With freshman standout Callin Randolph sidelined by an injury, Mountain Heritage found more youth with a scoring punch Friday to power past Polk County.

Mountain Heritage placed four players in double figures – a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen – en route to handing the Wolverines a 78-63 setback in Western Highlands Conference action at Polk.

Two key stretches of the game where its offense struggled ultimately proved too much for Polk County (2-13, 0-7) to overcome.

Out to an 8-4 lead early in the game, the Wolverines then failed to score for more than six minutes, falling behind 15-8 before Brandon Bacher netted a 3-pointer early in the second period.

Polk then stayed close, trailing by five, before Mountain Heritage sophomore Brandon Aumiller scored four of his team-high 17 points in the final minute to give the Cougars a 30-21 lead at the half.

The Cougars (11-6, 6-2) then took command early in the third period. Hayden Branton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third period and Aumiller followed with a basket to quickly give Mountain Heritage a 38-21 edge. Polk’s Jaymes Wingo scored four straight points to stop the Cougar run, but Heritage responded with five points to take a 45-25 lead with 2:25 left in the third.

Polk County got no closer than 13 points the rest of the game.

Freshman Lucas Jenkins had 15 points and fellow freshman Justus Shelton had 12 points for Mountain Heritage, with junior Trey Robinson adding 11.

Wingo led Polk County with 16 points, with Dillon Overholt adding 12. Jaylon Bontrager and Clark Phipps each had seven points, with Amir Gary and Bacher scoring six. Markell Lipscomb added four points, with Rustin Muse scoring two and Qualon Sutton and Elijah Sutton each scoring one.

Foul trouble plagued both teams, with officials whistling a combined 59 fouls on the two teams.

Polk County returns to the court on Tuesday, traveling to Mitchell for another WHC game.

– article submitted by PolkSports.com