In a game that was close throughout, the Shorecrest High School boys basketball team eked out a 69-66 win over visiting Oak Harbor Friday, Jan. 11.
The Wildcats had a good look on a potential tying three-point attempt at the end but couldn’t get the shot to drop.
Oak Harbor led 54-52 going into the fourth quarter, then Shorecrest (3-4, 7-6) rallied to take an 8-point lead. The Wildcats chipped away to regain the lead, then the teams began trading baskets and the advantage over the final minutes.
Down by 2 with just under two minutes remaining, Oak Harbor thought it tied the game on a bucket by Gavin Allen, but the Wildcat point guard was called for a charge and the bucket was erased. The foul was Allen’s fifth, leaving Oak Harbor without its primary ball handler for the frantic finish.
After a stop, the Wildcats turned the ball over and had to foul to stop the clock. The Scots hit a free throw to go up by 3 and then held on as Oak Harbor couldn’t hit the equalizer at the end.
The Wildcats also missed several key free throws in the fourth quarter, according to coach John Weston. Oak Harbor was only 10-for-18 at the line for the game.
Oak Harbor, with no starter taller than 6-3, had trouble containing Shorecrest’s 6-9 center Calvin Acker, who finished with 21 points. Six other Scots complemented Acker’s inside work by combining to hit nine three-pointers in the game.
“(Acker) stepped up and had a big game for them,” Weston said. “He really hurt us with offensive rebounds and put-backs.”
Acker scored 6 points in the first quarter and three teammates scored from long range to help the Scots take a 17-14 first-quarter lead despite 7 points from Oak Harbor’s Haven Brown and 5 from Dorian Hardin.
Acker tacked on 8 more points in the second period to counter 7 by Hardin and Shorecrest led 36-33 at the half.
Kevin Schuldt poured in 13 points in the third quarter to help Oak Harbor take the 54-52 lead into the fourth period.
“I thought our guys played well most of the game,” Weston said. “We shared the ball really well and had a much better shot selection than we have had in a few games.
“They played hard and I was proud of their efforts.”
Weston lauded Schuldt’s “big offensive game” and “tough defense.” He also liked the play of Ta’Shaun Howard, who had “by far his best game of the season and played amazing defense and brought us a lot of toughness.”
Hardin led Oak Harbor in scoring with 17 points, one more than Schuldt. Brown added 10, Allen 7, Matt Kelley 6, Howard 5, Andrew Baloy 3 and Austin Boesch 2.
Oak Harbor (2-5, 4-9) entertains Stanwood (6-2, 10-3) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16.
