It doesn’t get any easier for the Oak Harbor Wildcats.
A day after losing 54-32 to Snohomish in the Northwest District title game at Cascade High School, the Cats were paired up against second-ranked Prairie (23-2) in the opening round of the 4A state tournament.
“It was a tough draw, but I like our quarter-bracket,” said head coach Dwight Lundstrom about the tourney setup. “I feel pretty good and I think we can compete pretty well with these teams.”
The Wildcats face the Falcons today at 3:30 in the first round of the state tourney from Tacoma.
After Prairie, the Wildcats will see a second-round game against either Richland (20-5) or Jefferson (18-7) tomorrow. According to Lundstrom the Cats faced Jefferson in summer league play last year. The full tournament bracket can be accessed at www.wiaa.com.
A longtime girls basketball power, Prairie has lost just two contests this season and took third place at state last year. The Falcons have posted two first-place finishes in the past four years, and have missed the state tourney just once since 1992.
“We know they’re big and they play man-to-man defense,” said Lundstrom about the Falcons. “They have one girl who is 6-foot-4, but they are fairly quick.”
Lundstrom and his team plan on continuing to do the things that won the Wesco North Division and put them in the state tourney in the first place. He also hopes to have one ace up his sleeve with shooting guard Marcy Manibusan.
“My hope is that they don’t find out about Marcy,” he said. “I think she’s a wild card. All the Wesco teams know to guard her tight, but hopefully Prairie won’t.”
The game against Prairie will be the Wildcats’ first-ever state game. Oak Harbor played in the regionals twice in the mid-eighties when the tourney was still an eight-team affair, but this will be their first time in the 16-school double elimination event. Lundstrom wants his team to take the tournament one step at a time.
“Our first goal is to be playing on Friday – we don’t want to go two and out,” he said. “Then if we get to Friday and play well we want to go on to Saturday and bring home a trophy.”
Last Saturday, the Wildcats had to settle for second -place in the Northwest District, falling to Snohomish in the title game. Oak Harbor jumped out on the Panthers 20-13 in the first-half, but behind the play of twin towers Anne Bailey and Hali Thompson, Snohomish exploded for a 27-5 run in the third quarter, taking a 13-point lead into the the final period.
“We did a good job in the first half, we did a good job all game except for in the third quarter,” said Lundstrom about the contest. “But you just know it wasn’t our night when the other team is banking in three-pointers.”
From the start of the game the Cats appeared in good shape. Manibusan hit a three-pointer from the wing off the opening tip to give the Cats a quick 3-0 advantage. With the Panthers not doubling Heidi McNeill, the 6-foot-2 freshman got six quick points as Oak Harbor jumped out to a 11-7 first-quarter lead.
The Wildcats began the second, clicking in their half-court offense. Kaylea Kingma converted a nice over-the-shoulder layup off a backcut to make the score 13-9, followed by a Shirley Spears drive to the hoop for two more. Despite having a nice size advantage, Snohomish continued to settle for outside shots and wasn’t making them.
The first half ended when the Panthers missed another shot and Valerie Hartman fed Spears for a fast-break layup with just seconds left. The Cats took a 20-13 lead into halftime as Snohomish shot just 5-for-24 from the field in the half.
As bad as the Panthers shot in the first half, they made up for it in the second. After hitting a three-pointer to open the third, they began to focus on getting the ball to the Bailey and Thompson inside. The 6-foot Thompson scored four quick points as Snohomish closed the gap, while Bailey began to heat up from the outside as well as in the paint.
Early in the third after the Panthers took their first lead of the game, Spears scored on an inside bucket as Oak Harbor regained the lead 23-22. It would be the last time during the contest that the Cats would be ahead. Bailey scored five quick points, including a three-pointer, and the Panthers were on their way.
Spears stopped a 14-0 run by the Panthers with a putback in the fourth quarter. McNeill then made an inside shot to close the deficit to 43-29, but that was as close as it would get with the final score 54-32.
“Shirley was really solid on the boards and she went strong to the hoop,” said Lundstrom about the 5-foot-9 junior. “We probably needed to get the ball to her more.”
Oak Harbor was led in scoring by Spears with 13 points and McNeill who added 10. Bailey scored 18 points, including 16 in the second half, while Thompson had 13 for the Panthers. Lundstrom is sure that his team can bounce back from the loss and be ready to play today.
“We’ve recovered from a loss like this three times this season, so we know what to do,” he said. “This is a tough group of kids. Their resilient and they know what they have to do.”
Snohomish 54, Oak Harbor 32
At Reg Scodeller Gym
Snohomish – 9 4 27 14 – 54
Oak Harbor – 11 9 5 7 – 32
Snohomish: Barstow 7, Cornwell 2, Angell 6, Krause 2, Kling 2, Thompson 13, Bailey 18, Snowden 4. OH: McNeill 10, Hartman 3, Manibusan 3, Kingma 2, Spears 13, S. Bratt 1. 3-point goals: Manibusan 1, Barstow 1, Angell 2, Bailey 2. Records: Snohomish 19-4. Oak Harbor 19-4.
