BENTON, Tenn. — To continue their winning ways, Walker Valley coach Jan Spangler knows that her Class AAA third-ranked Lady Mustangs are going to have to be able to win in a variety of ways.
Monday night at Polk County, they chose the fast-start method.
Walker Valley led by 12 points after a quarter, and sisters Jordan and Taylor Neuharth scored 21 points apiece on their way to a 61-50 victory over Polk’s Wildkittens.
The Lady Mustangs (21-1) also had 13 offensive rebounds in the game.
“It’s good to hear,” Spangler said when that fact was pointed out. “It’s something we’re going to have to do down the stretch. We’re not always going to shoot the ball well, and if we’re not, we’re going to have to be able to go get it.”
Defense was key in the first quarter, when Jordan Neuharth scored nine points for the visitors, but the Wildkittens were ignited in the second quarter by the hot hand of Maclain Yowarsky. She hit three 3-pointers in the period as Polk closed to within 32-24 by halftime.
A third-quarter 3 by Emily Wilson made it 38-31, but the Lady Mustangs’ pressure started to force turnovers as it had in the first quarter, and they went on a 15-4 run over the final 5:32 to put the game away.
“I thought we fought,” Spangler said. “This is a hard place to play, but we made a lot of hustle plays and played well defensively.”
Jordan Neuharth added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for Walker Valley. Yowarsky had five 3s and scored a game-high 24 points for Polk (18-7), while Stephanie Qualls had 10 points and tied for team honors with five rebounds.
“In the beginning, we were making poor decisions and bad decisions with our passes,” Polk coach Johnny Hayes said. “We eventually got in a flow and started clicking, but we didn’t come out ready to play in the first quarter.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311.
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