Matters both inside and outside spoiled Polk County’s home opener on Thursday.
R-S Central buried 10 3-pointers and scored a number of second-chance points in the first half to hand the Wolverines a 62-52 non-conference setback.
Polk County (1-1) opened a 6-2 lead early, but the Hilltoppers (5-0) responded with 15 straight points, holding Polk County scoreless for almost seven minutes of clock time. That allowed R-S to build a 17-6 lead, and the Wolverines got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
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R-S Central’s sharpshooting had much to do with that. Maddie Gillie finished with 22 points and five 3-pointers, including two in the fourth period after Polk had rallied from an 18-point deficit to within eight at 54-46. Gillie’s back-to-back threes pushed the lead back to 14.
“Once we started boxing out and eliminating the second-chance points, we had a shot,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “We started putting things together and doing the little things and played much better in the second half.
“I’m very pleased with our effort. They always give me 110 percent effort.”
Plagued by foul trouble in the first half, Olivia Overholt finished with 27 points – 21 of those in the seocnd half – and grabbed eight rebounds. Tori Thompson had eight points, with Kristen Hall scoring seven points with nine rebounds and Marissa Twitty adding seven points and eight rebounds.
Emmie McDowell finished with two points and Sara Muse added a point.
The Wolverines return to the court on Friday, hosting East Henderson.
