Oak Harbor edges Coupeville in OT / Boys basketball

With four players scoring in double figures, the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team was able to overcome a big night by Coupeville’s Hawthorne Wolfe in the Wildcats’ thrilling 73-69 overtime win Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Oak Harbor.

Coupeville came to Oak Harbor’s season-opener after losing 56-49 at Darrington Tuesday.

The Wildcats (1-0) play at Sedro-Woolley (0-0) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7. Coupeville (0-2) hosts Orcas Island (0-0) at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Oak Harbor 73, Coupeville 69

Coupeville entered the game with an advantage in experience — it returns all but one varsity player from last year, while the Wildcats welcome back only one.

Oak Harbor came in with the advantage of enrollment — five times the number of students as Coupeville, with, theoretically, five times the number of athletes.

Each advantage cancelled the other out as the two teams scrapped to a 63-63 tie in regulation.

Wolfe kept Coupeville in the game with 34 points. Oak Harbor countered by having five score 9 or more.

Hoops by Sean Toomey-Stout, Wolfe and Koa Davison gave the Wolves a 69-68 lead in overtime, then Oak Harbor finished the game on a 5-0 run to secure the win.

Kenneth Tofah put Oak Harbor up for good with a 3-point bucket at the 1:50 mark.

The Wildcats allowed the Wolves to hang around at the end, hitting only two of six free throws over the final 1:08.

It was Wolfe against the Wildcats in the first quarter. The sophomore guard scored 15 points off four 3-pointers and a 3-point play in opening period. At one time he scored 12 straight, flipping an 8-3 deficit to a 15-8 lead.

Toomey-Stout made it 17-8, then Oak Harbor bounced back, slicing the margin to 19-16 at the quarter.

After Tofah tied the score with a three-ball, Coupeville went up by 8, 32-24, when Mason Grove drilled a 3-pointer.

The lead was 4, 35-31, at halftime.

Oak Harbor’s Gage McLeod started the second half with a bucket beyond the arc and freshman Brock Boyer hit a 2, and the Wildcats had their first lead since the middle of the first period.

McLeod finished the quarter with 11 points and Wolfe 9, and Oak Harbor took a 50-49 lead into the final period.

Coupeville’s Ulrik Wells scored 6 points in the first 3:12 of the fourth quarter and Coupeville led 57-56. The teams traded leads the rest of the way.

Davidson put the Wolves up 63-61 with 1:14 remaining.

After Coupeville missed the front end of two one-and-one free throw situations and Oak Harbor one, Boyer tied the game with 34.5 seconds left in regulation, setting up overtime.

Neither team shot well from the line. Coupeville connected on five of 11 and Oak Harbor nine of 23.

Wolfe finished with 34 points and seven 3-pointers. Davison had 8 points, Toomey-Stout 6, Grove 6, Wells 6, Jacobi Pilgrim 4, Gavin Knoblich 3 and Jered Brown 2.

McLeod led Oak Harbor with 16 points, all in the second half. Boyer had 15, Tofah 10, Kaito White 10, Matt Kelley 9, Will Rankin 5, Garrett Leavell 3, Alaki Kitchens 3 and Mason Myers 2. Myers, the Wildcats’ starting post, missed the second half with a knee injury.

The win was the first for new Oak Harbor varsity coach Nate Sullivan.

“The kids played with good energy,” Sullivan said. “They played hard and played through a lot of internal adversity — missed easy shots, missed free throws, unforced turnovers. They kept their heads and moved on to the next play.”

Darrington 56, Coupeville 49

Darrington’s Bashaun Williams and Caleb Rivera each scored 20 points to offset 24 from Coupeville’s Grove, who finished with six 3-pointers.

The Loggers led 13-10, 26-23 and 42-34 at the quarters.

Toomey-Stout tallied 8 points, Wolfe 6, Brown 4, Pilgrim 4 and Davison 3.