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The outcome on Friday? Never in doubt.

The celebration? No less memorable or meaningful.

Polk County’s conference championship drought is no more. The Wolverines assured themselves Friday of at least a share of the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference crown, rolling past Chase 68-13 in a Senior Night celebration.

The victory improved Polk’s record to 18-1 overall, 10-0 in conference. A win next week at East Rutherford or Brevard will give the Wolverines the outright conference title, but even two losses would still leave Polk with its first league championship since 2005.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Polk County head coach Brandy Alm. “They’ve worked really hard to get to where they are. I’m happy for them.

“I’m happy for our seniors. I’m just proud of our leadership that we have, because they’ve molded a lot of the young kids. Just to watch how our juniors and seniors work in practice, they support each other, they play for each other. It’s fun to watch it all come together.”

Chase (3-17, 0-10) is in a rebuilding season and didn’t have the firepower to compete with Polk. The Wolverines steadily built their lead into a more-than-comfortable 46-5 advantage by halftime, allowing some of the younger players to play extended minutes as the seniors watched.

Just seven seasons ago, Polk had its own rebuilding moment: a 1-21 campaign. Since then, the Wolverines have had just two losing campaigns. The current group of seniors has helped the program record 60 wins and counting in the past four seasons.

“Being on the other side of 18-1, I’ve been 1-18,” Alm said. “It’s a different perspective on the game, for sure. I’ve been doing the same thing for years, and it’s nice to watch the girls buy in and take everything seriously and realize that we can do some damage.”

Bailey Staton had 24 points to lead Polk, with Reeve Carroll scoring 12 and Kiera Littlejohn adding 10. Charley Dusenbury had eight, with Kylie Lewis scoring six, Jeri Allen adding four and Honesty Jackson and Beija Olivari each scoring two.

Lewis grabbed 11 rebounds, with Dusenbury handing out five assists and recording five steals.

Polk County will wrap up the regular season on the road before hosting the MF7 postseason tourney. The Wolverines are assured of a first-round bye.

“We’ve got a lot of games left,” Alm said. “I feel like every time we get on the court, we make adjustments and our chemistry is improving. I just feel like we’re really starting to come together at a very good time.”