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Successful free throws. Forcing turnovers. Limiting second chances. Killing clock.

Polk County did all the little things right in the final minutes of Tuesday’s game with Pisgah – and earned a comeback victory as a result.

The Wolverines trailed by 14 points late in the third period and by nine early in the fourth before fighting back to hand the visiting Bears a 60-57 defeat in a non-conference matchup.

It was the type of effort that veteran teams often deliver, and Polk’s experience certainly showed in the final 90 seconds, which was the time remaining when Pisgah (1-1) grabbed a 57-54 lead and had possession of the ball. At that point:

A Mia Bradley steal helped set up a possession that ended with Kylie Lewis grabbing a rebound and drawing a foul. She hit both free throws with a minute left to make it a 57-56 game.

On the other end, Polk forced a ball out-of-bounds off a Pisgah player following a missed shot. That led to a possession ending with Bailey Staton drawing a foul with 23 seconds left, and she hit both free throws to give the Wolverines a 58-57 lead.

Pisgah called a timeout and looked to create a scoring opportunity inside. But Kiera Littlejohn intercepted a Bear pass, and the Wolverines smartly passed the ball around the court for some 10 seconds before Staton was finally fouled with 5.9 seconds left. She made both to make it 60-57.

Pisgah’s final 3-point attempt was off-target, and Staton grabbed the rebound and gleefully began celebrating Polk’s third straight win to open the season.

“With my senior girls, their basketball knowledge is so good,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “From their freshmen years, it’s amazing how much they’ve improved. They’re just a fun group, and they care about each other and play for each other.

“My favorite part tonight was that they didn’t quit. They just fought. They battled back from a 14-point deficit, and we haven’t had a close game so far, so that was new for us.”

Polk County jumped out to an 11-2 lead to open the game, primarily working the ball inside to Lewis and Littlejohn. Pisgah began to defend those post opportunities, and Staton got in early foul trouble. All of that led to Bear rally, with Pisgah finally taking the lead at 22-20 early in the second period.

The Wolverines kept the deficit to six at halftime, but a 15-4 Pisgah run gave the Bears theor biggest lead of the night at 49-35 late in the third period.

Pisgah still led 51-42 when Polk’s rally began. Littlejohn scored six straight points – four off offensive rebounds – to help ignite the surge, and Lewis capped the rally with a layup at the 2:44 mark to tie the game.

Polk’s defense held Pisgah to just one basket, plus four free throws, in the final seven minutes.

“They beat us by 30 last year. It was bad,” Alm said. “But we really made adjustments when we needed to do so. We did little things that helped us slowly chip away and get back into the game.”

Staton led Polk with 17 points and had five assists. Littlejohn had 13 points and 12 rebounds, with Lewis finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Reeve Carroll had eight points, with Bradley adding six and Charley Dusenbury scoring two points and recording five steals, a handful in Polk’s late rally.

The Wolverines return to the court on Wednesday, traveling to East Henderson.