Polk County threw every defensive look it had in its arsenal Thursday night at undefeated Mountain Heritage. The Cougars found a way past them all.
Mountain Heritage, ranked second in the state among 2A girls, turned to its outside shooting to push past the Wolverines 67-57 in a Western Highlands Conference battle at Polk County.
Polk County (9-8, 3-5) did all they could to slow the Cougars’ explosive offense and reigning conference player of the year Destiny Elkins. Polk opened with freshman Autumn Owen keeping a body on Elkins and getting help from a teammate sagging back. The effort worked early, as Elkins had just two points in the first period and the quarter ended in a 9-9 deadlock.
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With Elkins bottled up, the Cougars (16-0, 8-0) turned to their perimeter attack. Freshman guard Ciera Chandler hit four of Heritage’s five 3-pointers in the second period, spurring the Cougars on an 16-4 run over the final six minutes that left Polk trailing 30-16 at the break.
“We had to get out of it (the defense focused on Elkins). They shot us out of it,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “We threw every defense we had at them.”
Say this about the Wolverines – they never quit. Polk opened the third period with eight straight points, six of those from Owen, cut the Cougars’ lead to 30-24 and forced Mountain Heritage to take a timeout. The Cougars responded with consecutive baskets to push the lead to 10, and Elkins scored nine points in the quarter to give Mountain Heritage a 49-37 lead at the end of the third.
Chandler’s sixth 3-pointer of the game midway through the fourth put the Cougars up by 16 before Polk rallied late for the final margin.
“The effort is always there with this team,” Alm said. “They play so hard.
“That is an unbeaten team, and we were able to make adjustments when we needed to. But it was too little, too late.”
Hayley Kropp scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Polk County, with Owen scoring 12 and Kara Overholt adding 10. Sarah Phipps had 11 rebounds for the Wolverines, who host West Henderson on Friday in a non-conference matchup.
Elkins finished with 24 points, going 10-for-10 at the foul line, and Chandler had a season-high 22 points. Mountain Heritage hit eight 3-pointers in the game.
Polk County Scoring
Hayley Kropp 24, Autumn Owen 12, Kara Overholt 10, Sarah Phipps 8, Ashley Kropp 3
