North Buncombe quickly landed the knockout blow Tuesday to Polk County’s hopes for a second straight victory.

The Black Hawks showed why they are one of the top teams this season in Western North Carolina, building a large lead early and going on to post a 76-48 win over the Wolverines in a non-conference boys basketball matchup at Polk.

North Buncombe (16-4) raced to a 25-8 lead by the end of a frenetic first period in which both teams sought to play at a rapid pace. Coming off Saturday’s win over Brevard, Polk County couldn’t get enough shots to fall early to stay level with the Black Hawks, allowing North Buncombe to pull ahead by 22 points early in the second period and take a 44-24 lead at the half.

“They had a great first quarter and we weren’t hitting anything,” said Polk County head coach Antoni Staley. “We had worked on (the fast tempo) before the game and everybody felt good. Once the game began maybe we were too jittery or something.

“We’re trying to get better, but we’ve got to be more consistent. We go from one extreme to the other.”

Dillon Overholt scored 12 points to lead Polk County (3-16), with Jaymes Wingo, Jaylon Bontrager, Markell Lipscomb and Clark Phipps each scoring five points. Brandon Bacher added three points, with Seth Hardin, Elijah Sutton, Rustin Muse and Amir Gary each scoring two.

The Wolverines complete a four-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Landrum in a game rescheduled from earlier this season. It will be the fourth game in six days for Polk County.

– article submitted by PolkSports.com