Fast start helps Oak Harbor trample Tomahawks / Girls basketball

By Jim Waller • December 12, 2019 1:30 am

Behind a blazing start, the Oak Harbor High School girls basketball team zipped past visiting Marysville-Pilchuck 53-25 Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The win was the fourth straight in non-league action for the Wildcats, while the Tomahawks dropped their third consecutive game.

One of Oak Harbor’s goals, coach Jon Atkins said, is to win the first four minutes of each half. The Wildcats did that in the victory over the Tomahawks, opening the game with a 10-3 run and blanking M-P for the first seven minutes of the third period.

“We are focusing on the start of each half,” he added. “In the past we were flat.”

Mikhaela Cortez scored 13 points and Jasmine Ford 7 in the first period as Oak Harbor raced to a 24-5 advantage, thanks to a 13-1 run in the middle of the period.

Oak Harbor took a 31-14 lead into the locker room as the scoring slowed in the second period with three Wildcat starters on the bench with two fouls.

The Wildcats surrendered only 2 points in the third quarter to go up 41-16.

Payton Parks struck for 9 points in the final period to help Oak Harbor wrap up the win.

Cortez finished with 19 points despite playing only half the game. Parks had 17 points, Ford 9, Grace Waite 3, Olivia Waite 2, Paige Fortin 2 and Evelyn Osburn 1.

Madyson Baxter scored 11 to lead Marysville-Pilchuck. Baxter was 6-for-10 at the foul line; her teammates went 0-10.

Atkins said everyone “played well” in the game.

He noted that Cortez’s work in the offseason is paying off and Parks “did a lot of positive things that don’t show up in the scorebook.”

Atkins also likes how his team is building confidence before heading into what he called “Murderers’ Row,” the beginning of conference play.

Oak Harbor (4-0) goes to South Whidbey (2-2) at 6:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, for a non-league game and then opens Wesco play at Archbishop Murphy (1-2) at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16.