Girls basketball: Big second half carries Arlington over Oak Harbor

Arlington outscored the visiting Oak Harbor girls basketball team 23-2 in the second half to pull away to a 51-22 win Thursday, Dec. 2.

The loss dropped Oak Harbor’s record to 0-2; Arlington is 1-0. The Wildcats travel to Bellingham Monday, Dec. 6, to face Squalicum at 7:30 p.m.

The Eagles jumped to a 19-9 first quarter lead, then Oak Harbor took a little bite out of the margin and trailed 28-20 at the break. The wheels began to fall off in the third period for the ‘Cats and Arlington blanked the Wildcats 13-0 to take over the game.

Oak Harbor coach Trisha Clayville said, “We got tired in the second half and reverted back to the way we were playing on Tuesday. We weren’t looking to score, and we were waiting for someone else to shoot. We weren’t looking to attack.”

She added that Arlington “started to pound the ball into the post” in the second half to take advantage of it height. The Eagles played four girls six-feet or taller; Oak Harbor’s post is 5-8.

Clayville said Oak Harbor’s attacking offense got the big Arlington girls in foul trouble in the first half and limited their playing time. That all changed in the second half.

In spite of the loss, Clayville was pleased that her club played better than in its season-opening loss to Stanwood Tuesday. She said to improve every game “is our goal.”

Clayville liked the play of Janelle Yoshimoto, Ciera Wiser and Jalanie Bobo.

She said the trio played “really good defense” and ran the floor on offense, pulling the other girls along.

Wiser led the Wildcats in scoring with six points, one more than Yoshimoto. Bobo and Annie Leete scored three each, Kelsey Rankin and Dominique Jackson had two each and Emilie Renninger one.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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