Polk races away from Hendersonville in regular-season finale

HENDERSONVILLE – Polk County finally found its stride Tuesday night and ran all over Hendersonville.

The Wolverines outscored the Bearcats 30-8 over the game’s final 12 minutes, pulling away for a 59-37 win in Western Highlands Conference action and the regular-season finale for both teams.

With Brevard’s game with Pisgah rescheduled for Wednesday, the Wolverines’ planned date with the Blue Devils has been cancelled. Polk County (9-13, 4-8) will next compete in the first round of the Western Highlands Conference tournament, either Friday or Monday depending upon when the rest of the WHC finishes their schedules.

Polk County will enter the tourney as either the conference’s fifth or sixth seed and could play at either Avery, Madison or Owen depending upon how the final WHC games play out. Hendersonville ends its season at 1-21, 1-11.

Much as they did in the team’s first meeting this season, the Bearcats gave the Wolverines fits early. Hendersonville recovered from an early 10-3 deficit to lead 15-12 at the end of the first period before the teams battled to a 23-23 halftime tie.

The game remained tied at the 4:06 mark of the third period when Hayley Kropp, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer during the game, drilled a 3-pointer to give Polk a lead it would never lose. Kropp followed with a three-point play, Ansley Lynch added a putback and Kropp had another three-point play as the Wolverines took a 40-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

Autumn Owen opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer, Kropp scored six straight points and Owen added two free throws to give Polk a 51-32 bulge with 3:26 left in the game.

“They were hitting from outside in the first half, we had to go man-to-man and went to our press,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and three in the second. That was the biggest difference.

“We were also patient on offense, far more so than I thought we would be.”

While Kropp finished with 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals to lead Polk County, there were key contributions from the entire squad.

Kendall Hall scored six points in the first period and finished with a career-high eight. Owen had seven points and six rebounds while Alana Seay had four points and five rebounds. Lynch finished with three points and seven rebounds, Bella Marino had two points and Karli Wood, making her first appearance of the season after a preseason injury, had a point.