Polk County held off East Rutherford down the stretch Friday to remain unbeaten with a 57-54 victory in a non-conference matchup in Bosstic.
The Wolverines (4-0) trailed 35-29 at halftime before outscoring the Cavaliers 26-20 in the second half. The teams were tied 47-47 early in the fourth quarter before Polk County pulled ahead.
Bailey Staton converted a three-point play with 5:09 remaining to put the Wolverines up 50-47. After an East Rutherford free throw, Reeve Carroll hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead to 53-48.
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Staton added a fast-break layup with 4:21 left to make it 55-48, but the Cavaliers (0-3) closed to within 55-51. Staton hit a free throw to make it 56-51 with 20 seconds remaining.
East Rutherford’s Bella Harris scored on a layup, drew a foul and converted the free throw with 14.9 seconds left to cut the deficit to 56-54. Charley Dusenbury hit a free throw with 3.9 seconds remaining to push the lead to three, and the Cavaliers’ desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
Staton led Polk County with 29 points, surpassing 1,500 points for her career. Carroll finished with 14, Amiyah Waters scored six, Honesty Jackson added five, Exziah Staley had two and Dusenbury finished with one.
Polk County travels to East Henderson on Monday.
