The troubles just don’t seem to go away.

Complete collapses in one quarter of every game this season have left the Oak Harbor boys basketball team with 14 straight defeats.

The most recent woes came in the second quarter of Tuesday night’s home game with Monroe, resulting in a 56-45 loss.

“Usually it’s the third quarter,” OHHS head coach Bryan Schulle said. “I don’t know, if I could explain it we would be .500 right now.

The only thing I can think of is our youth — we’ve had a hard time playing 32 minutes of basketball, I think it’s mentally draining on these kids.”

Tied 12-12 going into the second frame the game appeared to be evenly matched.

The Wildcats, however, struggled to knock down their shots at the start of the second quarter. OHHS missed its first four attempts and didn’t score until senior Bryce Waller connected on a layup with 4:45 left in the first half.

Although Monroe didn’t necessarily light the nets on fire, the Bearcats capitalized on the Wildcats’ offensive troubles and won the hustle plays. Monroe hit 6-of-15 shots in the quarter and committed zero turnovers, opposed to Oak Harbor’s 4-for-10 shooting and four turnovers.

“We just got out-hustled,” Schulle said. “Offensively, they got a lot of boards.”

The Bearcats took double-digit leads three times in the second quarter before OHHS junior Chris Hughes hit a three-pointer with two seconds left in the half that brought the score to 29-21.

Trading baskets most of the second half, Monroe took its largest lead, 48-35, with 4:20 remaining in the game on a layup from 6-foot-8 post Stephen Waltman.

Despite the deficit, OHHS didn’t give in.

With determination on his face, senior Marc Ferguson came out of a timeout energized.

Ferguson helped the Wildcats go on a 7-0 run in 36 seconds that included a three-point shot and a two-handed slam dunk off a steal.

Down just 48-42 with 3:18 to go, Oak Harbor had a chance. Monroe, however, slowed its offense down and forced the Wildcats to commit fouls to stop the clock.

The Bearcats hit 7-for-10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the deal.

Ferguson led the Wildcats with a game-high 23 points. Hughes added 10 points, including two three-pointers.

Waltman had 20 to lead Monroe.

The loss bumped Oak Harbor to 0-10 in the WesCo North and 0-14 overall with five games left to play. They faced Lake Stevens on the road last night— a team Schulle has yet to lose to on the road in his three years as head coach of the Wildcats.

“I hope that will continue,” he said.

Results of Friday’s game will appear in the Wednesday edition of the News-Times.

Despite the rough season, Schulle feels confident his team will get at least one win before the season is over and he is happy with the effort he continues to see.

“We aren’t going to throw in the towel,” he said. “The kids have busted their tails at practice every day — we haven’t had one bad practice this year.

The effort and intensity is great. It says a lot about the players, it says they have a lot of character.”

Monroe 12 17 9 18 — 56

Oak Harbor 12 9 9 15 —45

Scoring — Oak Harbor: Ferguson 23, Hughes 10, Heidt 5, Waller 5, Lobbestael 2. Monroe: Waltman 20, Marley 12, Erickson 8, Santjer 6, Sligh 4, Z. Brown 3, V. Brown 2, Urness 1.