Polk County’s girls basketball program is heading back to the state playoffs.
The Wolverines earned a postseason berth for the first time since 2015, receiving an at-large berth into the state 1A playoffs. Polk County will travel to Lincoln Charter in the opening round, set for Tuesday.
That matchup is according to unofficial pairings released Saturday by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. The NCHSAA will finalize those pairings later Saturday.
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Lincoln Charter finished 15-9 this season, including a 10-0 mark in the Southern Piedmont Conference. The Eagles are led by 5-8 freshman Lauren Horton (13.6 ppg) and 5-7 junior Felicity Fields (11.2 ppg).
The Wolverines (6-17) are the 25th seed in the 32-team 1A West bracket. Western Highlands Conference teams Avery (2nd) and Mitchell (15th) also earned 1A playoff berths.
Polk County earned its playoff berth on the strength of its end-of-season ranking in the Adjusted MaxPreps Ratings (AMPR), a computer-based rating of all teams in the state. Once automatic qualifers are determined, the NCHSAA then uses the AMPR rankings to determine the remainder of the playoff field.
Polk County finished 47th among the 107 1A girls teams in AMPR.
