Hendersonville’s 3-point barrage proved too much to overcome Thursday as the Bearcats eliminated Polk County from the Western Highlands Conference Tournament with a 49-39 victory in the semifinals at Madison High School.
The Bearcats knocked down five 3-pointers in the opening quarter alone — three by Addison Reid and two by Samiyah Smith — and never trailed in building a 20-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Hendersonville connected on nine threes for the game.
Polk County couldn’t recover from the early deficit despite a spirited fourth-quarter push. The Wolverines outscored Hendersonville 16-6 in the final period, but it came too late to change the outcome.
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Bailey Staton led Polk with 19 points, much of it coming at the free throw line in the fourth quarter as the Wolverines tried to rally. Staton hit two free throws at the 1:53 mark, two more at 1:12 to trim the deficit to 45-35 and another pair at 1:03 to make it 46-37 — the closest Polk would get.
Amiyah Waters added 13 points and also converted free throws during the fourth-quarter run, scoring on a layup and hitting two free throws to cut it to 43-29 with 5:05 remaining. Charley Dusenbury added a layup with 2:18 left during the comeback bid.
Reeve Carroll added three points and Honesty Jackson had two for the Wolverines.
Polk County will learn its 3A playoff seeding and first-round opponent when the NCHSAA releases brackets Saturday.
