The result was the same but the journey was much different.
The Oak Harbor High School girls basketball team lost to visiting Everett 68-55 Friday, Dec. 17.
The Seagulls, who are 6-1 this year, did not get the cake walk many expected against a Wildcat team struggling to earn its first win of the winter.
The scrappy Wildcats forced Everett into 23 turnovers and limited the much taller Seagulls to only five offensive rebounds. The primary reason Oak Harbor wasn’t able to pull off the upset was its inability to knock down open shots.
Although the Wildcats put up a season-high 55 points, easily surpassing the previous best of 41 and their season average of 32 points per game, they squandered many opportunities to add to the total.
Oak Harbor had its own turnover issues, finishing with 24, and Everett, unlike the ‘Cats, was able to convert them into easy points. The Seagulls had 10 fast-break points off turnovers in the third quarter alone.
The Wildcats jumped to a 15-10 lead, thanks to nine points from Janelle Yoshimoto, before Everett went on a 12-2 run to take a lead it would hold for the remainder of the game. Another 9-2 run to close out the half allowed the Seagulls to go up 41-26.
Everett’s lead fluctuated between 10 and 20 the rest of the way, but the pesky ‘Cats kept up the pressure and the ‘Gulls were obviously flustered and never comfortable.
Yoshimoto, Oak Harbor’s 4-10 dynamo point guard, was everywhere. Her daring drives to the hoop produced eight points off field goals and another five at the free throw line (out of six tries). When the Seagull defense dropped back to prevent her attacks on the hoop, she drained three three-point baskets to finish the night with a season-high 22 points.
Emilie Renninger, who coach Trisha Clayville said “played a really good game,” added eight points despite missing almost two quarters to get sticks in her lip after being elbowed in the face.
Annie Leete hit for 12, Clarissa Abadesco finished with five, Dominique Jackson four, Tatiana Cumming two and Adrianna Royal two.
Clayville said, “Our goal is to get better every day. This was the best game we played so far.”
Oak Harbor (0-3, 0-7) goes to Mountlake Terrace (1-2, 1-6) Wednesday, Dec. 22, then hosts the annual Santa Slam Tournament Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29 and 30.
