It was season of growth for the Polk County junior varsity boys. 

Starting out the year with a hot surge, the JV boys held an 8-4 record heading into the long stretch of conference play. One of the highlights of the season was a strong win against the Mitchell JV boys at home. 

Later on in January, despite injuries and players rising to the challenge on the varsity team, the JV team played hard and never gave up. The team ended up finishing the year at 9-12, with the win against Robbinsville being the last of the season. 

Despite holding a losing record, the team’s development was evident, with a major improvement from the previous season. Not only did our guys play together as a team, but they persevered to get better from beginning to end. 

A couple of short notes from the season: 

• Shy’quan Wingo led the team in scoring with 158 points on the season. He was followed by Bryson Edwards, who also led the team in three pointers (12), with 127 points and Davin Hines with 117 points. 
• Chan Barber led the team in free throw percentage, putting in 68 percent of his free throws at 27-for-40. Barber hit 12 of his first 13 free throws this season. 

• Nate Henderson was notorious for his ‘hustle plays’ with numerous attempts to save a ball or dive on the floor for his team. His plays were the subject of many cheers from the Polk County sideline. 
• Before moving up to the varsity team, Wesley Royster tacked in 90 points, with more free throw attempts than any other player all season (52). 

It is fair to say, with momentum behind Polk County’s basketball core, that the team is on the right trend heading into 2019. 

– Submitted by Sam Vining, PolkSports.com