Boys basketball: Polo rides second-half surge to put away Milledgeville

The Marcos used a surge to start the third quarter to build a comfortable working margin and post a 75-55 victory Monday night in a Northwest Upstate Illini East contest.

Polo (11-5, 4-2) led 22-6 after AJ Dollmeyer dropped in a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter, and a rout appeared imminent. Milledgeville, however, closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, and continued creeping closer in the second.

The Missiles (4-10, 1-4) got as close as 28-24 when Caleb Skoog hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 left in the second, and they were still within striking distance (36-29) at halftime.

Polo scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, however, to regain control, and Milledgeville didn't get closer than 15 the rest of the way.

"We lost our momentum in the second quarter," Polo guard Brian Cavanaugh said, "but in the third quarter, we always come back. We're a second-half team. We usually out-score the other team by a lot in the second half."

Polo coach Matt Messer noted his team didn't create the havoc defensively in the second quarter it did early on, and as a result, some offensive opportunities dried up. The solution: keep up the pressure. It worked, and Milledgeville finished with 24 turnovers, 15 of them via Polo steals.

"We talked about keeping our energy level high," Messer said, "and we needed to finish plays at both ends. That showed at the beginning of the third quarter. We finished plays defensively and we were able to get out and get some buckets. When we had to, we also executed in the halfcourt."

The 6-foot-7 Dollmeyer cleaned up a lot of both team's misses with 16 rebounds, and he also dropped in 20 points. He's often not the focal point of the offense, but that didn't stop him from being effective.

"He wants the ball like everybody else on the court," Messer said, "but if his number's not called, he's going to work and try to find a way to get his points."