They brought it down to the wire, but the Oak Harbor girls basketball couldn’t complete an upset over the state’s seventh-ranked Monroe Bearcats, losing 55-46 on the road Wednesday night.

“You can look back at this game and it was like three or four plays that make a difference,” OHHS head coach Brett McLeod said.

Down five with less than a minute to play, Wildcat junior Kyrstal Rousselle got off an open look at a three-pointer. Her shot swirled in and out, forcing the Wildcats to foul to stop the clock.

“It was one of those you thought was going in and it just rimmed out at the last second,” McLeod said.

Prior Rousselle’s shot, OHHS had committed a key turnover and Monroe won a hustle play under the basket, which resulted in a layup and a five point lead.

Oak Harbor was tied with Monroe 21-21 at halftime and managed to stay within five to six points the entire second half. They could never take the lead, however.

The Wildcats found early success against the 15-1 Bearcats early by hustling.

“We just played man-to-man, we did a good job getting back on defense and we were rebounding,” McLeod said.

Heidi McNeill was key for Oak Harbor, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 post hit a personal record four three pointers.

Now at 2-8 in league and six games remaining, Oak Harbor has little room for error. In order for his team to make a realistic run at the playoffs, the will more than likely have to win out in their final games.

“There’s no more moral victories,” McLeod said.

The Wildcats faced third-place Lake Stevens last night and travel to Mount Vernon on Monday, Feb. 7 for a make-up game.

Oak Harbor 10 11 9 16 — 46

Monroe 12 9 13 21 — 55

Scoring — Oak Harbor: McNeill 25, Russell 8, M. Smollack 7, K. Smollack 6. Monroe: Morton 20, Thompson 16, Muhammad 7, Drivstuen 5, Battle 4, Tona 2, Hopkins 1.