For much of Thursday’s matchup with Polk County Middle, the struggle to score was all too real for Hendersonville Middle School.
Its trademark tough defense in full force, Polk County Middle held the Bearcats to 11 points through three quarters en route to a 34-24 Blue Ridge Middle School Conference win in the Wolverines’ final home game of the regular season.
Cheered by a near-capacity crowd, Polk County (9-1) built a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 16 in the fourth before Hendersonville rallied late. The Bearcats scored more points in the fourth, 13, than in that first three quarters.
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“The girls showed a lot of heart and played their tails off defensively,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “It seemed like every time we got down, not on points but just down, we stepped it up defensively and played our game. We controlled the tempo of the game, and that was beneficial to us.”
Autumn Owen scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first half as Polk Middle built a 14-7 halftime lead. Finding points almost as tough to gain as they allowed, the Wolverines still led by that seven-point margin late in the third period when Maranda Gosnell scored on a layup and Ansley Lynch hit a free throw to give Polk a 21-11 edge at the end of the period.
Hendersonville cut the margin to eight, 24-16, with 3:47 left in the game before Polk scored eight quick points to put the game out of reach. Gosnell hit a layup to start the flurry, Owen grabbed a rebound and hit a short jumper, Haley Fowler turned a steal into another basket and Rylee McDowell capped the run with a layup. Scoring those eight points in just 59 seconds lifted Polk County to a 32-16 lead, a margin large enough to withstand a late Bearcat run.
Still tied atop the Blue Ridge’s Eastern Division with Rugby, Polk County travels to Bethel and Flat Rock next week to close its regular season.
“We played a lot smarter tonight,” Alm said. “We’re definitely improving every single day.”
Polk County Scoring
Autumn Owen 18, Haley Fowler 6, Maranda Gosnell 4, Karli Wood 2, Ansley Lynch 2, Rylee McDowell 2
