Snohomish held off the visiting Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team for a 64-53 win Wednesday, Jan. 29.

The two teams were tied 25-25 at halftime, then the Panthers outscored the Wildcats 23-9 in the third quarter. Snohomish went 12-for-12 at the foul line in the period; it was only 1-for-8 in the other three quarters.

The Panthers led 11-9 after the first quarter, then Oak Harbor knotted the score at the break with the help of 5 points each from Will Rankin and Gage McLeod.

Oak Harbor managed only two field goals — three-pointers by Garrett Levell and Kaito White — in the fateful third quarter.

The Wildcats outscored the Panthers 19-16 in the last period, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the third-quarter slump.

Rankin scored 10 points and Shane Warden came off the bench to score 7 as Oak Harbor tried to rally in the fourth.

Rankin, who led Oak Harbor in scoring with 18 points, had “a great game,” according to coach Nate Sullivan.

“(He) was solid and consistent on both ends of the floor.”

McLeod had 8 points, Warden 7, Levell 7, Brock Boyer 5, White 5 and Matt Kelley 3.

The Wildcats lost Kelley, their leading scorer, to an ankle injury in the second quarter.

Grayson Anderson scored 19 points for the Panthers.

Sullivan said his club’s defensive intensity was at a “good level.”

“We played multiple trapping defenses to try to get the game at an up tempo pace,” he said.

Snohomish (2-8, 5-11) collected their second conference win with the victory. Oak Harbor (0-10, 1-15) is still looking for its initial Wesco win.

The Wildcats host Everett (2-7, 5-10) at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31.