The Oak Harbor boys basketball team scored only one point in the opening quarter of a must-win game at Everett Tuesday, Feb. 10, and couldn’t recover, losing 52-44.

The final regular season game determined which of the two teams would finish fourth in the Wesco 3A North and claim the final district tournament berth.

The Wildcats found themselves down 12-1 after the first eight minutes.

“We were super tight to start the game,” Oak Harbor coach John Weston said.

“True confidence comes through preparation, so if the reason we were tight was through a lack of confidence, that is due to me not doing a good enough job preparing the guys.”

The Wildcats were also crippled by early fouls, committing 10 in the first quarter.

Oak Harbor scratched its way back into the game and had a chance to trim the lead to two with three minutes remaining but let the opportunity slip away.

The Wildcats turned the ball over on a “wide open lay-in opportunity,” Weston said, and Everett (4-6, 7-13) turned the mistake into its own transition lay-in.

That four-point swing gave the Seagulls a six-point lead, the momentum and, eventually, the win.

After scoring only one point in the opening period, the Wildcats settled in and tallied 19 in the second and trailed 25-20 at the half.

Although not as slow as the first quarter, Oak Harbor had another sluggish period in the third, scoring only nine points. Everett put up 13 and held a 38-29 advantage going into the final frame.

There were some positives in the season-ending loss, according to Weston.

“Zach Jones was a big leader for us,” Weston said. “Josh Cote and Preston Rankin gave us some big minutes late when others were in foul trouble.

“I am really proud that we battled, especially the seniors.”

Jones and Dyllan Harris led the Wildcats with 12 points each.

Cote scored seven points, Rankin five, Sean Erskine four, Ben Fikse two and Jake Sturdevant two.

Bryan Lucas scored 15 points and David Popach 13 for Everett.

Oak Harbor finished the season with a 3-17 record, 2-8 in Wesco play.

First-year coach Weston said, “Overall, I was pleased with our growth throughout the season. I thought we learned how to better compete.

“We were picked to finish last in league, but we finished fifth.

“The fact that the last game of the season mattered and put us in position to finish fourth in league and make playoffs was very encouraging. As a coach you always want to play in games that matter at the end of the season.”