A night that started most foul ended with a quite fair result for Polk County.
Saddled with foul trouble almost from the opening tip – seven fouls in the first three minutes, to be exact – the Wolverines got key contributions throughout their lineup and hung on to hand Landrum a 45-43 defeat in a non-conference battle between the border rivals at Polk.
There were times, though, when you wondered if Polk County (2-2) would have enough players left to finish the night. Leading scorer Hayley Kropp had two fouls less than two minutes into the game and Landrum began shooting one-and-ones with 4:57 left in the first quarter. The Wolverines had three players pick up three fouls in the first half.
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And, yet, Polk County still surged to a lead as large as 13 points in the first half, its defense holding the Cardinals (1-2) to six first-quarter points. Polk County led 26-19 at the break despite having both Kropp and second-leading scorer Autumn Owen on the bench at various times in the opening two quarters.
“Even with Hayley out of the game and she and Autumn in foul trouble, having both of our veteran players out of the game, we still scored,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “We moved the ball around, we were patient and we played smart basketball.
“That says a lot about our team. We are making improvements every single day in practice and even in games.”
The night, though, still had plenty of drama. Landrum kept Polk in check in the third quarter, scoring 10 straight points to grab a 31-28 advantage before Kropp hit a 3-pointer to tie the game entering the fourth.
The teams swapped the lead in the early stages of the final period before Landrum pushed ahead, 38-35, with 2:36 remaining. Sophomore Bella Marino then hit two key jumpers, both in traffic, to return the lead to Polk, and Kropp followed with a steal and layup to give the Wolverines a 41-38 lead with 1:40 left.
Landrum cut the lead to one before Kropp hit two free throws with 32 seconds left for a 43-40 edge. The Cardinals then missed a one-and-one opportunity, and Kropp hit two more free throws with 17 seconds left to make it 45-40. Landrum got a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left but, following a timeout, Polk inbounded the ball to Kropp and she dribbled away from defenders until time ran out.
Kropp had 25 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to lead Polk, with Marino adding eight before fouling out late in the game.
“She stepped up,” Alm said of Marino. “She’s getting more confident and making better decisions.”
The Wolverines, who travel Tuesday to East Henderson, also got five points from Owen, three from Alana Seay and two from Ansley Lynch and Kendall Hall. Owen grabbed nine rebounds.
