Pulling down 35 offensive rebounds and forcing 26 turnovers, the Shorewood High School girls basketball team flew by host Oak Harbor 81-47 Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The extra opportunities from those boards and Oak Harbor’s mistakes enabled the Thunderbirds to hoist 85 shots and lift their Wesco record to 3-3 (9-4 overall). The Wildcats (0-6, 0-12), who are still looking for their first win, get their next chance when they host Meadowdale (2-4, 4-9) at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17.

Shorewood’s height bothered Oak Harbor all night. The Thunderbirds used the advantage to control the boards, get hands in the passing lanes and pass over the Wildcat zone defense.

Shorewood finished with 51 rebounds and 24 second-chance points. They also scored 24 points off Oak Harbor’s 26 turnovers.

Oak Harbor hit five of its first six shots but trailed 19-11 in the first quarter because of turnovers and second-shot opportunities for the T-birds.

Overall, the Wildcats put together a strong first quarter, tallying 17 points, 13 from Annie Leete. They, however, couldn’t slow Shorewood, who put 25 on the board.

The T-birds led 43-28 at the half.

Spurred by four points from Julie Jansen and five from Leete, Oak Harbor put a bit of a scare in Shorewood when it narrowed the gap to 50-40 with 3:07 left in the third period.

The Thunderbirds quickly dashed Oak Harbor’s comeback hopes with a 15-2 run, started by four Wildcat turnovers in a 63-second span that led to eight points.

For the game, Leete knocked down four threes to finish with 18 points. Freshman Bryn Langrock earned a start and added 11 points, nine on three-pointers.

Jinai Guzman scored nine points, Jansen six, Hayley Lundstrom two and Annabelle Whitefoot one.

Oak Harbor coach Jon Atkins said, “We played well until those turnovers in the third quarter. It was one of our best offensive games; the score doesn’t indicate how well we played.”