Polk County’s minor adjustment made a major change Friday night.
Hurt inside by Hendersonville’s Tiara Gary for three quarters, the Wolverines shut down Gary in the fourth and pulled away for a 51-37 win over the winless Bearcats in a Western Highlands Conference battle.
Hendersonville (0-14, 0-6) turned a halftime tie into a third-quarter lead, up as much as six points before Polk County rallied for a 33-29 advantage entering the fourth. Gary had much to do with Hendersonville’s surge, scoring 19 points in the second and third quarters.
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But Polk County (7-8, 2-3) dropped into a zone defense and clogged the lane, not only slowing Gary but helping the Wolverines on the boards. Gary scored just two points in the fourth quarter and Polk opened the period with a 10-2 surge to pull away from the Bearcats.
“We made a minor adjustment,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “They were getting the ball so easily into (Gary), so we packed our zone back in. They hit a couple of outside shots, but that was it.”
For Alm, perhaps the best part of Polk County’s early fourth-quarter run was its variety of scorers.
Ansley Lynch started the flurry with a putback, then stole a Hendersonville pass, dribbled upcourt and passed to Bella Marino for a layup. Gary scored her lone basket of the fourth on the other end, but Autumn Owen answered with a free throw, then a jumper 30 seconds later.
Kendall Hall added a short jumper off a nice pass from Hayley Kropp before Kropp hit a free throw at the 4:14 mark for a Polk County 43-31 lead.
Kropp swished a 3-pointer with 2:04 left to give Polk a 47-32 edge, leading one courtside observer to remark, “There’s the dagger.”
Kropp battled foul trouble in the first half but still finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Yet it was her leadership in the second half that Alm liked most.
“When we needed to be in control, Hayley knew when to pull the ball back out and set things up. She played like a senior,” Alm said. “We scored when we had open looks at the basket and got easy layups, but if not, she pulled it back out and kept things in control.”
With Kropp’s foul difficulties, Owen stepped up and led the Polk offense, matching her career high with 22 points, 15 of those in the second half. Hall had six points and five rebounds, with Lynch scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds. Marino and Mariah Overholt each had two points.
