Undefeated East Rutherford topples Polk girls

East Rutherford opened a double-digit lead in the first period Wednesday and went on to hand Polk County a 60-41 setback in Mountain Foothills 7 Conference girls basketball play at Polk.

The news at the end of the night was not all bad, though, for the Wolverines.

Hendersonville’s win at R-S Central gives Polk County sole possession of second place in the MF7, and the Wolverines can secure that spot and an automatic playoff berth with a win Friday in the regular-season finale against Brevard. A loss could create a three-way tie for second.

East Rutherford (22-0, 11-0) quickly opened an advantage as Polk County (12-6, 7-4) struggled early to find an offensive rhythm.

The Wolverines trailed 15-4 at the end of the first period, and the margin grew to 27-8 at one point in the second before Polk rallied to within 31-19 at the half.

The Cavaliers, though, pushed the lead back to 50-25 by the end of the third period. Polk again rallied in the fourth, pulling back within 14 at one point before East stopped that run and held on for the final margin.

Olivia Overholt had 16 points to lead Polk County, with Kiera Littlejohn scoring nine. Tori Thompson finished with eight and Kylie Lewis had five.

Gavionna Carson added three points for the Wolverines.