A poor shooting night cost the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team more than a game, it robbed the Wildcats of a chance to advance to the postseason.
Oak Harbor’s misery was Marysville Getchell’s (and Marysville-Pilchuck’s) delight as the host Chargers won their only Wesco 3A North game of the season 60-51 Wednesday, Feb. 5, in the 2013-14 finale for both teams.
Had Oak Harbor (4-9, 4-16) won, it would have hosted Marysville-Pilchuck in a tie-breaker Friday to determine the final berth into next week’s district tournament. M-P now gets the spot thanks to their crosstown brothers.
The Wildcats shot a tepid 24.6 percent (15 for 61) in the game while Marysville Getchell made four more field goals in 16 fewer attempts (42.2 percent).
Oak Harbor was cold from the beginning, scoring only two points in the first quarter and falling behind 11-2.
Things picked up in the second quarter as the ‘Cats scored 12 points, but the Chargers countered with 20 and led 31-14 at the break.
Oak Harbor missed all 10 of its three-point attempts in the opening half.
Wildcat coach Mike Washington said his team “didn’t show up in the first half.”
He said play improved after halftime as the Wildcats began forcing Getchell into mistakes. Oak Harbor put a dent into the Chargers’ lead in the third quarter, trimming the gap to 42-37.
Marysville Getchell (1-12, 2-18) hung tough and held off the Wildcats in the fourth quarter to collect its second win of the season.
One positive for Oak Harbor was turnovers. The Wildcats committed only 10 to the Chargers 18 and outscored Getchell 16-8 off those miscues.
Drew Washington led Oak Harbor with 17 points and three steals.
Dyllan Harris scored 16 points and added two steals.
Gabe Groenig recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Zach Gibbs also had 10 rebounds to go along with his five points and four assists. Zach Jones scored three points.
Kaleb Seymer scored a game-high 20 for the Chargers.
The game was the final contest for Oak Harbor seniors Washington, Groenig, Gibbs and Jay Angeles.
