Regional media and league coaches may have labeled it an upset, but don’t tell the Oak Harbor girls their 70-55 win over Arlington on Friday was a surprise.

Picked by Western Conference North coaches to finish near the bottom of the nine-team league, the Wildcats were just waiting for an opportunity to prove people wrong.

“We were chosen as eighth in the league and they were chosen as fourth, so it was just like we’ve got to do this,” senior Jessica Brundidge said.

Brundidge, a 5-foot guard, was instrumental in a comeback in which Oak Harbor erased a 10-point halftime deficit. She scored 20 of her career-high 22 points in the second half, including two three pointers and perfect 10-for-10 free throw shooting in the fourth quarter.

“That was the game of her life, the game of her career,” OHHS coach Brett McLeod said.

It wasn’t just Brundidge lighting it up.

As a team, the Wildcats scored 49 points in the second half — prior to Friday they only averaged 40 points per game.

“That was the best second half or any half I’ve ever seen us play,” McLeod said.

Trailing 31-21 at the start of the third quarter Oak Harbor made big changes on both ends of the floor.

Defensively, OHHS put the clamps down on Arlington senior guard Randi Richardson who had 15 points along with six assists in the first half.

The Wildcats switched to a box-and-one defense on the future University of San Francisco athlete, holding her to zero points in the third quarter.

“I thought we played with a lot of heart on the defensive end,” McLeod said.

While Oak Harbor’s defense was on, so was its offense. The Wildcats hit their first four shots of the second half, including the two three pointers from Brundidge. Senior Krystal Rousselle gave OHHS its first lead of the game, 35-34, at the 3:45 mark of the third, scoring two points on an offensive rebound.

OHHS never surrendered the lead after that.

The Wildcats shot 50 percent in the final half and out-rebounded the Eagles 42-18 for the game.

“It was a team effort, it wasn’t individual at all,” said Brundidge of the win. “Even the people that didn’t play, they went out and supported us.”

Free throws were also key as OHHS shot 22-for-28 for the game, including 15-of-16 in the fourth quarter.

“That makes a huge difference when they hit those — on the coach’s sanity,” McLeod joked.

OHHS sophomore Mietra Smollack joined Brundidge with a team-high 22 points. She was also perfect from the line at 6-for-6.

The victory was huge for the Wildcats, who are now 2-3 in league and 3-6 overall. They are tied with Arlington for fifth place, a half game behind Marysville-Pilchuck (3-3, 6-4) for the final WesCo North district playoff spot.

Oak Harbor played last night at Stanwood and hosts last-place Mount Vernon at 7:30 p.m., tomorrow, Jan. 12.

Arlington 15 16 5 19 — 55

Oak Harbor 13 8 20 29 — 70

Scoring:Oak Harbor Brundidge 22,

Smollack 22, Rousselle 9, Jenkins 6, Baeyen 4, Thiel 4, Russell 3. Arlington-Richardson 23, K. Prause 9, Welk 7, McCowan 6, Barlond 3, Tanguay 3, Holton 2, S. Prause 2.