Wolverines outlast Owen, again, in WHC girls tourney opener

If nothing else, Owen found a means Tuesday to run away from its struggles against Polk County.

One night after being blown out by the Wolverines, Owen switched to a more uptempo approach, hoping to escape Polk County’s defensive pressure and tire the Wolverines. The strategy worked for a while, but Polk County pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 48-38 victory in the opening round of the Western Highlands Conference tournament at Polk County.

The Wolverines (13-9), the tourney’s fourth seed, will meet top seed Mountain Heritage in Thursday’s semifinals. That game is set for 4 p.m. at Hendersonville High School.

Tuesday’s game marked the third meeting in 11 days between the two schools. Unlike the first two, including Polk County’s 62-31 win on Monday, Owen (8-16) kept within striking distance in this one, trailing 37-35 with 4:56 remaining in the game.

But the Wolverines pulled away from that point on thanks to aggressive defense and sophomore guard Hayley Kropp, who hit a floating jumper in the lane, drove for another basket and knocked in a 3-pointer from the key, all in the space of 90 seconds, to give Polk County a 44-37 advantage. Kropp added three more points in the final minute, scoring 10 of her game-high 25 points in the final quarter.

“Playing with eight players two nights in a row is rough on us,” said Polk County head coach Craig Culbreth. “We looked like we were tired most of the game. I was impressed with their girls. They really got up and down the floor.

“But in the middle of the fourth quarter we turned it on a little bit. We found some energy and got a little bit of breathing room.”

With Owen creating points early, often on transition baskets, the game remained close from the outset. Polk County built an 18-12 lead early in the second period on a Katelyn Miller basket, but Owen rallied to tie the game at 21-21 late in the period. Lyric Flood then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Wolverines a 27-21 lead at the half.

Polk County pushed the margin to 11 as Kropp opened the third period with a 3-pointer and a driving jumper. But Owen responded with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes, closing to within 32-30 late in the quarter.

Flood added nine points, all on 3-pointers, for Polk County. Sarah Phipps grabbed 15 rebounds as Polk was able to largely match Owen’s physical inside presence.

Polk County Scoring
Hayley Kropp 25, Lyric Flood 9, Janada Carson 6, Sarah Phipps 4, Katelyn Miller 2, Savannah Ross 1, Ashley Love 1