The Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team got a late start (and leading-scorer Dyllan Harris a later start yet), but the delay didn’t phase the Wildcats as they dumped visiting Marysville Getchell 70-62 Friday, Jan. 16.

Getchell had problems getting out of Marysville because of bus trouble, pushing the game’s starting time back a half hour. Harris had to wait a little longer. Oak Harbor coach John Weston sat Harris until the beginning of the second quarter after the junior wing missed the previous day of school and practice because of an illness. Once Harris entered the game, he blitzed the Chargers for 36 points.

The win was the Wildcats’ second in 12 games and the first in Western Conference action after two losses. Marysville Getchell is 3-10 overall, 0-3 in the Wesco North.

The Chargers used an 8-2 run late in the first quarter to take a 13-9 lead.

The game was fast-paced, with both teams using full-court pressure early and MG throughout. That pace picked up a notch once Harris entered the game in the second quarter.

Oak Harbor scored the first nine points of the second period, with Harris getting seven, to lead 18-15.

Harris finished with 12 points in the period, Jake Sturdevant added six, and Oak Harbor led 27-25 at halftime.

After Marysville Getchell went up 33-30 two minutes into the second half, Oak Harbor (specifically Harris) went on a 10-0 run to take the game’s biggest lead, 40-33.

The Chargers fought back and tied the score at 45 before Harris hit a pair of free throws after being fouled at the third-quarter buzzer.

Getchell then spurted to a pair of six-point leads, 53-47 and 57-51.

Oak Harbor answered with a 11-0 run. Harris hit a couple of hoops, Ben Fikse scored off an Anthony Powell assist, Harris knocked down a jumper off an inbounds play and Powell finished the string with a three-point play. That put the Wildcats up 62-57.

A Charger bucket made it a three-point game, then Zach Jones fed Harris for two points. From there, Oak Harbor hit six of eight free throws (two by Jones, four by Harris) to hold off the Chargers.

Harris hurt Getchell in a variety of ways. He knocked down a trio of three-pointers and slashed to the hoop for contested lay-ins or trips to the foul line, where he dropped in 13 of 17.

Both teams spent much of the evening shooting free throws. Oak Harbor sank 22 of 35, Getchell 15 of 22. The Chargers committed 24 fouls and had three players foul out. The Wildcats had 20 fouls with no disqualifications.

Weston liked the improvement of his team.

“We played with better energy,” he said. “We showed intensity at the defensive end, winning the little battles, doing the little things.”

He noted that Harris’ effort on defensive led to offensive chances and said the junior “did a great job coming off the bench and giving us some needed offense.

“I thought he took good shots and was very efficient on both sides of the ball and was a beast on the boards.”

Harris wasn’t the only star.

“We got our best game of the year from out posts, Ben (Fikse) and Jake (Sturdevant),” Weston said. “Ben was huge tonight, grabbed big boards. Also, Anthony Powell, getting the start, showed a lot of energy.”

Fikse finished with 11 rebounds, nine points, three steals and two blocks. Sturdevant grabbed nine rebounds and scored six points. Powell had three steals to go along with his critical three-point play.

“The most impressive thing,” Weston said, “was when Marysville Getchell went up by five or six near the end, we were able to respond. I am proud of how we handled that.”

Diangelo McKinney scored eight points, Savion Hollins-Passmore three, Sean Erskine three and Jones two.

Oak Harbor hosts Ferndale (9-4) in a non-league game at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19.