“The best teams learn from adversity. Chalk up Tuesday night’s game as one big educational opportunity.The Oak Harbor boys basketball team couldn’t hang on to a 12 point half time lead and lost to Sedro-Woolley, 49-44.Oak Harbor jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter with a combination of crisp passing and tenacious defense. But everything that went well early turned sour late, as the Wildcats hit a cold spell on offense and couldn’t stop the Cubs’ momentum.“I was happy with the first half, but that was just disappointing,” Oak Harbor coach Frank Hunter said of the loss. “We made some mistakes that we never make in practice.” The first quarter was virtually mistake-free for the Wildcats, who pushed the ball up court and showed an ability to score both inside and outside. Oak Harbor’s post player Brett Waller (7 points, 8 rebounds for the game) scored six of the Wildcats’ first 11 points, and forward Duse Dronen (10 points, 9 rebounds) drained a 3-pointer from beyond the left arc.Oak Harbor was equally as strong on the defensive end. Waller emphatically swatted away a shot by Sedro-Woolley’s Mitch Annema, for example, and the Wildcats harassed the Cubs’ ballhandlers into several turnovers.Oak Harbor players appeared to tire toward the end of the second quarter, and turned the ball over four times in their last five possessions of the half.Then came the second half. The Cubs outscored Oak Harbor 21-7 in the third quarter, as Annema scored 12 of his game-high 20 points. The Wildcats went through a five minute scoreless drought while the Cubs grabbed a 32-30 lead heading into the final eight minutes.A Kyle Peterson 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter gave Sedro-Woolley a 35-30 lead, but buckets by Chad Riepma and Eric Marshall (both had 8 points and 5 rebounds for the game) cut the Cubs’ lead to one point.When Oak Harbor’s Garrett Stone (6 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds) stole the ball and ran the floor for a breakaway dunk, Wildcat fans went wild. Oak Harbor was back on top, 36-35.That was the last time the Wildcats would gain the lead. On Oak Harbor’s next possession, Stone drove to the hoop and a Sedro-Woolley player appeared to knock the ball out of bounds. The referee, however, gave possession to the Cubs. When Stone protested, he was slapped with a quick technical foul. When he protested some more, Stone received a second technical and was out of the game.That was with 4:56 to play. The Cubs’ Greg Mahle sank all four free throws resulting from the two Ts, giving Sedro-Woolley a 39-36 lead that would eventually stretch to 44-36.A Dronen 3-pointer with 38 seconds left, then a Dronen steal and layup pulled the Wildcats to within 46-44. But a bucket by the Cubs’ Annema, then an offensive foul by Marshall on the next Oak Harbor possession put an end to it.Wildcat players were frustrated by the loss.“We’ve got to all pull together,” Stone said. “It’s the first game, but if we play like this in the league we’re going to be in trouble.”SEDRO-WOOLLEY 49, OAK HARBOR 44Sedro-Woolley 4 7 21 17 — 49Oak Harbor 15 8 7 14 — 44Sedro-Woolley: Annema 20, Mahle 9, Kesti 8, Peterson 8, Steinman 4. Oak Harbor: Dronen 10, Marshall 8, Riepma 8, Waller 7, Stone 6, Hartman 5. 3-pointers—Oak Harbor: Dronen 2, Sedro-Woolley: Peterson 2.”