Wildcats overcome slow start for win | Girls basketball

Published 11:01 am Thursday, January 21, 2016

It’s how you finish that counts.

The Oak Harbor High School girls basketball team was slow out of the gate but recovered in time for a 44-38 win at Marysville-Pilchuck Wednesday, Jan. 20.

The Tomahawks sprinted to a 12-2 lead and led 24-10 midway through the second quarter.

From that point, the Wildcats “had a great game,” coach Jon Atkins said, allowing only 14 points the rest of the way.

The first quarter and a half was a different story, according to Atkins, “but the girls fought back and learned how to win the ugly games.”

Julie Jansen helped Oak Harbor weather the rugged start, scoring six first-quarter points.

Bryn Langrock sparked the second-quarter surge with 10 points, including two three-pointers.

M-P (0-4, 2-12) led 27-24 at halftime.

Oak Harbor knotted the game at 33 going into the fourth quarter, then five different players scored for the Wildcats as they finally pushed into the lead.

Jansen and Langrock, who together had all but four of Oak Harbor’s points heading into the last period, led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 and 17 points respectively.

Janae Payne finished with four points, Rashanna Graham two, Deja Bunch two and AnnaBelle Whitefoot one.

Oak Harbor (1-3, 5-9) broke a five-game losing streak with the win. The Wildcats play Everett (1-3, 4-11) at home at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22.