Maybe it was the uniforms. More likely, it was the big plays made at critical times that carried the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team to a 72-69 overtime win against visiting Everett Thursday, Jan. 22.

The win helped the Wildcats (2-3, 3-12) jump past Everett (1-4, 4-11) into fourth place in the Wesco 3A North. Teams have to finish among the first four to be considered for the district playoffs.

For fun, Oak Harbor donned throwback uniforms for the game, dusting off those worn by the 2000 Wildcats.

It took awhile for the mojo of the uniforms to take effect.

Everett jumped to several eight-point leads, going up 16-8 in the first quarter and 21-13 early in the second.

Diangelo McKinney came off the bench to spark Oak Harbor, draining a trio of three balls in the second period to help the Wildcats go on a 14-2 run and lead 25-23.

Everett led at the half 34-32.

Oak Harbor started the second half on a 13-1 run. Two steals and three assists from Anthony Powell fueled the rally, and Dyllan Harris scored the final six points of the run.

Now it was Everett’s turn to come back. Down 45-35, the Seagulls cut the gap to 47-46 at one point and trailed 53-49 heading into the last quarter.

Everett tied the score at 53 early in the fourth, and the teams traded the lead during the remainder of regulation time.

The Seagulls went up 64-62 with 22 seconds left, then Harris scored off an offensive rebound with seven seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.

In OT, Everett scored first, then McKinney scored twice on fast breaks. Two Seagull free throws knotted the game.

Harris scored off an inbounds play to give Oak Harbor a 70-68 lead.

The teams traded free throws, then Everett had the ball out underneath its hoop with 12 seconds left.

Oak Harbor’s Zach Jones stole the inbounds pass and was fouled.

Oak Harbor made only one of three free throws at the end but snared offensive rebounds on the two misses, and Everett never regained possession.

“We were pretty dialed in,” coach John Weston said. “We knew we had to get Marysville Getchell and Everett if we wanted a chance (for the playoffs).”

Weston wasn’t concerned when his team fell behind early: “We were getting chances, just not taking advantage of them. I knew they would keep coming and we would be OK.”

Weston lauded the play of McKinney and Powell.

“Diangelo — the cool thing is he showed mental toughness and battled back,” Weston said. “Anthony provided a spark in the third quarter and showed a lot of energy.”

Harris scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, and McKinney finished with 14.

Sean Erskine, who played a solid all-around game, chipped in with 12. Starting post Ben Fikse, who sat much of the game because of fouls, added six points; Jones had five and Jake Sturdevant four.

Savion Hollins-Passmore, Powell, Preston Rankin and Josh Cote all scored two.

Chris Bell led Everett with 18 points.

If Oak Harbor lost, it could look to one place — the foul line — for the primary reason. The Wildcats made only four of 11 while the Seagulls connected on 19 of 29.

Oak Harbor will now begin the second round of divisional games, hosting first-place Stanwood (5-0, 11-4) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27.

(Diangelo McKinney looks for an opening in the Everett defense. He hit three three-pointers in the second quarter and two hoops in overtime to spark Oak Harbor. Photo by John Fisken.)