Arlington, taking advantage of extra opportunities, cruised by the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team 77-51 Tuesday, Jan. 13, on the Wildcats’ court.

The Eagles, one of the Western Conference’s top 3A teams, upped their record to 9-3, 1-1 in league play. Oak Harbor fell to 1-10 (0-2).

Oak Harbor will try to pick up its first Wesco win when it hosts Marysville Getchell at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16.

Getting back on its home court after six road games didn’t help Oak Harbor against Arlington.

“We need to get better on the defensive end as a team,” coach John Weston said. “The guys are making baby steps on that end of the floor. However, we need to do a better job playing defense early and improve our defense away from the ball.”

Defensive lapses weren’t the only things harming the ‘Cats.

“Besides defense, turnovers and rebounding really hurt us,” Weston said. “Some possessions we played great defense and forced a bad shot, then we wouldn’t finish the play with a rebound.”

The Eagles scored 16 points off turnovers and six off offensive rebounds in the first half as they raced to quarter leads of 21-10 and 42-18.

In the opening period, the teams were tied at 5, then a rash of turnovers helped Arlington go on a 16-3 run.

A similar pattern emerged in the second quarter to help the Eagles put together a 12-0 streak.

Oak Harbor cut down on turnovers in the third period, but the Eagles hit three three-balls to take a 64-32 lead into the final eight minutes.

“The brightest spot was the fourth quarter,” Weston said. “I felt like we really played with a lot of heart and battled every play. Sean Erskine really sparked us; his energy and toughness was really infectious. It got the rest of the guys going and helped us win that quarter.”

After Arlington, which was still playing its starters, scored the first basket of the fourth period, Oak Harbor rattled off 12 straight points.

Five free throws (one by Dyllan Harris and two each from Erskine and Anthony Powell) got things started, then Erskine scored a second-chance hoop and Harris tallied twice, the final bucket coming off a steal.

In all, Oak Harbor outscored Arlington 19-13 in the period.

Harris scored 16 points and Erskine 10 to pace the Wildcats. Zach Jones chipped in with nine, Ben Fikse had six, Powell four, Christopher Viers four and Jake Sturdevant two.

Nathan Aune led Arlington with 20 points. Starting Eagle point guard Donavan Sellgren, a junior who played for Oak Harbor as a freshman before moving to Arlington, scored six points in his return.

(Sean Erskine provided a fourth-quarter spark for Oak Harbor, according to coach John Weston. Photo by John Fisken.)