Two weeks ago, Polk County boys basketball coach Josh McEntire stood in front of his Wolverines, held up a copy of the Western Highlands Conference standings and noted three things – Polk County’s residence near the bottom of those standings, the tightly-grouped list of teams just above and the fact that all of those teams were upcoming opponents.
In short, opportunity awaited. And the Wolverines have seized it.
Polk County moved into sole possession of second place in the WHC on Thursday night, knocking off Mountain Heritage 55-47 at home for its fourth consecutive win. Just as importantly, the Wolverines are now the top 2A team in the league, trailing only 1A Avery, and have positioned themselves for not only a playoff berth, but a possible first-round home game.
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Four league games still remain, and just as quickly as the Wolverines (5-12, 5-3) have climbed the ranks a losing streak could send them tumbling down. But its postseason fate now lies firmly in Polk County’s grasp.
“We’ve been talking about this for two weeks now,” McEntire said. “I put the standings on the board and told them we’re 1-3, Owen is tied with us and everyone else is bunched together. We win the next four or five ball games and we’re right where we want to be.
“Now we need to stay focused. We’ve got four (WHC) games left, and if we win three of those four games, I think we’ve got a good shot at being the top 2A team in the conference.”
Winning basketball teams typically make their own good fortune, and the Wolverines have certainly done that of late. But bounces seem to also go the way of teams on a roll, and Polk County got a couple of those late Thursday night.
Leading by 10 with 2:54 remaining, the Wolverines suddenly saw that lead dwindle to four as Avery Austin, the conference’s leading scorer, drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 51-47 game with two minutes left. A missed one-and-one then gave the ball back to the Cougars (8-8,4-4), and Austin was fouled with 1:24 remaining.
Six-of-six at the foul line in the game to that point, Austin promptly missed both attempts. The Wolverines rebounded, and Jamal Wheeler was fouled with 40 seconds remaining. He hit both attempts at the foul line to boost the lead back to six, and the Cougars didn’t score again.
Austin finished with 24 points, but after seeing the senior score 31 earlier this season and 40 in a meeting last year, McEntire felt OK about that total.
“We always wanted to know where he was at, to cheat toward him no matter what,” McEntire said. “We wanted to force him to hit tough shots and force someone else to hit some shots.”
That the Wolverines won Thursday night could also be credited, in part, to its effort on the offensive boards, and no example of that stood out more than in a third-period run in which Polk took command of the game.
Polk took a 22-20 lead at halftime, getting two points after the halftime buzzer sounded when Austin was hit with a technical after stepping on Polk’s Jason Chupp while Chupp was trying to lift himself off the floor. Wheeler hit both free throws from that technical for the halftime margin.
The Wolverines then led 26-23 early in the third quarter when Wes Mullis was fouled while scoring inside. Mullis missed his free throw – the Wolverines were 12-of-25 at the foul line for the game – but Daniel Painter outjumped a Heritage defender to keep the ball in Polk’s possession. Arnie Twitty then drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to complete a five-point possession and give Polk a 31-23 advantage.
The lead grew to 11 before Mountain Heritage cut the deficit to seven, 40-33, at quarter’s end. Wheeler opened the fourth period with a steal and dunk, but the Wolverine lead still stood at seven when Jaylin Wilkins was fouled at the 5:03 mark. Wilkins hit the first throw and missed the second, but Polk again controlled the rebound, and Twitty again scored to make it 47-37 with 4:58 left.
Polk County also secured offensive rebounds on consecutive missed free throws in the final two minutes after Wheeler’s two foul shots had built that 53-47 edge, denying Heritage the ball and running vital time off the clock.
“Arnie, Wes, even Daniel were crashing the boards,” McEntire said. “We wanted to hit the boards hard. That gets us extra possessions.”
Wheeler had 22 points and four steals for Polk County, with Twitty scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds. Chupp had seven rebounds as well for the Wolverines, who host West Henderson on Friday.
Polk County Scoring
Jamal Wheeler 22, Arnie Twitty 15, Jason Chupp 6, Wes Mullis 4, Jaylin Wilkins 3, Daniel Painter 3, Holden Owens 2
