A third-quarter surge by Pullman pushed the Greyhounds to a 53-44 win over the host Oak Harbor girls basketball team in the opening round of the Santa Slam Tournament Thursday, Dec. 29.
Things will get rougher today, Dec. 30, for Oak Harbor as it meets Lewiston, the defending Idaho state champions, at noon. The 8-1 Bengals, currently ranked third in Idaho, thumped Beak Creek 54-24 yesterday.
Oak Harbor scored the first basket of the third quarter against Pullman, then the Greyhounds went on a 14-0 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to take control and earn their first win in six games. The Wildcats fell to 1-8.
During its 14-0 spurt, Pullman picked up six points off turnovers, four off free throws and two more from an offensive rebound.
Down early, Oak Harbor came back to take the lead at the end of the first quarter, 11-10, as five different players scored for the Wildcats, including Tatiana Cumming who hit a big three that put the ‘Cats on top.
The second quarter was a foul-shooting display as the teams combined to shoot 22; the Greyhounds hit eight of 12 and led 26-23 at the half. Midway through the quarter Pullman used a 9-0 run to wipe away a 15-12 Oak Harbor lead.
Oak Harbor trailed by 17, 51-34, with 4:58 left in the game before a late rush cut the margin to single digits.
Nine different Wildcats scored, led by Lia Pantoleon with 11. Morgan Young had seven, Cumming five, Annie Leete five, Jalani Bobo four, Kaileen Burleson four, Kelsey Rankin four, Rayan Russell two and Dominique Jackson two.
Oak Harbor, already short-handed with starter Ciera Wiser and sixth-man Marissa Lewis out, ran into foul trouble.
Posts Rankin and Jackson had three fouls by the second quarter and, along with another post, Bobo, had four in the third. Each sat significant minutes.
The game featured 40 fouls and 50 free throws. Oak Harbor connected on only 12 of 26. Pullman hit 16 of 24.
Coach Trisha Clayville said her team “hit panic mode” in the third quarter and couldn’t recover. She did see positives: “My kids didn’t give up. They got down and then got back into the game.”
