Wildcats ride defense in win over Falcons / Boys basketball

Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 22, 2016

A stingy defensive effort helped the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team overcome a 1-point third quarter, and the Wildcats slipped by neighbor South Whidbey 40-35 Wednesday, Dec. 21, in Langley.

The Wildcats let a 12-point halftime lead slip away but didn’t panic and snared their second win of the season.

The Oak Harbor junior varsity and freshman teams also won, giving the Wildcats their first sweep of the season.

Oak Harbor (2-6) will play another non-conference game during the winter break when it goes to Meridian (0-4) at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30.

In the win over South Whidbey, Oak Harbor coach John Weston used a box-and-one defense to slow the Falcons’ high-scoring guard Lewis Pope.

“We played really solid half-court defense, especially Haven Brown,” Weston said. Brown drew the primary assignment of handling Pope.

Brown harassed Pope into 4-of-17 shooting, including 1-for-7 from outside the arc.

Oak Harbor led 9-5 after the first period.

An 8-0 run that bridged the first two quarters pushed the lead to 15-7.

In the second quarter, Gabe Salinger came off the bench to score 7 points, including a three-pointer, and fellow reserve Gavin Allen added two long balls to help Oak Harbor go up 28-16 at halftime.

A free throw by Brown with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter was the only point Oak Harbor registered in the period, and South Whidbey sliced the lead to 29-28.

The Falcons, who are coached by former Oak Harbor head man Mike Washington, scored the first three points of the fourth period to take their first lead, 31-29, since scoring the game’s first point.

Justin Ellison stopped the Falcons’ momentum by hitting a three-pointer, Oak Harbor’s first field goal in 12 minutes, to give the Wildcats the lead for good, 32-31, with 4:34 left on the clock.

Two free throws by Brown, a basket by Adam Nelson, a three-ball from Salinger and a foul shot from Ellison put Oak Harbor up 40-33 with 52 seconds left. That helped the Wildcats overcome missing the front end of three one-and-ones over the final seconds.

The Oak Harbor defense prevented the Falcons from converting after the missed free throws to preserve the win.

Oak Harbor controlled the tempo of the game, holding the ball each possession until deep into the shot clock.

“That has been our plan all year,” Weston said. “We can’t go into a shootout and expect to win. That’s our mentality; we value possessions.”

Weston said point guard Nelson did “a really good job” in the second half, keeping the Wildcats composed as South Whidbey worked back into the game.

“Gavin Allen did an awesome job in the first half breaking down the South Whidbey defense,” he added. “Weston Whitefoot did a good job on the boards.”

Salinger scored 13 points for the Wildcats, followed by Ellison (9), Allen (7), Nelson (4), Brown (3), Whitefoot (2) and JJ Mitchell (2).

Ellison and Brown each had seven rebounds, Salinger and Nelson tossed three assists and Nelson added three steals.

Oak Harbor outshot South Whidbey 36 to 33 percent and gave up only one three-pointer in 14 attempts.