The best way to combat a zone defense in basketball is to shoot the other team out of it.
Polk County simply wouldn’t allow Patton to do that on Tuesday afternoon. They barely allowed the Panthers to do anything at all.
The Wolverines completely smothered Patton in a 48-15 win as both teams got back in action after the Christmas break.
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“We usually play man-to-man and we played a zone today,” Polk County coach Brandy Alm said. “But they always play hard. No matter what we do, they’re going 110 percent. Just making some minor adjustments throughout the game, they’ve improved on that during the season and that’s impressed me.”
Polk County (9-0) was, to put it simply, dominant defensively. Patton (3-8) scored just six first-half points and made just two shots from the floor in the opening half. The Panthers’ first basket came with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. They scored to open the second and didn’t hit from the field again until 1:01 remained in the third period. They made three baskets down the stretch in the third to close it out.
“We were missing one of our defensive catalysts in Reeve Carroll, and we had to adjust to that,” Alm said. “I feel like our defense was rusty at first, but we got back to it.”
Meanwhile, the Wolverines weren’t exactly lighting it up offensively. But, they were working through sets and getting good looks. Point guard Bailey Staton led the way with 28, surpassing the school’s all-time scoring record along the way. A lot of what she was able to do was keyed by the defense, too.
“Missing Reeve, I knew I’d have to step up on the defensive side by a lot,” Staton said. “I always make a game plan in my head before the game, and tonight it was reading their eyes and reading their body and getting some steals and some easy points. I kind of saw it coming tonight.”
The Wolverines notched 10 steals on the night, led by Charley Dusenbury’s four. She added six assists. Amiyah Waters had eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Honesty Jackson was second in scoring with eight points.
Polk County is back in action Friday, hosting Bessemer City.
