Polk County snapped a 28-game losing streak to Mountain Heritage dating back to 2008, rallying from an 11-0 deficit to defeat the Cougars 48-46 in Friday’s Western Highlands Conference girls basketball game.
Reeve Carroll’s two free throws with 34 seconds remaining proved to be the difference as the Wolverines (8-0, 2-0 WHC) claimed their first victory over Mountain Heritage since Jan. 29, 2008, and their first win in Burnsville since Jan. 23, 2007.
Mountain Heritage (5-1, 0-1 WHC) led 11-0 after the first quarter before Polk County began its comeback. Bailey Staton scored the Wolverines’ first points on a layup with 6:36 left in the second period, starting a rally that saw Polk County hold the Cougars scoreless for more than five minutes.
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With Mountain Heritage leading 18-9, the Wolverines closed the second quarter on an 11-2 run. Staton hit two 3-pointers to give Polk County a 21-20 lead at halftime.
Staton’s long 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer gave the Wolverines a 33-29 advantage heading into the final period.
Leading 33-32 early in the fourth quarter, Polk County put together a 12-0 run to take a 45-32 lead with 2:16 remaining. Mountain Heritage answered with a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 46-41 with 1:19 left.
Staton fouled out at the 1:10 mark, and Peyton McKinney scored with 1:02 remaining to make it 46-43. After the teams swapped turnovers, Mountain Heritage’s Callie Capps hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the score at 46-46 with 39 seconds left.
Carroll was fouled bringing the ball up court and calmly sank both free throws to put Polk County ahead 48-46.
Mountain Heritage missed a shot, and Polk County missed two free throws with 11 seconds left. The Cougars’ final shot missed, and Amiyah Waters grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the clock.
Staton finished with 30 points, raising her career total to 1,615 and moving her past boys all-time scoring leader Josh Twitty’s 1,601. Staton now trails only Hayley Kropp’s 1,637 points for the school’s all-time scoring record.
Carroll finished with 10 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Waters added four points and eight rebounds while Charley Dusenbury and Honesty Jackson each scored two.
Polk County hosts Patton on Dec. 30.
