis 9, Jason Chupp 4, Davis Derkach 3, Daniel Painter 3, Jaylan Wilkins 2, DJ Twitty 1, A.J. Searcy 1, Holden Owens 1