Shorewood bullied its way to a 65-53 boys basketball win at Oak Harbor Tuesday, Dec. 14.

The Thunderbirds’ front line players scored all put 10 of the team’s points as Shorewood upped its league record to 1-1 and season mark to 3-2. The Wildcats fell to 0-2, 1-4.

Oak Harbor travels to Everett (0-2, 2-4) Friday, Dec. 17, then hosts Mountlake Terrace (3-0, 4-1) Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

The balanced Shorewood scoring attack featured five players with nine or more points. Post Cage Carroll led the way with 15. Josh Hawkinson, a 6-8 center, added 12 points while hitting all five of his field goal attempts.

Mike Washington Jr. paced Oak Harbor with a game-high 22 points, and Jay Stout tossed in 12.

Shorewood took a 29-25 lead into the locker room, then built some breathing room in the third quarter to up its lead to 43-32 going into the fourth period.

Oak Harbor fell behind by 16 early in the fourth quarter and never threatened.

The Wildcat defense had trouble containing the size and strength of the T-birds and committed 27 fouls, 12 more than the visitors. That gave Shorewood a whopping 37 to 18 edge in free throw attempts. The Thunderbirds hit 19 to Oak Harbor’s 11.

Not much went right for Oak Harbor, but coach Mike Washington Sr. was pleased that his club hung tough with the taller T-birds on the boards, grabbing 36 rebounds, just two less than Shorewood.

Shorewood, getting a lot of close rang shots, hit 21 of 44 field goals (47.7 percent). The Wildcats were much cooler, netting just 18 of 56 (32.1 percent).

Oak Harbor tried to combat Shorewood size by shooting over its 2-3 zone, but connected on only six of 19 three-balls (31.6 percent).

Washington Sr. said the Thunderbirds “ran their offense well and stayed in a 2-3 all night long.”

He added, “We had some bad shot selections. We have to be able to shoot the ball better. (In the) third quarter we stopped being aggressive. We have to get better attacking zone defenses.”

Senior Stevie Bratt, back from an ankle injury, made his debut for Oak Harbor and scored seven points, pulled down a team-high six rebounds and collected two steals.

Denzel Massey had seven points and five rebounds for the Wildcats, and Kevawn Brooks and Josiah Miller added two points each. Trace Paul hit a free throw and snared five rebounds.