Mount Vernon overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to defeat the host Oak Harbor High School boys basketball team 43-41 Tuesday, Dec. 9.

The Wildcats (1-2) will try to bounce back when they travel to Anacortes (2-0) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13.

When Oak Harbor’s Jake Sturdevant hit a hoop midway through the third period, the Wildcats held their biggest lead, 31-23.

It would be five-and-a-half minutes before Oak Harbor would score again; by then, Mount Vernon had trimmed the lead to two.

The Bulldogs finally overtook Oak Harbor with 2:07 left in the game, hitting two free throws to make it 38-37.

It was ironic that Mount Vernon would go ahead on foul shots. The Bulldogs connected on only 10 of 24 in the game, which helped Oak Harbor lead most of the night. The Wildcats, on the other hand, made all 11 of their foul shots.

Mount Vernon scored again off an Oak Harbor turnover, then Zach Jones scored for the ‘Cats to cut the lead to one, 40-39.

The Bulldogs answered, then both teams kicked the ball away.

On Oak Harbor’s next possession, Dyllan Harris dropped in two free throws with 31 seconds left to make it 42-41.

Mount Vernon then converted on one of two free throws.

The Wildcats were able to get two shots over the final 18 seconds but couldn’t pull out the win.

Mount Vernon started the game by scoring the first five points, and it could have had more but missed great looks inside.

Harris hit a three-pointer, his only bucket of the game, Sturdevant scored twice off assists from Harris and Oak Harbor went up 7-5. It was 11-11 at the quarter.

Oak Harbor outscored Mount Vernon 15-8 in the second period behind seven points by Sean Erskine to lead 26-19.

Harris, who scored over 20 points in each of the first three games, was held to nine and only one field goal.

“They (Mount Vernon) did a good job on him,” coach John Weston said.

Harris made several key non-scoring plays in the fourth quarter to keep the Wildcats in the game.

“I was pleased with how he responded at the end of the game,” Weston said.

In regard to the game, Weston said, “I thought we showed a lot of improvement. Our defensive effort was really good; we are continuing to improve in that area.”

“In the second quarter we started to run our offense more efficiently,” he added. “Down the stretch, they made some plays and we didn’t. We got two shots to tie or win at the end; they just didn’t go through the rim.”

Sturdevant scored eight points, Erskine seven, Diangelo McKinney six, Zach Jones five and David Ray, Anthony Powell and Ben Fikse two each.

Damien Ibarra scored 15 for Mount Vernon, nine in the fourth quarter.

(Oak Harbor’s David Ray flips in a short shot to give the Wildcats a 26-19 halftime lead. Photo by Jim Waller.)