A defensive tweak here, a lot of Hayley Kropp there and Polk County turned a huge first-half deficit into its latest victory.
The Wolverines overcame a 29-13 second-period hole, Kropp scoring 17 of her game-high 25 points in the second half to lead Polk County to a 52-44 win at Landrum in a non-conference meeting of the two border rivals.
With Kara Overholt and Savannah Ross battling foul trouble and Landrum’s defense making things tough inside for Sarah Phipps and Autumn Owen, Kropp stepped up to lead the Wolverines (3-0). She scored 10 straight points over the second and third periods as Polk County battled back to take a late third-quarter lead, then had 10 points in the fourth quarter to keep Landrum (1-2) at bay. Kropp also had a team-high 10 rebounds and three steals.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
“Hayley Kropp stepped up and helped us compete and played like a veteran,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “We showed we have heart and want to win. We turned it up a notch and got after it defensively and were more patient offensively.”
Leading 13-9 at the end of the first period, Landrum opened the second with a 16-4 flurry, building a 29-13 lead with 4:11 left on Grace Allison’s turnaround jumper from the baseline. Kropp hit a free throw to stop the run, and an Overholt 3-pointer at the 2:18 mark helped the Wolverines slowly begin to inch back into the game, cutting the deficit to 31-24 at the half.
Kropp swiped a Cardinal pass and drove for a layup to open the third period, followed with a jumper and then grabbed a missed shot and scored on the rebound to cut Landrum’s lead to one. Kaylee Huntley hit a short jumper for the Cardinals to up the lead back to three, but Overholt scored four straight points to push Polk County ahead, with Phipps adding two free throws, Owen nailing a jumper from the baseline and Kropp adding another free throw to complete a 9-0 Polk run and give the Wolverines a 39-33 lead with 19 seconds left in the period.
Once Landrum built that 29-13 lead, Polk County held the Cardinals to four points over the next 12:06 of game time.
“We changed our defensive strategy,” Alm said. “Once we made some adjustments, we slowed them down and our shots started falling as we got some good looks at the basket.
“We were tough on the boards. We really battled on the boards.”
Landrum cut the lead to two in the first minute of the final quarter, but Kropp buried a 3-pointer from the wing and followed with a putback of a missed shot to push the margin back to 46-39 with 4:58 left. Landrum got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Overholt had 13 points and four steals and Phipps added 10 points and eight rebounds for Polk County, which will host Landrum on Tuesday.
Polk County Scoring
Hayley Kropp 25, Kara Overholt 13, Sarah Phipps 10, Autumn Owen 4
