Breaking out of a season-long shooting slump, the Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team stepped out of the deep freeze and into the winner’s circle with a 69-62 come-from-behind win over visiting Mountlake Terrace Tuesday, Dec. 21.

With the upset, Oak Harbor picked up its first win in four Wesco 3A games and raised its season record to 2-5. The Hawks dipped to 3-2 and 4-3. The Wildcats begin the three-day Bellevue Community College Holiday Tournament next Tuesday, Dec. 28, at 6:30 p.m. against the Bear Creak School of Redmond.

Oak Harbor got strong performances from Mike Washington Jr., Jay Stout and Stevie Bratt.

Washington drilled a game-high 27 points and pulled down six rebounds. Stout put up 21 points and grabbed six boards. Bratt, who coach Mike Washington Sr. said “showed great leadership,” added 14 points and seven rebounds. Kevawn Brooks finished with three points, seven rebounds and four blocks and Denzel Massey had four points, three rebounds and two assists.

With Washington Jr. scoring eight points, Oak Harbor jumped to a 13-11 lead with 1:57 left in the first quarter.

Mountlake Terrace, more precisely Julian Snow, went on a 12-0 run. When Snow was finished, the Hawks led 23-13. Snow added six more points in the quarter and Terrace led 36-24 at the half.

Down 38-28 with five minutes left in the third quarter, Stout started the Wildcats’ come back. His two three-pointers, steal and assist got things rolling. Washington Jr. then scored eight points in a span of 29 seconds and suddenly Oak Harbor led 44-43 with 3:08 left in the period.

The two teams were tied 47-47 heading into the fourth quarter. After a Hawk basket, Washington Jr. scored off a nice pass from Bratt, Stout attacked the hoop for two, Washington Jr. hit a long three and Oak Harbor led 54-49. The ‘Cats kept a slight lead the rest of the way with the help of eight Stout points.

The statistics were as close as the game. Oak Harbor, after shooting under 30 percent several games, hit 22 of 51 shots for 43.1 percent. MLT shot 44.8 percent.

Oak Harbor grabbed 36 rebounds, three more than Mountlake Terrace, and committed 11 turnovers, one more than the Hawks.

The biggest different came from beyond the arc. Oak Harbor sank eight of 24 while Terrace was just three of 18. Washington Jr. and Stout combined to go 7-for-14.

Washington Sr. said, “Just an outstanding win; we finally hit some shots. Mike and Jay shot extremely well in the third quarter.”

He added, “We shot the ball much better and we out rebounded them. I like our play tonight. I was not upset that we were down at half by 12 because I thought we were playing well. We just needed to do a better job on the boards in the second half.”