By Randy Buehler Sr.

Polk County’s Basketball Wildkittens finished fourth in the District 5AA basketball tournament held at McMinn County High School in Athens. They won their play-in game over Sweetwater 57-50, lost a semi-final game to McMinn Central 55-39 and lost their consolation match to Meigs County 61-39. They will be on the road against the District 6AA champion for their first round region tournament game.

The ladies won the game with Sweetwater at the foul line with a 24-13 advantage.

Things got dicey late as the Lady Cats tried to prove teams don’t lose to the same opponent three times in one season. Polk led by as many as 15 points in the first half only to see Sweetwater crawl back into contention. Sticky man-to-man defense, plus hot shooting allowed them to cut the lead to three on two occasions, but each time the Wildkittens were able to hold them off. Maclain Yowarsky’s basket and free throw late ended all hopes for Sweetwater.

Emily Wilson led Polk with 17 points including five for five from the foul line; Yowarsky had 11. Balance was a key as all eight Wildkittens who got into the game scored. Natalie Miles led the team with nine rebounds. Morgan Greer and Wilson had six boards each

The win guaranteed Polk a trip to the Region tournament and a district semi-final against Nemesis McMinn Central.

The Chargerettes had never lost to Polk twice in one season and they kept that streak alive by downing the Wildkittens 55-39 in semi-final action.

Elizabeth Massengil led all scorers with 25 points, and the top seeded Chargerettes got more scoring from the other players than they had in the loss to Polk earlier.

Emily Wilson led Polk with 14 points and Maclain Yowarsky had 13 to lead the Wildkittens. Natalie Miles and Yowarsky each had six rebounds.

Senior point guard Natalie Miles injured her knee late in the game with McMinn Central and could not play against Meigs. Her rebounding and defensive skills were sorely missed against the Lady Tigers. Meigs outraced the Wildkittens down the court, hit their shots and blew out to a 24-point lead by half time. The lead ballooned to 34 points before Polk cut it down some in the final period.

Polk shot poorly and struggled against a sticky man-to-man defense. Despite having a player in her face wherever she went, Maclain Yowarsky managed to lead Polk with 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

SWEETWATER(50) Jefferd 14, Mashburn 5, K. Thomason 5, Bowden 17, Ervin 10.

WILDKITTENS(57): Wilson 0-6-5-17, Yowarsky 0-3-5-11, Miles 0-0-8-8, Epperson 1-2-0-7, Greer 0-1-4-6, Hatcher 0-1-2-4, Haynes 0-1-0-2, McClane 0-1-0-2

MCMINN CENTRAL(55):Massengil 25, Trentham 8, Young 7, Morrow 6, Casteel 5, S. Williams 3, P. Williams 1

WILDKITTENS(39): Wilson 1-2-7-14, Yowarsky 2-3-1-13, Greer 0-2-2-6, Haynes 0-1-2-4, Miles 0-0-2-2, Hatcher, Epperson

MEIGS(61):Tilley 14, E. Swafford 21, Kilpatrick 14, Hampton 6, J. Swafford 4, Davis 2

WILDKITTENS(39): Yowarsky 2-6-1-19, Greer 0-1-1-3, Epperson 0-1-0-2, Wilson 0-3-3-9, Haynes 0-1-2-4, Hatcher 0-1-0-2