Attaching from both inside and out, the Monroe High School boys basketball team topped host Oak Harbor 70-48 Tuesday, Nov. 28.
Monroe’s 6-7 post Colby Kyle, a Princeton commit, controlled the paint with 24 points and teammates Russell Cochran and Taylor Sturgeon each hit four three pointers to lead the long-range attack as the Bearcats rolled to the win in the season opener for both schools.
The game started out as a shooting match between Kyle and Oak Harbor’s Gabe Salinger.
Monroe led 11-8 midway through the first quarter, and Kyle accounted for 8 of the Bearcats’ points and Salinger all of Oak Harbor’s.
A three-pointer by Gavin Allen and a bucket off an offensive rebound by Ozell Jackson gave the Wildcats a 13-11 lead. Monroe finished the quarter on a 9-2 run and continued to pull away from there.
Kyle pumped in 18 first-half points and Monroe led at the break 41-22. The lead grew to 52-31 after three quarters.
Salinger finished the game with 21 points. Allen and Dorian Hardin had 7 each; Terrell Crumpton, Austin Boesch and Haven Brown collected 3 apiece; and Jackson and Kevin Schuldt each scored 2.
“We had a good first quarter, made some shots,” Oak Harbor coach John Weston said. “Gabe looked good, showing confidence and senior leadership.”
Weston said his club “gave up way too many offensive rebounds (17 in the first half), and that hurt more than anything.”
He liked his club’s “effort throughout” and the work of “some of our new group,” naming Hardin and Crumpton.
Oak Harbor (0-1) entertains Lakewood (0-0) at 7:15 Friday, Dec. 1.
Gavin Allen drops a defender on the way to the hoop Tuesday. (Photo by John Fisken)
Austin Boesch fires a three-pointer for the Wildcats. (Photo by John Fisken)
Gabe Salinger pumps in two of his 21 points. (Photo by John Fisken)
