Heads held high — a certain look of confidence remained on the faces of the Oak Harbor boys basketball team even after its 49-41 home loss to Bellingham Friday night.
The Wildcats may have just suffered their second non-league defeat in as many games, but for the second straight contest the young team fell behind by a large margin, only to rally back and have a chance to win late.
“The kids have one things we can’t coach and that is that they don’t get down,” OHHS head coach Bryan Schulle said. “They were down 10 — with a younger team you worry about that — but they fought back and kept their heads in the ball game.”
Trailing 31-21 at half time, Oak Harbor wasted no time making its move in the second half.
Junior guard Chris Hughes pulled OHHS within seven, nailing the first and only Wildcat three-point shot of the game on the first possession of the third quarter.
Oak Harbor then turned up its defensive pressure by focusing on slowing down Bellingham’s fast-break-oriented offense that netted the Red Raiders most of their first-half points.
“That was as good adjustment for us, it totally changed their tempo,” Schulle said.
Forcing Bellingham to run more of a set offense, the Wildcats held the Red Raiders to just 1-for-12 shooting in the third quarter. The strong defense helped OHHS pull within two, 36-34, by the end of the period.
The Wildcats stayed close throughout the fourth quarter, but were never able to take the lead. Down 43-39 with 2:00 left, sophomore Dallas Heidt drained a short jump shot to pull Oak Harbor to within two, 43-41.
Playing tight man-to-man defense, the Wildcats’ Marc Ferguson forced Bellingham’s Zack Henifin into a wild fade-away jump shot beyond the foul line. Henifin’s shot, however, sank through the net with 1:25 to go and the Wildcats were unable to get any closer.
“That really hurt us,” Schulle said. “That was the shot we wanted them to take, you can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Oak Harbor was led in scoring by Ferguson, whose 20 points were highlighted by an acrobatic alley-oop dunk off a pass from sophomore Marshall Lobbestael in the first quarter.
“He played really well,” Schulle said. “He played within himself, he played hard, he played for 32 minutes — I never thought about taking him out.”
Junior transfer Will Lopez was the next highest scorer for the Cats with eight points.
Sophomore Jake Brog led Bellingham with 14 points.
Despite suffering their second loss in as many games, a feeling exists among the Wildcats that it’s only a matter of time before the wins start coming on a regular basis.
“We’re young, but I think the younger guys are doing a good job,” said Ferguson, the lone returning varsity starter. “When we’re down like that, we’re keeping it up in the second half. That shows real maturity for these younger guys.”
Oak Harbor (0-2) faced non-league Burlington-Edison (0-2) on the road last night and begins its Western Conference North season at 7:30 p.m., this Friday, Dec. 10 at home against Cascade. Junior varsity and freshmen tip off the action at 5:40 p.m.
“We’re going to have to do the little things to win basketball games,” Schulle said. “That means control the ball, take good shots and hit free throws.”
Bellingham 17 14 5 13 — 49
Oak Harbor 11 10 13 7 — 41
Scoring — Oak Harbor: Ferguson 20, Lopez 8, Hughes 4, Heidt 4, Waller 3, Maddox 2. Bellingham: Brog 14, Henifin 12, Evans 10,Eckes 8,Carlson 4, Woodrich 1.
