Polk County led Mitchell by two Wednesday when Bailey Staton grabbed a pass, drove hard to the basket and drew a foul. The and-one made it a five-point game with 6.8 seconds left in the first half.
The Wolverines never looked back.
Staton finished with 32 points to lead Polk County past the Mountaineers 64-56 in the first round of the Western Highlands Conference Tournament at Mountain Heritage High School.
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The Wolverines trailed 25-21 before erasing the deficit with a late second-quarter surge. Amiyah Waters converted a three-point play at 1:26, Honesty Jackson followed with a 3-pointer off a Mitchell turnover to put Polk ahead 27-25, and Staton’s three-point play with 6.8 seconds remaining sent the Wolverines into halftime up 30-25.
Mitchell (6-15) had led 19-12 early in the second quarter before Polk (19-5) answered with a 9-0 run capped by a Jackson layup to make it 21-19, but the Mountaineers pushed back ahead before the Wolverines took over for good.
Mitchell did rally in the third quarter to briefly reclaim the lead before Polk County edged back ahead 40-39 heading to the fourth. With the game still tight at 45-44 midway through the final period, the Wolverines closed it out in a hurry.
Waters converted another three-point play at 4:04 to push the lead to 48-44. Staton answered with a pull-up 3-pointer off a fast break at 3:38 to make it 51-44. Reeve Carroll added a layup off an inbounds play at 3:16, and Mitchell never got closer than five the rest of the way.
Staton finished going 12-for-13 from the free-throw line, including 10-of-10 in the fourth quarter, and hitting two 3-pointers. Carroll added 10 points, Waters eight and Jackson and Charley Dusenbury each scored five. Sofie Abrahamsen chipped in four.
The Wolverines advance to face Hendersonville in the WHC Tournament semifinals Thursday at 4 p.m. at Madison High School.
