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A second-quarter run Friday gave East Rutherford a double-digit lead that the Cavaliers never lost in handing Polk County a 59-47 defeat in boys basketball action at Polk.

 

The Cavaliers upped their record to 6-10 overall, 2-4 in Mountain Foothills 7 Conference play. The Wolverines dropped to 4-10, 0-4.

 

How it happened: East opened the game with an 11-2 run, but Polk County steadily fought back. A Mackus Simpson 3-pointer started a surge that ended with an Aaron Jackson basket and three Vincent Twitty free throws, cutting the deficit to 16-12 at the end of the first period.

 

But East Rutherford responded by scoring the first 11 points of the second quarter, building a 27-12 advantage. The Wolverines closed the half with an Avery Harden 3-pointer to pull within 32-20.

 

East Rutherford upped its lead to 18 points in the third period. Polk chipped away at the gap and pulled to within 10, 55-45, with 1:56 remaining on a Kris Littlejohn jumper. But the Wolverines would get no closer in the closing minutes.

 

Littlejohn hit 11 free throws and finished with 13 points, with Harden also scoring 13. Twitty added seven points and Jackson had six.

 

Khalil Watley scored four points, with Simpson adding three and Landen Bradley scoring one.

 

Polk County will host Brevard on Tuesday in another MF7 clash.