by Mark Schmerling

Polk County High School’s women’s basketball team’s hustle lived up to the advance billing, but on Dec. 3 North Henderson tripped up the younger Wolverines, 53-47.

Coach Craig Culbreth’s squad was 1-1 going into Wednesday evening’s contest against Chase.

This Friday, Dec. 6 the Wolverines host Landrum at 6:30 p.m. On Tuesday, Dec. 3 Polk led 43-42 late in the game, but a 3-point basket put North Henderson up, 46-44, and the Knights kept the lead through the final buzzer.

“We didn’t shoot that well,” Culbreth said. “We played really hard, but we couldn’t put the ball in.”

Haley Kropp led with 17 points. She also exhibited master pickpocket skills, with 10 steals. Sarah Phipps, who displayed grit and power, added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman India Godlock scored four points, but also took the ball down court well for Polk.

“Our shooting percentage was lower,” Culbreth said. “We had a lot of good shots.”

On the plus side, one reason for all those shots was the Wolverines rebounding. Kropp’s many steals also kept Polk in the game.

One of those steals, followed by her full-court run, and basket, gave the Wolverines a 44-41 lead, but the more experienced Knights were able to turn it around.

With the Knights up, 39-34, Polk’s Lyric Flood scored 4 points in 5 seconds, to tighten the score.

The game was close all the way; at the half, the Knights were up, 23-22, and at the end of three, they led 35-30. The Wolverines never quit, as N. Henderson outscored them just 18-17 in the final period.

“That big girl (the Knights’ 5’11” Cameron Pryor, who scored 16 points), gave us lots of trouble,” Culbreth said. “I thought we played well. They (the Wolverines) are a very young team,” though he added they are improving in each game.