What the mix of old and new faces on the court did Tuesday night left the new face on Polk County’s bench sporting a most happy postgame smile.
Four Wolverines scored in double figures to give head coach Brandy Alm a win in her varsity debut as Polk County rolled to a 54-34 win over Brevard in Polk’s home and season opener.
Returning all-conference players Hayley Kropp and Sarah Phipps scored 15 and 10 points, respectively, while freshman Autumn Owen had 11 and senior Kara Overholt had 10 in her return to the court after a year’s absence.
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“For the first game of the season, I am very pleased,” said Alm, who took over he program in the offseason following the retirement of Craig Culbreth. “I was happy with our ball movement and happy with how aggressive we were on defense.
“We hit the boards hard, got good position and did a good job boxing out for the most part.”
Indeed, Kropp had 14 rebounds, Phipps had 11 and Owen had nine as the Wolverines controlled the inside and kept a cold-shooting Brevard team from finding any offensive rhythm.
Polk County got off to a slow start offensively, leading 8-3 at the end of the first quarter with Kropp scoring six of those points, but began to pull away in the second period. Phipps and Overholt had nine points in an 11-2 Wolverine run that gave Polk a 20-10 lead midway through the quarter, Overholt capping that spurt with a 3-pointer from the wing.
Overholt began the third period with another 3-pointer and the Wolverines steadily built the lead throughout the period, taking a 40-20 bulge by quarter’s end.
“We have a few things here and there to work on, but there was a definite intensity out there. We stayed focus,” Alm said.
“We ran the court well. Our transition defense was good and our structured transition was good.”
Polk County returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Chase for a non-conference game tipping off at 6:30 p.m.
Polk County Scoring
Hayley Kropp 15, Autumn Owen 11, Kara Overholt 10, Sarah Phipps 10, Savannah Ross 4, India Godlock 4
